The Soderquist Center for Leadership & Ethics

Meet Our Team

We are a passionate, vibrant group from diverse backgrounds. With many years of combined experience in leadership and organizational development, you’ll find we have encountered and faced just about every leadership and organizational challenge there is among a vast range of industries. Members of our team also belong to many professional organizations including: Organizational Development Network, Arkansas Executive Forum, Association for Challenge Course Technology (ACCT), American Society of Training and Develoment (ASTD), Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Human Capital Institute (HCI), and The Alban Institute.

Don Soderquist | Founding Executive
Don Soderquist is the business leader for whom our Center is named and officially serves as our Founding Executive, providing direction and inspiration to our team. Don spent over 20 years with Walmart, and after Sam Walton died, Don became known as “The Keeper of the Culture.” Don led the company as Chief Operating Officer during a period marked by exponential growth. Under his watch, Walmart grew from being the largest retailer in the world with sales of $43.9 billion the year of Sam’s death, to becoming the largest company in the world with sales over $200 billion. Walmart’s success is grounded in the highly ethical, performance-focused, servant leadership philosophies that Sam and Don instilled in the hearts of every associate. Don's passion now is to teach those same principles to companies and organizations around the world.

Chuck Hyde | Chief Operating Officer | chyde@jbu.edu
Chuck Hyde serves as our COO. He is responsible for the overall operations, staff, and facilities of the Soderquist Center. He joined the Center in 2005. In addition to operations, he has served in customer relations and business development roles. Prior to his work at the Center, Chuck was a team leader for Kimberly-Clark Corporation, having worked for 12 years in personal care products supply chain operations. His professional experience includes roles both in manufacturing facilities and central staff assignments in operations, operations support functions, and project leadership. This experience provides significant insight into some of the greatest challenges leaders face and a connection to the alternatives that exist to meet them. Chuck earned his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Arkansas in 1992 and his MBA from John Brown University in 2008. Chuck is a die-hard Razorback fan and loves calling the Hogs with 70,000 of his closest friends.

Tom Verdery | Executive in Residence | tverdery@jbu.edu
Tom Verdery serves as Executive in Residence for the Soderquist Center and also teaches in the Graduate Business division at JBU. Tom has over 34 years of experience working with Procter & Gamble, of which the last 14 years spent at the senior leadership level working exclusively outside the US with Wal-Mart, Inc. Tom came to Northwest Arkansas in 1989 when P&G asked him to be part of the first supplier team with Wal-Mart. With the exception of 3 years in Mexico, leading P&G’s first International team with Wal-Mart, he and his family have remained in the Northwest Arkansas area. Tom’s areas of expertise include: Strategic Planning & Execution, Executive Coaching, Leadership & Ethics, and Starting and Leading Multifunctional Customer Teams. Tom holds a Master of Business Administration in Management from The University of Dallas and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing from Texas Tech University.

Wendy Soderquist Togami | Director of Emerging Leaders/Communications | wsoderquist@jbu.edu
Wendy Soderquist Togami serves the the Soderquist Center for Leadership and Ethics as the Director of Emerging Leaders/Communications. She provides our emerging leaders (graduate and undergraduate students) with real experiences through our Leadership minor, seminars, and fellowships. Wendy is responsible for marketing, research and development in our center and provides keynote speaking and facilitation to a variety of our customers. Wendy brings experience in innovative leadership development from several colleges and universities, including eight years of student leadership development at Taylor University. She has a particular passion for not-for-profit agencies and has several years of experience working in this arena. Wendy holds her Master of Arts in Student Personnel Administration in Higher Education. In her spare time, Wendy enjoys running and playing tennis with her husband, Kai, and enjoying their 6 young-adult children.

Ryan Hale | Director of Business Development | rhale@jbu.edu
Ryan Hale serves as our Director of Business Development. He comes to the Soderquist Center with a variety of experiences that are used to partner with individuals and organizations to leverage the unique tools of the Center to lead companies toward long term sustainability. Ryan is a graduate of the University of Arkansas where he was captain of the football team. He went on to be drafted by the New York Giants and played in Super Bowl XXXV. After playing football, Ryan joined the staff of Arkansas Athletes Outreach on the campus of the University of Arkansas. Banking is where he gained unique experiences in business development as a Senior Vice President and Chief Lending Officer. His exposure to businesses of all sizes has prepared him with the ability to customize solutions for an ever-changing corporate climate.

Gary Swyers | Director of Design & Delivery | gswyers@jbu.edu
Gary Swyers serves as our Director of Design & Delivery. An experienced facilitator, educator, outdoor leader and experiential learning instructor, Gary oversees the design and delivery of content and experiential learning components provided for our customers. Prior to joining us, Gary served as a professor and the Director of Center for Experiential Learning at Indiana Wesleyan University. He has extensive outdoor and education experience, having contributed to the development of adventure leadership programs, college level courses, three ropes courses, and an international service program for university students. When not in the office creating or facilitating on the ropes course, Gary is reading or gardening.

