Leadership speakers and facilitators

Every Leader's a Coach, Every Workplace a Team

Coach McKillop’s presentations are structured upon the concepts of Leadership, Teamwork, and Building Culture. He tailors the remarks to what the organization’s leaders select as the theme and the focus of their gathering. Over the last decade, Coach McKillop has given speeches to hundreds of businesses, associations and groups.

He’ll get a feel for the group by doing a “scouting report” of their history, mission statement, organizational structure, etc. He then parallels this with our Davidson College Basketball mission statement of Trust, Commitment, and Care.

“The speaking venue is our locker room and my objective is to inspire and energize and challenge the attendees about incorporating the three words of Trust, Commitment, and Care into every aspect of their lives. As I share stories from the journey of my own coaching career, I’ll show how they are actually coaches themselves, be it in their office, or with their family, or in their community. I hammer home the point that in order to be a great coach, one must first coach themselves.”

About the facilitator:

In 33 years coaching at Davidson College, McKillop spurred the program’s regional and national resurgence, led the Wildcats to new heights in a highly competitive basketball-centric conference, and coached one of the world’s premier athletes, Stephen Curry.

The final numbers help paint the picture for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame nominee and 2023 North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame inductee.

McKillop’s Davidson teams won 23 conference championships, including 15 regular season crowns. They made 10 NCAA Tournament appearances, including a magical, Curry-led run to the 2008 Elite Eight. Seventeen of his Davidson teams won at least 20 games, while seven won 25 or more. He finished with 634 victories at the Division I college level.

Elevate Your Team with Improv Training

Team improv training is an unconventional yet highly effective approach that fosters creativity, collaboration, and confidence. Through engaging exercises and facilitated group reflection, your team will practice essential skills such as adaptive communication, active listening, and innovative problem-solving. By embracing a “Yes, And” mindset, improv training creates a supportive and fun space that encourages risk-taking in a low-stakes environment. Spark your team’s creativity and empower them to communicate effectively, think on their feet, and thrive in an ever-changing business landscape.

About the facilitator:

Amy Gascon has entertained and educated audiences for over a decade as an expert improviser and instructor. A graduate of the Second City Conservatory in Chicago, Amy has performed in hundreds of shows throughout the midwest and can currently be seen on stages in Charlotte, North Carolina. In addition to performing improv, she has taught for various community theaters, colleges, and organizations. She loves helping companies explore the benefits of improv and has facilitated team workshops for a wide array of industries including city governments, educational institutions, banks, business support organizations, and real estate brokers to name a few. Outside of comedy, Amy has spent the past 10 years developing and implementing educational strategies for Entrepreneurship and Innovation Centers, and serves as the Hurt Hub’s Assistant Director, Educational Programs. Amy has a degree from Grand Valley State University in Michigan where she studied Communications, Theater, and Adult Education.

Every Gathering Is an Opportunity to Reengage

Only 20% of employees globally are engaged at work, and engagement has now declined for the second consecutive year. Yet every time an organization brings people together, there is an opportunity to change that.

Michelle designs and facilitates highly interactive experiences that help organizations seize those moments to strengthen connection, confidence, engagement, and contribution.

Whether bringing people together for leadership development, team experiences, sales or operations summits, employee events, retreats, or professional development, Michelle creates opportunities for people to actively connect, engage, and contribute, rather than simply sit and receive information.

Reengagement is the intentional opportunity to reconnect people with their strengths, with one another, with their contribution, and with what is possible next.

About the facilitator:

Michelle McKown-Campbell is the Founder of Activate the Awesome® and an Employee & Leadership Development Partner, Transformational Speaker, and Facilitator with more than 25 years of experience across HR, recruitment, leadership, and people development.

Her facilitation experience spans corporate teams, leaders, educators, students, entrepreneurs, and community groups, including the Hurt Hub's Solopreneur Circle. Michelle combines deep people expertise with highly interactive facilitation to create environments where people connect, engage, and contribute.

People don't engage with a strategy. They engage with experiences.

