Our Team

A Little Bit More About Us

Cathy Light’s dynamic energy and passion for helping organizations and individuals reach their highest potential have led her to establish Leadership Balance® and three other growing enterprises: Assessment Leaders, Business Builders and Be Well Perform Well.

In recognition of her extraordinary work, Smart Business nominated Cathy Light for the “Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year” award in both 2009 and 2010.

Before venturing out as an entrepreneur, Cathy worked in the corporate world in a variety of leadership roles, including Vice President and General Manager of Sunrise Technologies, Inc. and Senior Sales and Marketing Executive at Fuji Optical Systems, Ltd. She began her trailblazing career at a start-up company known as Apple Computer.

Cathy is a globally recognized speaker known for engaging and inspiring her audiences. Her commitment to helping others extends to active leadership within the community. She currently serves on the Advisory Board for the Business and Economic School at Boise State University and mentors MBA students when time permits.

Jennifer has spent over two decades in customer services and management, which makes her the perfect liaison between Lideranca Group and its customers. She possesses a genuine enthusiasm for nurturing client relations, so she prides herself on ensuring that communication lines remain open. This open communication builds trust and serves as a catalyst for long-term relationships between Lideranca Group and its customers.

In addition to client services, Jennifer has extensive experience providing administrative support in scheduling, planning, communication, and organizational strategy.

She is devoted to her husband and their 2 children. As a family, they enjoy everything outdoors that Idaho offers, especially camping. Golf and soccer also play a part in their busy lifestyle. Jennifer is active in promoting Autism Awareness and participates in several special needs programs throughout the Treasure Valley.

“Where brand strategy meets engaging copy, you’ll find Kate-Madonna’s brilliant insight.”

When the Minnesota Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome needed specialized local attention for their “0 Four 9″ campaign, Kate made it happen during the State Fair with silent models inspiring conversation on pregnancy and alcohol. Published in national magazines, quarterlies, books and marketing collateral, Kate-Madonna has established herself as a prolific and gifted writer and public relations professional. With over 15 years of published experience from running regional magazines to leading newsrooms, Kate-Madonna pinpoints lifestyle trends and reads between the lines of what consumers want to know and in what form they want to learn. Notably, Hindes sits on the coaching panel for Keith Ferrazzi’s Relationship Academy and is a board member at The Mars Generation- a NASA-inspired initiative and Breast Cancer Action.

Dr. Mark Tuggle is a highly relational and results oriented executive with 20+ years of leadership experience focused on organizational and personal performance development, with special emphasis on sales, leadership, and educational success. He excels at identifying organizational, systemic challenges and collaboratively devising and implementing measurable, successful solutions. He is an expert facilitator possessing dynamic communication skills, with extensive presentation experience ranging from one-on-one interaction to speaking to groups of over 500 people.

Mark places a premium on developing open, honest relationships with his clients and colleagues so that they can work together to overcome tough challenges. Mark enjoys leading teams through difficult challenges and transitions in a way that brings them together and strengthens their unity and performance.

Mark’s background and experience across various sectors – military, nonprofit, and for-profit business – have helped him to maintain a results-oriented, actionable focus when it comes to leadership, learning, and organizational success. His approach keeps his clients’ objectives in the realm of achievable outcomes, rather than lofty platitudes that never effect lasting change. Whether he works with you in areas of problem-solving, change management, leadership development, or talent management, you can be certain you will walk away with an implementation plan that is grounded with measurable, actionable, and achievable steps and goals.

Everyone talks about measuring results but few people or organizations truly know what that means, or how to do it. Dr. Tuggle’s experience in developing and analyzing surveys and assessments provides the data clients need to truly measure change and success. Mark led a research project for onboarding sales reps at a Fortune 100 company in which he measured key metrics that correctly predicted retention and performance results for the new reps. He recently completed a social selling research project used by a top sales training organization to help develop its social selling training program. His current work on leadership balance is designed to help leaders identify their unique balance of three key areas for healthy leadership. He has developed proprietary assessments that measure different aspects of organizational culture, health, and employee engagement.

Danette Likens’ strong will and passion for helping others succeed through personal and professional development have led her to join Liderança Group. She welcomes the opportunity to help grow leaders, businesses, and communities.
Danette is a retired U. S. Navy veteran with 20 years of experience in medical, pharmacy, military training programs and organizational development. She established benchmark ratings with the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) across three military healthcare facilities and one civilian hospital spanning across 16 years of continued delivery of quality healthcare, facilitated the change to regionalized Navy medicine, and was a key player in the establishment of the Navy Learning Centers and Naval Education and Training Command policies and procedures. She is a recognized expert in leadership and training program development working with the U.S. Military, G. E. Healthcare, LSI, Columbus Technologies and Services, Aimereon, and other companies. She has over 25 years of experience in business development process improvement, organizational and education and training program development and 16 years of proposal writing for military, industry, and non-profit organizations.
Danette is a board member with Excellence Girls Club, helping develop young women into strong community leaders. She also helps mentor students in educational doctoral and specialist degree programs through an online community board. Danette holds a master’s degree in Family Sciences and an Educational Specialist degree in Higher Education and Adult Learning.

