Building the next great Generation

Al Duncan

Managing Partner, Lead Trainer

Soft Skills, Talent Development, Business Development

Al Duncan is a renowned Master Soft Skills Trainer, the Managing Partner for UTTAA and Lead Trainer for the Soft Skills for STEM program.

• Managing Partner, Universal Training & Testing Academy of America 
• Lead Trainer for Soft Skills for STEM Program
• +20 years as a full-time professional speaker and master soft skills trainer
• Delivered presentations to over 1.5 million people
• Over 1200 paid speaking engagements
• Business development coach and consultant for dozens of entrepreneurs
• Trained over 500+ professional speakers
• Duncan Nuggets® are used by schools and organizations around the world.

Michelle B. Lee, PhD.

Distinguished Senior Fellow

Health Physics, Radiation Protection, Professional Development

Michelle B. Lee, PhD. is the founder of two UTTAA signature programs: Radiation Protection Careers Initiative and Soft Skills for STEM (S3).

• Health Physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory supporting LANL projects at Nevada National Security Site located in Mercury, NV.
• 30+ years of experience providing radiation protection support for a breadth of research and nuclear stockpile activities.
• Principal Investigator for the Minority Serving Institution Partnership Program that strengthens the national laboratory pipeline for STEM students (2015- present).
• BS in Physics, Grambling State University
• MS in Health Physics, Colorado State University
• Ph.D. in Health Education, University of New Mexico

David Rude, PhD.

S3 Senior Fellow 

Emotional Intelligence, Talent Development, Human and Organizational Learning

David A. Rude, PhD. is the Vice President and Chief Learning Officer for Longenecker and Associates,

Inc. 

• Dave has been a CLO for 15 years. Includes: the DOD’s Civilian Workforce of 850,000 employees, DOE/NNSA, and a nonprofit research institute. 
• Certified Professional in Talent Development, a Certified Action Learning Coach and his research passions are focused on building healthy organizations.
• President of the Transformative Emotional Intelligence Foundation and serves as adjunct faculty at various universities
• Doctor of Education in Human and Organizational Learning, Masters in Public Administration, B.S. in Business Administration

John Igwebuike, PhD.

S3 Senior Fellow 

Effective Listening, Business Law

John Igwebuike, PhD is the founder of Guanacaste: The Lead Listening Institute.

• Director of  School Culture—DEI at Saint Ignatius College Prep (Chicago)
• Retired tenured professor of business law at Alcorn State University
• Licensed attorney in Mississippi
• Founder of Guanacaste: The Lead Listening Institute, which helps organizations, groups, and individuals tap the positive power of effective listening
• Juris Doctorate Indiana University Law School
• Ph.D. from Ohio State University (OSU)
• Two master’s degrees and two Bachelor degrees from OSU and California State Poly-technic University
• Author:  ”I WANT TO HEAR YOU”  22 Tips for artful listening before, during, and after a conversation

Pamela A. Bivens-Pippin, M.A.

S3 Senior Fellow 

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Education and Human Development 

Pamela A. Bivens-Pippin is the principal and founder of A Bivens Collective which offers professional services and evidence-based resources for change management in DEI.

• Inaugural Director for DEI Programs in the People and Culture Department of Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI)
• Served as the Assistant Director for Diversity and Inclusion at Duke University and Health System in the Office for Institutional Equity (OIE).
• Served as Program Administrator with the DOE at Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, to increase human and thought diversity in STEM education and career fields.
• B.A. Mass Media Art/Journalism at Hampton University 
• M.A. Education and Human Development at The George Washington University

Manuel Bonds, MBA

Technical Senior Fellow 

Radiation Protection, Nuclear Power, Chemistry

Manuel Bonds is the Lead Facilitator for the Radiological Control Technician (RCT) Training Program. 

• Leads the training team that has successfully certified 100+ young professionals with a 100% pass rate of the Department of Energy (DOE) Fundamental Core Exam . 
• Retired nuclear energy professional with over 29 years experience with Entergy Operations at Grand Gulf Nuclear Station (GGNS). 
• Training Supervisor--Accreditation & Instructional Skills with the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) out of Atlanta, Ga. 
• Accreditation Team Visit (ATV) Evaluator
• Certified Instructional Technologist with Basic and Advanced Instructor Training 
• Chemistry Senior Nuclear Training Instructor at GGNS
• Chemistry On-Shift Supervisor and a Qualified Senior Radiochemist under ANSI standards (American National Standards Institute)
• AA (Copiah Lincoln)
• BS in Chemistry (Alcorn State University)
• MBA (Alcorn State University)

Thomas D. McLean, PhD.