Gallup, State of the Global Workplace 2026

Design Thinking: From Roadblock to Breakthrough in 120 Minutes

Design Thinking is a human-centered way of breaking down problems, generating innovative solutions, and testing them with their intended audience or customers. In this fast-paced and highly engaging workshop, we will journey through the five essential phases of design thinking: – Empathy, Defining the Problem, Ideation, Prototyping, and Testing – tailored to a business problem you’re facing. What typically takes months, we will conquer in less than 2 hours. You and your team will leave with a refreshed outlook on collaboration and a bevy of new ideas to take your work to the next level.

About the facilitator:

Liz S. Brigham, currently serves as the W. Spencer Mitchem Executive Director of Innovation & Entrepreneurship at the Jay Hurt Hub for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Davidson College. She leads a team committed to facilitating access and exposure to innovation and entrepreneurship for all. Prior to taking this role in October 2020, she was the Head of Product, Morningstar Direct & Reporting Solutions Software, for Morningstar Inc. in Chicago. Before leading these commercial business lines, she scaled and led the Product Marketing organization for Morningstar’s roughly $400M global software portfolio. While in that role, she was recognized as the Product Marketing Leader of the Year in 2019 by the Global Product Marketing Alliance. Before joining Morningstar, Brigham led product management and marketing teams at enterprise technology start-ups in Chicago and at public companies, such as Jive Software and Walt Disney Parks & Resorts. Brigham is a life-long Davidson College super fan and has served on the Board of Visitors, Alumni Association Board, has led multiple alumni chapters across the country and was recognized with the Davidson Alumni Service award in 2019. She is also a board member for LaunchCLT, a Trustee of Cannon School, chairs the programming committee for Confluence Carolinas Music Conference, and dreams of building a family band with her young sons and husband. Brigham holds a B.A. in English, cum laude, from Davidson College and an MBA, with Distinction, in corporate strategy and marketing from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

Exhausted by endless meetings? Burned out by busy work? Dr. Kello turns workplace chaos into meaningful momentum.

Dr. John Kello is a distinguished expert who offers insightful keynotes across three critical workplace domains. As a contributor to meeting science, he provides evidence-based strategies to transform unproductive workplace meetings into effective sessions, particularly valuable for management-level professionals who invest significant time in such gatherings. In occupational safety, Dr. Kello applies behavioral science research to address workplace accidents, offering a streamlined behavior-based approach that focuses on error reduction and has demonstrated remarkable success in improving safety outcomes. His expertise extends to the critical issue of burnout, where he specializes in developing stress management strategies to combat this increasingly prevalent syndrome, which has been particularly exacerbated by the pandemic in healthcare and other industries. Drawing from research dating back to the 1970s, his work addresses the three key components of burnout: exhaustion, work detachment, and reduced self-efficacy.

About the facilitator:

Dr. John Kello is Professor Emeritus of Industrial-Organizational Psychology at Davidson College and holds a Graduate Faculty appointment at UNC-Charlotte. He is President of John E. Kello & Associates, Inc., an organizational development consulting firm.

His expertise focuses on high-performance organizations, workplace communications, leadership development, and safety systems. He has consulted with over 100 organizations across healthcare, energy, education, manufacturing, aviation, and financial services.

Dr. Kello has authored over 100 professional articles, served as a columnist for Industrial Safety & Hygiene News, and co-authored books on accountability and physician burnout. He holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from Duke University and is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science.

Unleash Your Team's Superpowers with CliftonStrengths

Kelly will facilitate a CliftonStrengths session tailored to the size and focus of your organization. This session will identify each team member’s unique skills, fostering a collaborative environment where everyone gains a deeper understanding and appreciation of each other’s working styles and contributions. Prior to the session, team members will complete an online assessment that will provide insights into both individual and overall team strength.

About the facilitator:

Kelly has successfully championed programs that connect students, community members, and industry partners through collaborative projects and professional development. With over 15 years of experience in program management, higher education leadership, and community engagement, Kelly brings a wealth of knowledge and insight to CliftonStrengths coaching. Kelly holds both an undergraduate and a master’s degree from the University of Florida and previously served as the Assistant Director of the University of Florida MBA program. A dedicated volunteer with Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, Kelly believes in the strength of working together and the transformative power of community.