About Creative Education Foundation

Beth is a 25 year nonprofit leader who is passionate about creativity, education, and leadership.  As the Executive Director of the Creative Education Foundation (CEF), she has grown and professionalized all contributed and earned revenue streams, while expanding the programs.  CEF is a global thought leader in creativity scholarship through the Journal of Creative Behavior (JCB).  CEF is best known for its interactive, effective, and inspiring personal and professional development programming, namely its signature Creative Problem Solving process (CPS).  CPS is the foundational deliberate creativity process that codified Alex Osborn’s – CEF’s Founder — vision for this science and behavior-based system for using natural creativity to plumb individual experiences and ability for innovative new ideas.  More than just being the “father of brainstorming,” Alex invented the concept of “Applied Imagination” and transformed creativity into “deliberate creativity” for real world solutions and innovation.

Beth’s love of deliberate creativity found its roots in her teaching career.  Beth taught writing at Trinity College for 10 years, and served as Writing Fellow at Quinnipiac University where she taught and assisted with writing program curriculum design. Beth earned her B.A. in Women’s Studies (2000) and her M.A. in American Studies (2003) at Trinity College, graduating with distinction for both degrees; she was also inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa honor society.  For her scholarship and community service, Beth received the Ann Petry Book Prize in American Studies, the D.G. Brinton Thompson Prize in United States History, the Samuel S. Fishzohn Award for Civil Rights and Community Service, the Elma H. Martin Book Prize for Student Leadership, and the Tyler Award for Interdisciplinary Studies. 

Beth currently serves as a Trustee of the Ahearn Family Foundation, and has also served as a member of the Trinity College National Alumni Association Executive Committee. In 2005, Beth was hired to write “A Life-Giving Spirit:” 75 Years at the Bushnell, which was a history of The Bushnell Memorial Theater in Hartford, Connecticut. In 2017, Beth received an honorary PhD in Arts and Humane Letters from Southern New Hampshire University for her academic and professional achievements.  Her award-winning Senior Seminar Thesis, “Challenging Race and Gender Boundaries in Antebellum America,” about Prudence Crandall was adapted as the play, “An Education in Prudence,” produced by the Open Theater Project in Boston, MA in February 2018.    And, in 2019, Beth was recognized by her alma mater as one of the “50 for the next 50 Years,” which celebrated Trinity’s 50th anniversary of co-education by honoring 50 professors, alumni, and students as Trinity’s current and future women leaders.  Beth is proud to be included in the estimable Women We Admire community, which she joined in 2023.

Beth lives in Boston, MA with her husband Jim with whom she enjoys fine dining, wine, art, museums, and travel.  An avid indoor rower, Beth hopes to return to competition when she retires.

Jamie is the bookkeeper and office manager at Creative Education Foundation. Throughout her career, she has worked in various roles as a director of human resources, and Vice President of a family-run business, as well as acquiring an assortment of bookkeeping positions. She is married to her high-school sweetheart and has two children.

Roseanne is a true creative and entrepreneur.  For over 2 decades she has worked to combine her love of creative and business.  She has an eye for detail and a rich understanding of technology.  Bootstrapping multiple businesses after graduating from Ringling College of Art and Design, she has provided creative services to virtually every industry – completing or overseeing nearly every type of graphic design or online/web-based project.

Working for Creative Education Foundation, Roseanne brings her skills to provide creative and expertise to market the Florida Creativity Conference. 

Jane has over 25 years of experience in developing and delivering educational sessions, personal and professional development workshops, and training curriculum. Much of this experience covers her two decades in health education leadership, with 15 of these years in college health promotion and peer education training.

For the past decade, she has worked as a Creative Change Facilitator. Her passion is to help individuals, teams, and organizations arrive at creative solutions to the challenging and ambiguous problems they face, and to do so through improvisational mindsets. Jane’s perspective is greatly shaped by 20 years as a professional improv comedy performer.  She is currently a member of ComedySportz Buffalo and Twisted Sister Act.

Jane holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with a minor in Social Work from Ithaca College, a Master of Arts in Health Arts and Sciences from Goddard College, and a Graduate Certificate of Advanced Study in Creativity and Change Leadership from the International Center for Studies in Creativity at SUNY Buffalo State. She is certified as a Foursight® facilitator, a facilitator of Lego® Serious Play® Methods & Materials, and a Laugha-Yoga leader. In addition to working with nonprofit organizations, colleges, community organizations, and businesses, she has been honored to deliver keynote presentations and lead interactive workshops at numerous conferences and events.

