The Board

Jeff Sturm has more than 25 years of experience in financial services, information technology, strategy, operations, and continuous improvement. He has held c-suite and executive level positions in both fortune 500 size market-place businesses as well as serving in and supporting all sizes of non-profit organizations.    

Mr. Sturm has held a variety of positions with core focus areas in business strategy, culture change, capability development, customer experience, and process improvement.     

In business Jeff currently holds the position of Chief Continuous Improvement Officer for Huntington Bank, a $100 billion super regional bank headquartered in Columbus, OH. Prior to Huntington Jeff served as senior vice president in charge of group strategy, operations, and capability development for Fiserv. Fiserv is a 22,000 person, global technology leader in financial service solutions.    

Jeff also founded and leads two businesses serving the non-profit community. Through iElev8 Consulting Jeff and his staff are focused on harnessing the power of for-profit business skill, expertise, and practices to advance the mission and vision of both large and small non-profit organizations. Jeff is also the managing director of Heart Heroes, a non-profit organization centered on serving the people, who serve people, who are in need — inspiring hearts, connecting heroes, and unleashing lives. Through these efforts Jeff and team have had the opportunity to come alongside organizations and leaders serving areas such as Human Trafficking, Medical Care, College and Universities, Churches, Community Restoration, and more.

Sturm graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor's degree, having majored in math and minored in computer science. He holds certifications in change management, six sigma, leadership, technology, and a variety of other content areas.    

Jeff and his wife, Becky have four children and reside in Powell, OH where they also own and operate a local floral & wedding business called "something borrowed, something blooms."

Dr. Kemper has a variety of professional experiences including leadership development and human capital consulting, change management, project management and instructional design. Dr. Kemper has worked in Spain, Thailand and China.

Currently, Alan works as a Professor of Business at Point University where he invests his talents and business experiences into developing the next generation of business leaders. He also is the President and Founder of LEAD Workforce Consulting where he and his staff partner with small to medium sized businesses to further their human capital strategy and execution through leadership training, employee engagement metrics and strategy, selection and promotion assessments and management coaching.  

He received a B.S. in Management from the Georgia Institute of Technology, an M.B.A. from Auburn University, and a Doctorate in Business Administration at George Fox University with a focus in Management. His dissertation topic focused on employee engagement and leadership. He also holds a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Certification, from Georgia Tech, as well as the credentials of a Certified Associate in Project Manager, from the Project Management Institute.   

Alan resides in Lagrange, Georgia and loves hunting, hiking, boating, working with non-profits and spending time with his wife Allison and two children Aida and Cecil.  

Robert currently serves as Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at CharterBank, a Super Community Bank based in West Point, GA, where he oversees strategy execution, the continuous improvement program, and the business intelligence team.     

Robert has corporate experience in strategy development and execution, change leadership, business intelligence and analytics, project management, and continuous improvement. He also spent a portion of his early career founding and leading a college ministry in Birmingham, England.     

Robert graduated from Georgia Tech with a Bachelors in Computer Engineering and is a certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.  

Currently, Robert is completing his MBA from Georgia Tech with a focus in Management of Technology.     Robert and his wife, Natalie, have three children (and a fourth on the way) and currently reside in Lanett, AL.

WellStar West Georgia Medical Center, Director of Lean Improvement

Since 2001, Tara Barrett has worked with companies and organizations to improve their processes by implementing Lean Six Sigma concepts and culture. 

She has been fortunate to work in a variety of areas including manufacturing, service, healthcare and government. She helps organizations create more value for their customers by coaching them through facility-wide transformation and training others to lead teams through improvement projects.

Mrs. Barrett is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt and has her B.S. in industrial engineering from Georgia Tech. She is completing requirements to receive her M.S. in Organizational Leadership from Mercer University.

Milliken & Company, Global Strategic Sustainability Leader

Philip Ivey is the strategic sustainability leader for Milliken’s global 

floor covering division. As such, Philip is actively engaged with reducing the environmental, safety, and health impacts of Milliken products on nature, Milliken associates, and Milliken’s customers. Philip steers the Design for Environment efforts for Milliken flooring, manages Milliken’s global sustainability certifications, and collaborates 

with the operation teams on waste, water, energy and greenhouse gas reduction projects. Philip is on the Board of Directors for the Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) which works on market-based solutions for the elimination of post-consumer carpet going to landfills in the US. Philip has worked in Milliken’s floor covering division for the past 30 

years in and around manufacturing. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Auburn University, a Post-Graduate Diploma in Corporate Sustainability from Furman University and earned his MBA in Business Transformation from Point University. Philip is a LEED Green Associate, a WELL Accredited Professional, and a Lean/Six Sigma Black Belt.