Technical Senior Fellow 

Radiation Protection, Instrumentation, Chemistry

Tom McLean, PhD. is a recently retired health physicist and Instructor for UTTAA's RCT Training Program.

• 22 years as health physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory supporting a variety of radiation protection programs.
• 12 years in private industry developing novel radiation instrumentation. In particular, spectroscopy-based gamma, beta and neutron instruments.  
• Since 2018 Tom has served as an instructor & presenter for UTTAA's RCT Training Program. He is part of the team that has helped 100+ young professionals pass the Dept. of Energy Fundamental Core Exam.
• BSc(Hons.), Chemistry (Dalhousie University, Canada)
• MSc, Chemistry (Dalhousie University)
• PhD, Chemistry, (McMaster University, Canada)

Imani S. Graef

S3 Fellow

Soft Skills, Product Management, Mechanical Engineering

Imani Ballad is a Mechanical Engineer at the Kansas City National Security Campus (KCNSC) managed by Honeywell. 

• National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) Emerging Leaders Cohort
• B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 2017 at the illustrious Howard University in Washington, D.C. 
• Has worked in the materials organization, the research and development space, and in the mechanical component realization space. 
• Founded the Minority Serving Institutions (MSI) Employee Network, which focuses on transitioning MSI alumni to the Kansas City, MO and Albuquerque, NM areas.
• During her free time, she enjoys participating in Delta Sigma Theta Sorority incorporated events, playing with her dog, and puzzling.

Delroy Birch, PhD.

S3 Fellow 

Soft Skills, Strategic Initiatives, Acquisitions, Technology Operations

Dellroy O. Birch, Ph.D. is currently the senior vice president of Corporate Strategy and Technology Operations at APCO Holdings.

• Prior to APCO Holdings, Dell was director of enterprise strategy & corporate development for JM Family Enterprises . 
• Past chairman of the board for an international non-profit agency focused on afterschool support and development for middle school and high school students in Zimbabwe.
• Master’s and bachelor’s degree in technology management.  
• Ph.D. in Organization and Management
• Visiting professor for graduate business and global supply chain management courses at Keller Graduate School of Management

Juana Mendenhall, PhD.

S3 Fellow 

Soft Skills, Student Success, Polymer Research, Chemistry

Dr. Juana Mendenhall is the Chemistry Department Chairperson and Walter E. Massey Professor of Physical Sciences at Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA. 

• Director and Principal Investigator of the Smart Biomaterials Lab
• The President & Founder of TheraViscTM, LLC, a company specializing in developing viscosupplement injectable gels to help with knee injuries. 
• Mendenhall’s polymer research is funded by the Energy Science Experimental and Modeling (ESEM) consortium in tandem with other MSIs and two national laboratories. 
• Bachelor’s in science degree from North Carolina A&T State University 
• Ph.D. in polymer chemistry at Clark Atlanta University

Tara Voit, PhD.

S3 Events Management Team

Project Management, Event Management, Early Childhood Education

Dr. Tara Voit is an Adjunct Professor at both Santa Fe Community College, and the University of New Mexico teaching Early Childhood Education. 

• Technical Project Manager for Los Alamos National Laboratory. 
• Dr. Voit's research includes African American education in rural Tennessee, teaching children social justice, and exploring Reggio Emilia influences in Head Start. 
• Dr. Voit directed preschool programs in public, private, pueblo, and Early Head Start/Head Start making visible children’s intellectual capacities supported by research, best practices, and curriculum. 
• She believes early childhood educators must be fearless in guiding children towards life-long learning!

Anthony Davison 

Social Media Manager

Social Media, Photography, Videography 

Quadrick Bradford

S3 Associate Fellow 

Barry Williams, Executive Director

Gateway for Kids, Inc.

UTTAA Non-Profit Partner