Summer Anderson is one of the Founders of MiROR and her career in executive search
includes 23 years of global experience in shaping executive level leaders and delivering
results for Fortune 500 technology and fast growth companies. She began her career
with Heidrick & Struggles and through her years with Booz Allen Hamilton’s Executive
Hiring Team, Summer was instrumental in architecting, leading and executing two firmwide
Cyber Security Growth Campaigns and developed consultative relationships within
the organization at the EVP and Vice Chair level. While with Allergan she lead the U.S.
Talent Acquisition Team for the company and while with Frost Data Capital as VP of
Human Capital she built the executive teams for 25 start-ups for the Big Data Technology
Incubator and was an onsite coach. She founded MiROR, out of the conviction that
search is most effective when it is built on relationships in a trusted advisory role that
begins with exceptional execution. Summer holds a bachelor degree with honors from
UC Berkeley.

Irwin Drucker, originally from New York City, has lived in South Florida since 1983. Irwin is a graduate of Georgetown University, and received his MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business. Irwin joined IBM’s global software procurement organization in 1983, eventually becoming Director of Software Sourcing, with responsibility for overt $5 Billion in annual spend. In late 1999, Irwin moved to IBM’s world-world-renowned Global Supplier Diversity team, where he established the first LGBT supplier diversity program in the world, and was appointed its first Director. He was instrumental in the establishment of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, and served on its Board of Directors, as Chairman of the Strategic Planning Committee of the Board, from 2008 to 2017, after having first chaired both the Corporate Advisory Council and the Procurement Council of the NGLCC, from 2003 to 2008. In recognition of his accomplishments, Irwin received the first “LGBT Supplier Diversity Advocate of the Year” Award from the NGLCC in 2007, and the first NGLCC Legacy Award in 2017. In 2003, Irwin’s responsibilities were expanded, and he assumed responsibility for IBM’s supplier diversity program coordination across all diversity segments outside the US. From 2010 to 2013, Irwin was a member of the Board of Directors of The Pride Center, the LGBT Community Center of Greater Fort Lauderdale, serving as Chair of their Development Committee. In 2011, Irwin received the Multicultural Leadership Award from the Florida Diversity Council.

Irwin retired from IBM in May, 2012, and spent 3 years as the Executive Director of PYP Foundation, a non-profit organization that focuses on improved HIV Awareness, Education and Prevention in young people ages 18-29. In April of 2015, Irwin joined WOSH, an NGLCC-certified LGBTBE, where he served as the Chief Compliance and Procurement Officer. Headquartered in Los Angeles, WOSH is an on-demand, waterless car cleaning company. Irwin’s responsibilities at WOSH included B2B Business Development, Compliance,
Diversity, Corporate Social Responsibility, Procurement, HR, Corporate Relations, and Governmental Affairs.

In August of 2019, Irwin launched a new venture, Diversitas, a consulting practice dedicated to assisting businesses that are certified as diverse-owned and operated by either WBENC, NMSDC or NGLCC maximize their growth potential. Diversitas offers a wide range of consulting services, including Business Development, Supplier Diversity, Procurement and Strategic Sourcing, Compliance, and Corporate Social Responsibility (including both Diversity & Inclusion, Sustainability, and Corporate Philanthropy).

Selena has enjoyed over twenty years fostering cultures of collaboration, diversity and inclusion amongst direct- and highly matrixed teams for early-stage enterprises and Fortune 500 companies alike. She delights in helping organizations develop their own, highly-functioning teams and to build and leverage strategic relationships with key clients and partners to deliver exceptional business results.

Selena is an active member and champion of corporate- and community mentorship programs, particularly focusing on providing tools and guidance for women to succeed and excel in leadership and executive roles. Selena’s PhD is from the University of Melbourne, Australia and she is an alumnus of the Executive MBA program at the University of Maryland, where she is an Adjunct Professor, focusing on Leadership and Organizational Development.

In her spare time Selena is a Board member for the non-profit organization Friends of Trione Annadel State Park and is a trail patrol volunteer in three California State Parks. Having worked as a Scuba Dive Master in Australia and Vanuatu she is an avid diver and underwater photographer.

Amy Lou Abernethy began her career as an educator but was soon drawn into the world of visual storytelling and video production. In addition to co-founding and nurturing the agency AMP Creative, she followed her heart back to the art and science of adult learning a few years ago, getting her masters in learning in digital environments. Amy Lou has consulted for Facebook, developing custom content for their inclusion efforts, including virtual reality experiences.

Standing at the crossroads of learning innovation and cinematic storytelling, Amy Lou collaborates with companies to develop transformative learning experiences and AMP Creative produces those experiences. She looks for opportunities to connect with people through stories, across a variety of mediums, from printed infographics to immersive virtual reality. 

