The Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute

Amy J. Armstrong is chair and associate professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Counseling at Virginia Commonwealth University. She has been involved in advocacy, education and employment issues related to individuals with chronic illness and disability for over 35 years. She has extensive experience providing national personnel training on the employment of marginalized populations, wellbeing, and leadership. Armstrong has held a variety of community agency positions including both direct service and management at the local, regional and national levels (including the National United Cerebral Palsy Association and the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Supported Employment/Workplace Supports). Her interests include the employment of individuals with significant disabilities, community re-integration of veterans, wellbeing/positive psychology, positive organizational development and leadership development. Dr. Armstrong received an M.A. in Rehabilitation Counseling from Michigan State University and a Ph.D. in Education from VCU. She recently completed a certificate in Appreciative Inquiry: Positive Business and Society Change through Case Western Reserve University.

Sheila Battle is a Philadelphia native and transformational leader, change agent, and human services advocate. Her passion is to see people grow from the inside out, through practical teaching and application of basic principles. Whether managing a team or leading a workshop, her enthusiastic style motivates and inspires from the boardroom to the pulpit. Sheila’s fusion of real-life stories and her conversational techniques connect with her audience at an intimate, intense, and individual level. Sheila and her husband, Frank, live in Richmond, VA and are the visionaries of The Battle Stations and 15 Minutes of Grace.

Edwards retired after 15 years of service with the Performance Management Group at Virginia Commonwealth University. She delivered supervisory, management and leadership training programs;

360 evaluations; and coaching for many Commonwealth of Virginia agencies as well as universities. Susan headed up a team who took these services to the State of Maryland and discovered the practices were perfectly transferable across state lines.

VCU’s new Great Place Performance Management program called Edwards to return in September 2016 as one of the trainers for this initiative. She is a teacher and training professional at heart. She designs sessions with participant needs at the forefront and shares experiences, insights and stories to highlight key points. Edwards provided leadership coaching for the HIGHER Ground Women’s Leadership Development Program and the VCU Leadership Development Program for two years; she discovered that coaching is her most rewarding exchange. Prior to her career at VCU, Edwards was a corporate trainer in insurance, banking and retail organizations.

Edwards received her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Education from Virginia Commonwealth University followed by a graduate assistantship at Madison College, now James Madison University. She graduated cum laude with a Master of Science in Education.

Susan T. Gooden, Ph.D., is Interim Dean and a Professor of Public Administration and Policy in the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). She has published books, scholarly articles, book chapters, and technical reports in the areas of social equity, welfare policy, and post-secondary education. She has conducted several research studies for MDRC, as well as other national research organizations.  She is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, a congressionally chartered Academy. Gooden is President-elect of the American Society for Public Administration, the largest and most prominent professional association for public administration. She was appointed to the Commission on Peer Review and Accreditation, the accrediting arm of the Network of Associated Schools of Public Policy, Affairs and Administration (NASPAA). She has previously served as an elected member to the national policy council of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM). Gooden is a faculty affiliate at Duke University’s Research Network on Racial and Ethnic Inequality. She received a Fulbright Specialist Award to Zayed University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Prior to her current academic appointment, Dr. Gooden was an Associate Professor at the Center for Public Administration and Policy at Virginia Tech, where she received early promotion and tenure and served as Founder and Director of the Race and Social Policy Research Center.  She has served as a visiting scholar-in-residence at the Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  A native of Martinsville & Henry County, Virginia, she received an A.S. in Natural Science from Patrick Henry Community College, a B.A. in English from Virginia Tech, and a M.A. in Political Science from Virginia Tech. She received her Ph.D. from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.

Manns is a clinician working in private practice, treating mostly borderline personality, PTSD, anxiety disorders, and depression. Manns also consults with various companies on leadership development within the Richmond community. Prior to her private practice, Manns served as an adolescent program coordinator for Henrico County. She has her Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology and has been practicing in various settings for the past 17 years.

Moss received his PhD from the University of South Carolina in 1976 and finished a two-year post-doctoral program in Clinical Psychology in 1978. He obtained his Clinical Psychologist License in 1982. Since that time, his practice has included providing mental health consultative services in both the private and public sector. For over 20 years, he has been involved with a number of local and federal public safety agencies offering a wide range of mental health services, including psychological assessments and evaluations, trauma intervention, psychotherapy, and management consultation. Moss has also been involved with the provision of management consultative and coaching services to numerous private sector companies. Since 1993, he has been involved with the leadership training programs offered by the United States Intelligence community both as a course facilitator and as an assessor/coach. In 2003, he completed a yearlong executive coaching training program offered by the Newfield Network. Since then, a significant portion of his practice has been in the area of executive coaching. His clients include executives from the public and private sectors along with the non-profit community. Moss is an adjunct faculty member for VCU’s Fast Track MS program and the University of Maryland University College’s National Leadership Institute, where he serves as both a trainer and feedback coach.