Kirk Young is the President of Western Wyoming Community College in Rock Springs, Wyoming. Prior to this position, Kirk served as the Vice President of Student Affairs at Jamestown Community College in Jamestown, NY. Before that, Kirk worked for ten years at Utah Valley University, a large regional university in Utah. Throughout his years working in higher education, he has worked in enrollment, fundraising, and marketing, as well as serving for several years as the director of the Center for the Advancement of Leadership at UVU. Prior to his career in higher education, Kirk worked in sales and management in private industry where much of his work focused on employee development and engagement.

Kirk holds a BA in psychology from Utah Valley University, an MS in sociology from Brigham Young University, a Ph.D. in leadership studies from Gonzaga University, and a graduate certificate in creativity and change leadership from the Center for Applied Imagination at Buffalo State University. His master’s studies focused on the social impacts of large-scale mega events, particularly the 2002 Winter Olympics. His doctoral studies focused on the 360-degree assessment as a leadership development tool. His other areas of expertise include transformational leadership, appreciative inquiry, servant-leadership, leadership and creativity, and strengths-based leadership. Kirk is a certified strengths coach with the Gallup organization, and spends some of his time consulting with individuals and teams on strengths-based performance and leadership solutions.

Kirk is the founder of 221b Performance Solutions, a leadership and organizational development firm that works closely with organizations across the country to assess performance, design solutions, and implement strategies for addressing a variety of challenges. In this capacity, Kirk is responsible for helping individuals, teams, and organizations identify and achieve their potential.

Kirk and his family live in Rock Springs, Wyoming.

Dan Buckmaster is an experienced leader in engineering and technology, currently supporting core technology initiatives at ACV Auctions, within the Research and Development Department. In his role, Dan focuses on advancing the vehicle inspection process by enhancing speed, accuracy, and generating data-driven insights into vehicle condition and market value. Previously, Dan founded and led Tresca Design, where he grew the firm into a respected engineering and design resource, gaining deep expertise in product development, business strategy, and scaling operations. His background combines technical proficiency with strategic leadership, driving impactful results and fostering high-performance teams across the organizations he serves.

Allison Seidensticker, CPA is a Tax Director with FML CPAs in Glastonbury, CT. She has over 15 years of experience in tax accounting, including working for public accounting firms and a Fortune 50 public corporation. She specializes in complex tax issues, including foreign entity filings, consolidated federal and multi-state tax return filings, Accounting for Income Taxes ASC 740, and high net-worth individual tax returns. Additionally, she has experience with due diligence projects, tax planning strategies, and research projects. Allison is responsible for managing her staff on various projects and organizing the tasks to be sure everything is completed efficiently and effectively. She is passionate about CEF’s model as critical thinking is a crucial process in Allison’s day to day client service and staff training.

Allison received her B.A in Accounting from Bryant University and her M.B.A from Southern CT State University. She is a member of the CT CPA and AICPA.

Katie Garry is a Creative Director at Grey Midwest. During her 15+ year creative advertising career — in agencies and as an entrepreneur — she’s worked with the likes of small-town startups to Fortune 500s in beauty, CPG, fintech, food and beverage, hospitality, among others. 

Katie brings concepts from CPS, Design Thinking and Improv into her work to develop robust visual and verbal storytelling that best communicates the heart of a brand while connecting with the heart and mind of the consumer.

Katie’s perspective to work is through play. She plays with ideas, experiences and challenges until ah-has are uncovered and brains are tuckered out. Katie is someone who grabs attention, but never steals the show. She makes everyone feel seen, amplifies the voices of her team, and serves as a fountain of resources and creativity, asking for nothing in return but to celebrate in the collective success. 

Katie holds an MA in Journalism from the University of Memphis and a dual-BA in Journalism and Organizational Communication from Ohio Northern University, where she served as editor-in-chief of the Northern Review and as President of the Delta Zeta sorority. ONU is also where she met her husband, Ryan. They have three young daughters—two who are theatre-minded elementary-schoolers and one toddler who runs the show.  

Tricia became passionate about the creative process her senior year of high school and has been researching creativity and teaching corporate, educational, and individual clients how to develop and apply creative and innovative techniques ever since. Through her Bay area consulting business, Tricia helps her clients establish a creative culture through executive coaching, seminars, classes, and facilitating ideation sessions.

Tricia spent 22 years at the Walt Disney Company, many of them at the Disney University, where she worked with executives to assess and then design the right learning solution to drive leadership success and optimize business.  In her roles with Disney, Tricia also provided consultation to executives at Disney Parks around the globe to help them and their teams fully tap their creative expertise. Through her research and experience, Tricia has explored the often-stormy relationship between the psychological fundamentals of creativity and the practical components of innovation with their direct applications in business, the arts, and sciences. Tricia has a Masters in Counseling and Human Relations from Villanova University and a Doctorate in Interdisciplinary Leadership from Creighton University where her dissertation focused on collaboration and a leaders creative problem solving preferences. Tricia has authored and co-authored a number of publications over the years, most recently a chapter in Emerald Publishing’s “Grassroots Leadership and the Arts for Social Change” entitled Benevolent Subversion: Graffiti, Street Art, and the Emergence of the Anonymous Leader.

