About Our Speakers

Career Highlights:

• Coached for Berry College from 1989-94
• While at Berry, Burleigh led her teams to two NAIA national championships (1990 and 1993)
• Is ranked No. 4 in the nation among NCAA Division I active coaches
• First and only head soccer coach for the University of Florida since 1994
• Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year for 2010, 2008, 2000 & 1996
• Coached her teams to 14 SEC team titles
• Winner of 11 SEC Tournament titles
• Two college cup appearances (1998 and 2001)
• Won her first National Championship with Florida in 1998
• Made 18 NCAA Championship berths
• Has had over 20 players join or play with the National Women’s Soccer League

Career Highlights:

• Has been head coach for Missouri State's softball team for 30 years
• Hesse was inducted into the Missouri Athletics Hall of Fame in 2018
• Was an assistant coach for two years at her alma mater Creighton University, but took the head coach job at Missouri State University
• One of the founding members of the NCAA Women Coaches Academy
• Member of the board of directors for True North Sports
• She's the second winningest coach in the Missouri Valley Conference, and first at Missouri State University history with 700+ wins
• Her team leads the MVC with 71 wins in the MVC Tournament - of that 71, Hesse has been coach for 49
• Author of, "The Diamond of Success: A Philosophical Model for Coaching"

Career Highlights:

• Founded Tree Roots Culture Consulting & Camps LLC, 2015
• Played collegiate softball at Saginaw Valley State University
• Coached collegiate volleyball for 15 years at the Junior College, Division II and Division I levels
• 2008 NCAA Women's Coaching Academy Graduate
• A published author and veteran presenter having spoken at workshops and events throughout the nation

Career Highlights:

• Dr. Tiffany Jones is a sport psychology and performance consultant where she is a Certified Consultant through the Association of Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) and a member of the United States Olympic Committee’s Sport Psychology and Mental Training Registry.
• As owner of X-Factor Performance Consulting, Dr. Jones works with professional athletes, national/Olympic programs, colleges/universities, high schools, and youth programs from around the country teaching the mental skills necessary to reach excellence both in and out of sport.
• Dr. Jones was the consultant for the USA U-20 Women’s National Soccer Teams (World Cup Champions 2008; 2010), William Smith Soccer (2013 Division III NCAA Champions), and National Football Foundation (NFF).
• She currently consults with several different athletic departments, Greg Norman Championship Golf Academy, and youth clubs around the country including the Meghan Klingenberg Soccer Camp.
• Some of the main areas Dr. Jones focuses on when working with players, teams, and coaches are: controlling the controllables, managing pressure, finding one’s GRIT, developing life skills, building mental toughness, and brain endurance training (BET).

Career Highlights:

Barbara Faulkenberry is a senior executive with significant and diverse accomplishments across sectors ranging from logistics, transportation, aerospace, and defense. In late 2014, Barbara retired from the United States Air Force as a Major General (2-stars) after a 32-year career, finishing in the top 100 leaders of a 320,000-person global organization. Her last assignment was as Vice Commander (COO) and interim Commander (CEO) of a 37,000-person organization conducting all Department of Defense air cargo, passenger, and medical patient movements across the globe using 1,100 military aircraft plus contracted commercial aircraft. Her experiences include supply chain management, strategic planning, international negotiations, risk assessment, governmental affairs, and leadership development/succession planning. Barbara has extensive global experience in the Pacific, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. Barbara is an accomplished athlete who brings collaboration, communications, and a winning attitude into all endeavors. Currently she serves on the Board of USA Truck (NASDAQ: USAK), as an Advisor for Momentum Aerospace Group, a Trustee with the Falcon Foundation, and on the Board of two other non-profits.

Career Highlights:

• Shannon Wells enters her fourth season with the Gators staff as UF’s recruiting coordinator, and starts her first year as associate head coach.
• Coached a Florida Gators setter to All-SEC and AVCA Third Team All-America honors and starter for the USA Collegiate National Team on the China Tour.
• Helped Gators to undefeated season in the SEC last season for the 13th time in school history to win the program’s 21st SEC Championship.
• Served as the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator for Ole Miss
• Spent three seasons as an assistant coach with the Winthrop Eagles
• An outstanding player herself at University of Southern Indiana, she played four seasons and helped lead her team to 87 wins over that time span
• Ranks first all-time at Southern Indiana in service aces and kills for her career
• Was a two-time selection as the Great Lakes Valley Conference Scholar Athlete of the Year, named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District team, and was a three time GLVC All-Academic team selection
• Inducted into the University of Southern Indiana Hall of Fame
• Inducted into the 2015 Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Hall of Fame
• Graduate of the NCAA Women Coaches Academy and the Assistant Coach Immersion Program
• Served as Chair of the AVCA Assistant Coaches Committee with a seat on the AVCA Board of Directors.