Sandy Tush | Design & Delivery Manager/Senior Facilitator | stush@jbu.edu
Sandy Tush serves as a Manager and Senior Facilitator on our Design & Delivery team. She is involved with the creation and facilitation of both customized and open enrollment programs. This work includes the utilization of a variety of assessment instruments to help leaders identify their strengths and development needs. Sandy brings over 25 years experience in education and people development. She served as the Executive Development Center program manager at Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., before joining our team. Prior to that, she held the position of Content Developer / Facilitator for Home Office People Development. She also taught Computer Science courses at community colleges. Sandy is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD). She also has multiple certifications, including Professional in Human Resources (PHR), Discovering EQ, The Birkman Method, and many more. She can be found on the local running trails and also enjoys time at home with her husband, Mike.

Heather Davidson | Design & Delivery Talent and Resource Manager | hdavidson@jbu.edu
Heather Davidson serves as the Talent and Resource Manager for Design & Delivery. Her responsibilities are customer-driven, developing and delivering customized programs as well as providing ongoing support to the customer’s leadership team during project implementation. Heather comes to the Center from OU MEDICAL CENTER in Oklahoma City where she served as an Organizational Development Consultant. Her work with the Executive and Senior Leadership teams provided opportunity to hone her skills in leadership and organizational development, and project management. She holds a Master of Arts in Organization Dynamics from the University of Oklahoma and is a graduate of the University of Arkansas where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Education and Health Professions. Heather resides in Fayetteville with her husband, Dustin, a corporate pilot and two loving pets. She loves mysteries and detective work...in novels, movies and TV shows.

Loren Hancock | Customer Relations Manager, Business Development | lhancock@jbu.edu
Loren Hancock is Customer Relations Manager and is responsible for establishing and maintaining relationships with donors and strategic partners, as well as working with business leaders to help them understand the practical solutions the Center can offer to meet their business and organizational challenges. Loren has been married to his wonderful wife, Leslie, for over 30 years and has three daughters, two son-in-laws and six grandchildren. He loves to jog, trail bike and play golf.

Bryson Moore | Communications Manager | bmoore@jbu.edu
Bryson Moore is our Communications Manager. He leads our marketing and communication strategy in an effort to position the Center as a globally recognized resource on Values-Based Leadership and Organizational Development. He is a graduate of JBU with a Bachelors degree in Digital Media and a Masters in Business Administration. Bryson spent seven years at Gray Communications where he was most recently Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President of Freedom Begins Here (a brand owned by Gray Communications). Bryson is an avid blogger and you can read his thoughts on marketing, leadership and a variety of other topics at www.brysonmoore.com. Bryson has been married for seven years to his wife and best friend, Mandy (a business professor at John Brown University). They don’t have any kids, but they do have a Cocker Spaniel named Nemo Rodriguez and a King Cavalier Spaniel named Dori.

Ruth Davis | Hospitality and Events Manager | rudavis@jbu.edu
Ruth Wallin Davis serves as the Hospitality and Events Manager at Greystone Estate, our Executive Development Center in Rogers, Arkansas, and is responsible for the Estate overall. She also manages the hospitality and special event needs for events held at the Soderquist Center in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. Ruth is a graduate of Indiana University and has over 15 years of experience in event marketing and planning in both the corporate and private sectors. Moving here in 2003 for a one-year commitment to open the first regional office for her former employer, Ruth has now lived in Arkansas for nearly seven years with her loving, Arkansan husband Ken. Away from the Center, Ruth enjoys hiking and geocaching with her husband and she still practices the lost art of letter writing.


Sue Axmark Business Development Assistant saxmark@jbu.edu	Helen Hall Emerging Leaders / Communications Assistant hhall@jbu.edu	Lesa Cross Design & Delivery Assistant and Program Coordinator lcross@jbu.edu

Jenni Stiles Operations Coordinator jstiles@jbu.edu	John Honey Experiential Learning Coordinator jhoney@jbu.edu	Christy Hall Graphic Designer chall@jbu.edu

Frank Laakman Greystone Estate Grounds & Maintenance flaakman@jbu.edu	Patty Murphy Greystone Estate Housekeeping Coordinator pmurphy@jbu.edu	Rita Clemans Greystone Hospitality Lead Associate rclemans@jbu.edu

David Greer (bio) Design & Delivery Project Coordinator greerd@jbu.edu	Rikki Marler (bio) Emerging Leaders / Communications Project Coordinator marlerr@jbu.edu	Nolan Thomas (bio) Design & Delivery Project Coordinator thomasn@jbu.edu

Clayton Anderson (bio) Emerging Leaders / Communications Project Coordinator andersonct@jbu.edu	Ali Lewis (bio) Design & Delivery Project Coordinator lewisa@jbu.edu	Jacob Little (bio) Design & Delivery Project Coordinator littlejd@jbu.edu