Doranne Hudson is an Executive-in- Residence and Associate Teaching Professor at The Bloch School at UMKC. She teaches undergraduate, MBA, and executive MBA courses in Leadership as well as non-degree executive education courses to a wide variety of organizations, including Sprint, H&R Block, Nelson-Atkins, Garmin, and Hallmark. She was named Distinguished Professor for her teaching impact by Bloch’s graduating students in 2010 and 2011. She currently serves on several civic boards. Hudson’s corporate experience includes 23 years of marketing and general management at Gillette and Hallmark Cards, where she was a senior vice-president and a corporate officer. Hudson received a BA in psychology from Duke University and an MBA from Harvard University.

Julie Warm, Ph.D. has extensive experience in local government, non-profit management, and higher education administration. She originally trained as a city planner and city manager and served in those capacities in Ohio, Nevada, and Missouri. Her last position was as City Manager in Reno, Nevada. For the last twenty years, she has worked in academe as a community liaison, administrator, and researcher. Dr. Warm currently is working on developing a civic engagement program at the University of Missouri-Kansas City focusing on women's leadership, nonpartisan political training and student civic engagement. As a volunteer, she is an advocate for people with disabilities and served on the Board for the Jackson County Board of Services for the Developmentally Disabled, now known as EITAS, a county-level funding agency. Currently she is a member of the Kansas City Mayor’s Commission for People with Disabilities and a board member of the Business Leadership Network, a business-to-business organization supporting businesses that wish to expand and deepen their employment of people with disabilities. Dr. Warm is also the Executive Director of EXCEL: Expanding College for Exceptional Learners which is dedicated to expanding post-secondary opportunities for students with intellectual disabilities.

Joan V. Gallos, Ph.D. is an award-winning educator, author, and scholar in the field of leadership and management education. Her scholarly interests center on innovative leadership and management pedagogy for a diverse work world; individual and organizational change; and expanding conceptions of what, how and why professionals learn. She is a passionate lover of the arts and sees their potential as a vehicle for leadership and organizational development and for enhancing professional agility and effectiveness.

Sandra Kruse-Smith, M.A., is the Executive Coach for the Bloch School Executive MBA program. In that capacity she helps current and emerging leaders improve their professional presence, define their brand, sharpen their communication skills, and apply leadership theory to real-time workplace challenges. Additionally, Sandra coaches corporate executives, and is an in-demand keynote speaker and conference facilitator on topics such as Winning at the Game of Business--a Woman's Primer, Managing the Generational Challenge, and Developing Leadership EQ. Sandra began her career as one of the first female managers at the Honeywell Kansas City plant, then left to start her own consulting company that has provided communications assessment, consulting and coaching services for more than 25 years. Kruse-Smith holds a B.A. in English and Education from UMKC, and an M.A. in Communications from Temple University in Philadelphia. Her research and teaching interests include impression management, emotional intelligence, career success strategies, and how to mitigate career derailment.

Mary E. Corcoran, Ph.D. is a management consultant in private practice, specializing in a wide variety of training and consulting for Fortune 500 companies, as well as not for profits, small businesses, and federal and state agencies. From 1987 to 2010, she wrote a business column for The Kansas City Star.

Her Baccalaureate degree, Master of Arts and Doctorate in counseling were granted from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Her research specialty is women’s leadership, career pathing, and executive development.

Marita Barkis, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist with over 30 years of clinical and leadership experience here and nationally in higher education and the private sector. She is Director of Counseling, Health, Testing and Disability Services at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and has a small private clinical practice. She makes presentations and does team building and workshops with a variety of organizations. She supports women through therapy, team interventions or workshops to live their potential within a complexity of emotional and situational dynamics. Her passions include diversity, empowerment, anxiety management, mediation, interpersonal relations, organizational dynamics, games, family and a good laugh.