 Annemarie Boss is a facilitator and experience designer who helps organizations move from complexity to clarity through deliberate creative process. As the founder of Boss Collaborative, she works with scientific institutions, public sector agencies, nonprofits, and corporate teams to design strategic workshops, innovation labs, and facilitated processes that unlock fresh thinking and collective momentum. 

Annemarie is a lead facilitator and project manager with Knowinnovation Inc., where she helps to accelerate science by bringing interdisciplinary teams together to solve big, messy problems. She designs and facilitates high-stakes Ideas Labs for agencies such as the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and NASA. 

Annemarie holds a B.A. from Stetson University and is a lifelong learner, earning certifications in tools such as LEGO Serious Play, FourSight, and other creative methodologies. She lives in Florida with her son, where she also hosts nature-based creativity workshops on a 40-acre flower farm. 

Todd Cluff is a leadership consultant, executive coach, and former area superintendent with more than three decades of experience guiding schools, leaders, and organizations through meaningful change. As President of C4 Leadership Solutions and founder of CluffsNotes, he works with K-12 and higher education leaders to integrate reflective supervision, systems thinking, and AI-enhanced tools into their practice.

A lifelong educator, Todd has served as principal of two elementary schools, overseen 19 schools as a regional superintendent, and taught as an adjunct instructor at the University of South Florida and Saint Leo University. His career has centered on building trust-based cultures, fostering creative problem solving, and equipping educators and leaders to align strategy with human connection.

Passionate about storytelling, creativity, and joyful learning, Todd brings to CEF a belief that innovation flourishes when people feel seen, heard, and empowered. He is a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach, podcast creator, and proud grandfather (a.k.a. “Papa”) who continues to explore how curiosity, play, and reflection shape both leadership and learning.

Scott Conners, CFA is a Managing Director, President and Investment Committee Member with FlowStone Partners. Scott is responsible for product development, fundraising, transaction origination, due diligence, structuring, and closing. Since 1993, he has sourced or been directly involved with the investment of nearly $7 billion. Prior to joining FlowStone Partners, Scott spent 22 years at Landmark Partners, one of the oldest and one of the leading private equity and real estate secondary purchasers. He joined Landmark in 1993 in the very early days of the private equity secondary market’s development. Scott participated in the market’s growth from less than $500 million per year in transaction volume to over $40 billion a year. He specialized in developing unique transaction structures and was an early-mover in asset lift-outs and fund restructurings. Scott retired in 2015 as a Partner with responsibility for co-managing Landmark’s private equity secondary activities, with over $11 billion in committed capital. Scott is the recently retired Board Chair of Hartford Youth Scholars, a non-profit focused on educational enhancement and access for the underserved youth of Hartford, CT.

Scott received his B.A. in Business Economics from the University of Maine at Farmington and his M.B.A. from The Pennsylvania State University. He has been a Chartered Financial Analyst since 1996 and is a member of the Hartford Society of Financial Analysts. He holds the FINRA Series 7 and Series 63 registrations.

Carey Duncan, MSc., RN is a senior healthcare leader with over 25 years of experience across health system administration and the pharmaceutical industry. She brings expertise in health system transformation, policy advocacy, and strategic partnerships that improve patient outcomes, access to care, and organizational performance.

Carey currently serves as a Regional Health System Specialist at AstraZenecaand has held leadership roles in long-term care, key account management, and marketing. Carey holds a Master of Science from Queen’s University and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Ottawa.

Stephanie Kord Miller is a business strategist, operator, and founder of Empower Your Results, where she helps founders and leadership teams redesign how work gets done so businesses can grow without depending on one person.

Across more than 25 years in media, technology, and organizational transformation, she has built and scaled multimillion-dollar business lines, led cross-functional teams, and guided complex product and operating-model change at organizations including NPR Digital Services, Blackboard, and CBS Boston. She contributed to the launch of NPR One by bringing stations into product development and aligning stakeholders across the public media system.

Stephanie’s work focuses on leadership capability, practical innovation, and operating environments that help people do their best work. She believes better businesses create better lives—and that deliberate creativity is essential to solving difficult organizational and community problems.

A Boston College graduate, she lives in Boston with her husband, two children, and two noisy dogs.