Career Highlights:

• Gray-Miller comes to Texas Tech after two years as an assistant coach at the University of Florida. While in Gainesville, she served as the recruiting coordinator and oversaw the development of the post players.
• Gray-Miller has 18 years of coaching experience and has been an assistant coach at universities in four of the Power Five conferences. During her career, she has helped her teams to eight NCAA Tournament appearances including one Elite 8 appearance.
• Her last recruiting class as Recruiting Coordinator at Florida was ranked #17 Nationally. This class included Indiana Miss Basketball, Karissa McLaughlin.
• Prior to Florida, Gray-Miller spent three seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Nebraska. She helped the Huskers to three NCAA Tournament berths and a Sweet 16 appearance during the 2012-13 season.
• Gray-Miller coordinated two Top 10 Signing Classes in back-to-back seasons (2013, 2014) that included Natalie Romeo, a Top 15 Point Guard nationally and Jessica Shepard, the #3 ranked player in the 2015 class.
• Gray-Miller was named the Saint Louis University women’s basketball head coach in 2005 and led the program for seven seasons.
• Before landing her first head coaching job, Gray-Miller was an assistant coach at the University of Arizona for two seasons (2003-05). While there, she helped the Wildcats to their first PAC-10 Conference Championship (2004) in program history and first Top 25 recruiting class, which included the Washington State Player of the Year.
• Gray-Miller began her coaching career at the University of Washington from 2000-03. While there, Gray-Miller helped the Huskies to the 2001 PAC-10 Championship and two NCAA Tournament appearances. The Huskies also led the Pac 10 in offensive rebounding during her time in Seattle.
• Gray-Miller was a three-year letter winner at the University of Michigan. She was voted the team captain as a junior and won the Bob Ufer Quarterback Club Award for leadership and dedication

Career Highlights:

• Launched True North Sports with a desire to extend her work to male and female head and assistant coaches
• In 2015 launched the Assistant Coach Immersion Program (ACIP)
• 30 years of unmatched experience in college athletics as both an organizational head and a collegiate basketball coach
• Co-founder and former executive director of both the NCAA Women Coaches Academy (WCA) and The Alliance of Women Coaches (The Alliance)
• Four-year scholarship athlete and named Most Valuable Player of the women’s basketball team during her senior year at Florida State University
• Earned her master’s degree in sports administration from the University of Northern Colorado

Career Highlights:

• The Wall Street Journal calls Chad Hymas “one of the 10 most inspirational people in the world!”
• Chad is one of the youngest ever to receive the Council of Peers Award for Excellence (CPAE) and to be inducted into the prestigious National Speaker Hall of Fame.
• In 2001, at the age of 27, Chad’s life changed in an instant when a 2,000-pound bale of hay shattered his neck, leaving him a quadriplegic. But Chad’s dreams were not paralyzed that day—he became an example of what is possible.
• Chad is a best-selling author, president of his own communications company, and recognized world-class wheelchair athlete. In 2003, Chad set a world record by wheeling his chair from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas (513 miles).
• Chad’s speaking career in the areas of leadership, team building, customer service, and mastering change has brought him multiple honors. He served as president of the National Speakers Association Utah chapter and is a member of the elite Speakers Roundtable (one of twenty of the world’s top speakers).
• As a member of the National Speakers Association, Chad travels as many as 300,000 miles a year, captivating and entertaining audiences around the world. He has graced the stage of hundreds of professional and civic organizations, including Wells Fargo, Blue Cross Blue Shield, AT&T, Rainbird, IHC, American Express, Prudential Life, Vast FX, and Merrill Lynch.

Career Highlights:

• Athletic Director (March 9, 1992 - October 31, 2016)
• Senior Associate Athletic Director (January 1987 - March 1992)
• Interim Athletic Director (September 1986 - January 1987)
• Associate Athletic Director for Business Affairs (June 1981 - September 1986)
• Assistant Athletic Director (May 1980 - June 1981)
• Director of Ticket and Game Operations (March 1979 - May 1980)
• Ticket Manager (February 1977 - March 1979)
• Intern (August 1976 - February 1977)
• More info: https://floridagators.com/staff.aspx?staff=15

Bio:

Nevin is a leading strategic diversity consultant on LGBTQ inclusion in sport. She consults with college, professional, club and high school coaches, administrators and student-athletes in athletic communities around the country. She sits on the Women’s Sports Foundation’s Advocacy Committee, Wade Trophy Committee for women’s college basketball, National Center for Lesbian Rights’ National Leadership Council, and recently joined the faculty of the Alliance of Women Coaches. Nevin is a founding member of the Nike LGBT Sports Coalition, and partners with the NCAA on several inclusion initiatives, most recently launching the LGBTQ Outreach Tour with Historically Black Colleges and Universities. She is Co-founder and Executive Director of Br{ache the Silence Campaign, founded to advance LGBTQ inclusion in sports. Visit www.nevincaple.com for more information.

INSPIRATION

I co-founded Br{ache the Silence Campaign with Colleen McCaffrey in October 2011 after hearing countless stories about the lack of LGBTQ visibility in the women’s sports community. Although many of the coaches I spoke with were out personally, none were out professionally. We started the campaign because the women’s sports community is filled with some of the most prominent, successful and talented women in the world and we sought to give voice to not only who these women are on the field, the court or in the boardroom, but create an environment where they could be all of who they are, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. Additionally, we are passionate about helping student-athletes not only find their likeness in the athletic community but become the advocates, as they will be the next generation of coaches and administrators. We have been fortunate to work alongside LGBT sports advocacy pioneers, Pat Griffin, Helen Carroll and Sue Rankin, who have played an integral role in paving the way for this discussion to happen in the athletic community.