Rosser is a leadership development consultant, certified coach, mediator, and trainer. She utilizes her 20 years of executive experience to improve the performance of organizations and individuals by helping them find the courage to communicate about what they want to change. Prior to starting her own business, she was a senior executive for a national physician medical association and a Fortune 500 company. Rosser is a credentialed coach by the International Coach Federation, a certified Gallup StrengthsFinders coach, a member of the American Society of Training & Development, and a certified mediator (Supreme Court of Virginia). Finding Resolution is a SWaM certified business.

Amy J. Unger is the Director of HR Administration in the Office of the Provost and Vice President at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) where she is primarily responsible for overseeing faculty personnel matters including appointments, personnel actions, personnel-related issues, policies and procedures.  Amy was part of the leadership team that developed the content and delivery of the Department Chairs Pilot Certification Program and is delighted that she is continuing to be involved in the implementation of this valuable program.  Amy has been with VCU over 30 years, where she has gained a tremendous amount of institutional knowledge and experience having worked in administrative/management roles in the General Counsel’s Office, Human Resources, the Office of the Dean in the College of Humanities and Sciences, and most recently in the Office of the Provost.  Her earned degrees are a B.S. in Psychology from Old Dominion University (including coursework at Boston University) and a post graduate certificate in civil litigation from the Institute of Paralegal Training at the University of Pennsylvania.  Amy is the recipient of the 2000 Academic Affairs Customer Service Award, is a 2004 graduate of the Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute, and a member of the College & University Professional Association for HR. 

As vice provost for administration and chief of staff, Webb is the chief financial advisor to the executive vice president and provost, providing oversight of the financial budgets of the University’s schools and academically related centers and units, an annual total of more than $400 million. She serves as senior advisor for the academic areas in the development of a new financial model for the University of Virginia. She oversees employment policies and personnel matters for the provost’s areas and supervises the development and revision of academic policies. In addition, she has oversight of the Office of the University Registrar, the Office of Virginia Status, and the Air Force, Army, and Naval ROTC units. As chief of staff, she oversees the administrative functions of the Provost’s Office, managing a staff of fifteen.

Webb serves as the provost’s executive sponsor to the UFirst Initiative, a project designed to develop a strategic vision and high-performing efficient service model for human resources, and as a member of the Managerial Reporting Oversight Board, an initiatve designed to provide robust financial planning, analysis, and decision-making in support of the University’s strategic priorities.  From 2004 to 2009 she was responsible for the development and initial implementation phases of the Student Systems Project, the University’s replacement of its student information system.

 Webb joined the University of Virginia in 1987. From 1988–1997, she served as assistant to the provost and academic affairs associate with the Office of the Provost.

Prior to assuming the position of vice provost, Webb served as associate dean in the School of Continuing and Professional Studies (1997–2001). In this role, she was instrumental in creating the Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies, the University’s first part-time degree program for adult students. Her responsibilities as associate dean included oversight of regional academic centers serving 16,000 students, management of a $12 million budget, and improvement of the school’s academic standards, policies, and procedures.

Webb has served on the a number of University committees, including the Respectful Workplace Steering Committee, the School of Medicine Compensation Committees, the University Strategic Planning subcommittees, the Commencement and Convocations Subcommittee, and the University Benefits Committee. From 2002–2005, she served as the chair of the President’s Women’s Leadership Council.

She currently serves as a member of the Vice President Designee Committee for the University’s Enterprise Systems and the Advisory Committee for the Virginia Festival of the Book. She serves on the Advisory Committee of the Leadership in Academic Matters Program and teaches in the program. She is a member of the executive board for the Virginia Network for Women in Higher Education.

Webb is an ICF credentialed Leadership Coach. She is the recipient of several awards, including the Elizabeth Zintl Leadership Award (2012), the William E. DePuy Award (2014), and the Samuel R. Crockett Award (2014).  She is certified to administer the EQ-i 2.0, EQ 360 and EQ-i 2.0 Higher Education emotional intelligence assessments.

Webb earned her B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Southern Mississippi and her M.B.A. from James Madison University.