Gustavo “Gus” Salem joined IDEX Corporation in March, 2015 as President – IDEX Health & Science, LLC. In 2016, Gus was promoted to the position of Group President, IDEX Health and Science (IH&S) when the IDEX Optics and Photonics, LLC (IOP) business was added to his responsibilities. Combined, the newly formed Group represents the industry’s broadest portfolio of fluidics, microfluidics and optical components serving the life science research and in-vitro diagnostics markets. The company’s technologies provide high-value, engineered solutions addressing key life science applications such as HPLC, mass spectrometry, clinical chemistry and next generation sequencing. The business unit consists of 12 manufacturing operations globally with over 1200 employees.

Gus brings nearly 30 years of industry experience and a strong record of executive leadership driving strategy, commercialization and operational execution required to bring emerging technologies to the life sciences and diagnostics markets. Previously Gus was CEO at SISCAPA Assay Technologies, an early stage company focused on development of mass spectrometry-based diagnostic testing. Gus remains on the Board of Directors, a position he has held since 2012. From 2007-2013 Gus served as VP and General Manager of the Biological Systems Division at Agilent Technologies where he managed the mass spectrometry, genomics, and clinical diagnostics businesses. During his tenure, Agilent developed into a market-leading supplier of LC/MS systems and established market leadership in target enrichment sample prep for next generation DNA sequencing. Gus came to Agilent from Assay Designs, Inc. where he served as President and CEO. That company’s focus was on development of immunoassay reagents for pharmaceutical discovery and research. Prior to Assay Designs, he led the Protein Separations Division of Bio-Rad laboratories including laboratory and process chromatography, and electrophoresis. Gus holds a BA in Physiological Psychology from UC Berkeley and completed 2 years of graduate work in Psychobiology at UC Irvine.

Gus has 3 adult sons, Matt, Sean, and Joshua and 3 granddaughters, Emma, Chloe and Riley. His interests include coaching youth sports, scuba diving, golf and biking.

Dr. Shelton Goode is the president and chief executive officer of Icarus Consulting.  Icarus Consulting is a veteran-owned firm that helps companies build a diverse workforce and create an inclusive workplace.  This is accomplished by partnering with clients to develop strategies to attract, develop, and retain highly skilled talent from an emerging diverse workforce and, at the same time, enhance the engagement, knowledge, and skill of current employees.

Dr. Shelton Goode is the president and chief executive officer of Icarus Consulting.  Icarus Consulting is a veteran-owned firm that helps companies build a diverse workforce and create an inclusive workplace.  This is accomplished by partnering with clients to develop strategies to attract, develop, and retain highly skilled talent from an emerging diverse workforce and, at the same time, enhance the engagement, knowledge, and skill of current employees.

Dr. Goode has over 20-years of HR and D&I experience, and he has held executive positions in several global companies. He has earned the reputation for being a strategic yet results-oriented leader whose expertise includes Talent Management, Change Management, and Executive Coaching.  
Dr Goode was the first person awarded the Roosevelt Thomas Lifetime Achievement Award for his work in the field of diversity, equity and inclusion.  Forbes Magazine recently selected him as one of the Top 10 D&I Trailblazers in the country. 

He has also taught at several colleges and universities and is currently an adjunct professor with Duke University’s Corporate Education department.  Dr. Goode has published several books.  His most recent book, “Winter in America; The Impact of the 2016 Presidential Election on Diversity in Companies, Communities and the Country is on the Outskirts Press best seller’s list.

Dr. Goode received his Doctorate from the University of Alabama and his master’s degree in human resources from Troy University.  He serves on the board of several organizations and has won several awards.  Dr. Goode currently resides in the Atlanta area. 

It’s a pleasure to welcome DEBORAH LEVINE. Deborah is one of Forbes Magazine’s 10 Diversity and Inclusion Trailblazers you should know. She is passionate about addressing inclusion challenges and unconscious bias in the workplace that can limit team functionality and organizational innovation onsite and online. Her methodology not only boosts cultural competence and creative teamwork, but also demonstrates how to avoid situations that damage an organization’s reputation and decrease its ability to engage a diverse team.

Deborah inherited her passion from her father, a U.S. military intelligence officer assigned to interrogate Nazi during WW II. His understanding of how organizations fell prey to negative thinking, prejudice and fear of diverse groups, was preserved in his wartime letters that Deborah has put in her memoirs. Her background prompted her to not only focus on thought and religious diversity, but to invent a neuro-communication technology: the Matrix Model Management System. She gave it the matrix terminology to coincide with her work in computer science decades ago which helps provide the multi-dimensional tools to boost neural pathways.

Deborah is an award-winning author of 14 books, and is Founder/Editor of the American Diversity Report Her books have won a National Press Association Award and been featured in major major media outlets: Online Wall Street Journal, The Chicago Tribune, and CSPAN BOOKTV. She has 33 years experience in presenting, training, and coaching for international industries, federal agencies, universities, and civic organizations. 

Many thanks to Deborah for giving us the benefit of her years’ experience with diversity and inclusion, cultural competence and unconscious bias. We appreciate her extending her work to include the growing threat of hate in today’s contentious environment and the social unrest soon to be generated by the coronavirus.