Rodney Holt is a highly experienced practitioner in leadership and organizational learning, with a passion for coaching and a commitment to lifelong learning. He brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise, drawing on his experience in senior leadership positions in Residential Development, Higher Education, University Athletics, and various business development roles across Oil & Gas and Natural Resource Industries.
Rod holds an undergraduate degree in Management & Finance from the University of Lethbridge and M.Ed. in Adult Learning & Leadership from the University of Victoria. His doctorate (Ed.D.) in Higher Education Administration is expected for completion in 2024 . As the Associate Vice-President of Academics for a Polytechnic University, he emphasized the importance of bridging the relationship between industry leaders and the academic community by reimagining traditional degree constructs into micro-credentialed pathways.
Mr. Holt has developed learning experiences in oil and gas, sales, construction, government, and more. He fosters relationships and trust through active listening, establishing creative spaces for individuals to be self-reflective and innovative in articulating the opportunities that are available. He carefully uses questions coupled with deep listening and supportive coaching tools to enable individuals to discover the right questions to ask and see progressive pathways forward.
Rod serves as a community coach for football, basketball, and youth leadership initiatives. He and his family are passionate outdoor activists who enjoy spending time in the pristine Canadian Rockies.
John Lee Gaston White is a writer, poet, entrepreneur, and investor who champions emotional expression as a catalyst for both personal and national transformation. Through poetry and storytelling, his work explores healing, self-discovery, and the inner revolution required to build a freer, more just world.
John is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Global Leader Innovation, LLC. He is also the Managing Member of RaumCo, an advisory firm with a tech-hybrid investment philosophy that has sourced over $3.5 billion in opportunities and launched a $30 million venture capital fund of funds.
Previously, he helped grow a private family office from $1.2 billion to $2 billion in assets under management. He also served as the first Regional & Country Head for ANZ and Asia Pacific at MetricStream, a Silicon Valley–based, venture-backed GRC technology firm. His leadership continues to foster cross-border collaboration and global innovation.
A graduate of Morehouse College and a Kauffman Fellow (Class 25), John blends strategic insight with creative expression. He is the Founder and Creative Director of Gaston & Claudine, a luxury fashion platform that fuses family legacy, sustainability, and poetic storytelling. Recognized by Glamour Magazine Poland as a “name worth knowing,” he builds ventures across generations and geographies.
His forthcoming memoir, HOLD ME: I AM THE NATION, is a deeply personal narrative structured around foundational U.S. documents. Through these texts, John weaves a story of resilience, belonging, and self-liberation—offering a powerful meditation on the personal work required for collective transformation.
Spencer Holt is an award-winning educator, speaker, designer, executive coach, and regarded as one of the leading thinkers in the field of leadership, change, innovation and creating a culture of belonging & performance.
Spencer currently serves as Chief Experience and People Officer for Merlin Entertainments, the world’s second largest amusements company. He previously served as Chief Learning Officer at Global Leader Group. Prior to this, Dr. Holt was Head of the Commercial Learning and Innovation Centre for Astra Zeneca Pharmaceuticals, and earlier was Director, Global Leader & Enterprise Development and Director, Global Commercial Academy with Astra Zeneca.
Spencer also is a prolific speaker and delivers keynote addresses all over the world. Dr. Holt holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management from the University of Lethbridge with a Master’s in Higher Education Leadership and a Ph.D. in Leadership Development from UNLV. He is the author of multiple scholarly articles in leadership development and hosts a regular podcast, “Small Things Make a Big Difference”.
Cassius F. Butts is a nationally known trusted advisor, executive, and serial entrepreneur. He has spent his career owning his own firm, leading and working for financial institutions or U. S. government agencies all throughout the past 25 years. Cassius has served as an official to four presidential administrations, leading efforts in the economics/finance, housing, and small business sectors. In 2019, he co-hosted the inaugural White House Opportunity Zone & Revitalization Council summit held in Atlanta. During his two-year assignment as an executive in residence at the Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University, the College achieved the #2 national ranking as “The Most Innovative College/University in 2018, according to U. S. News & World Reports. In 2017, Cassius helped raise over $2 billion for his client in the pursuit to acquire a professional sports team. He is also credited as the co-creator of the inaugural “Inside the Huddle” financial symposium held during Super Bowl week in Atlanta; a partnership between the U. S. Chamber of Commerce and the NFL Players Association (The Trust).
In 2011 Cassius was appointed by the 44th President of the United States (Obama Administration) as Regional Administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). It was with SBA where he managed five record-breaking years of lending within the eight southern states. He strategically managed and achieved over $30 billion dollars in small business lending during his appointment. Under the George W. Bush Administration, Cassius served as a Presidential Management Fellow within the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD). He assisted in the establishment of HUD’s multimillion marketing procurement process and was named Branch Chief of the Real Estate Owned division during his tenure.
Cassius is a graduate of Morehouse College, Clark Atlanta University’s Graduate School of Public Administration, and Emory University’s Life Learning Institute where he received a Certificate in Grant Writing. He enjoys volunteering his time with several organizations such as Chairman of the Fort McPherson Local Redevelopment Authority, Board Advisor for the Morehouse College Department of Business and Economics, and the Georgia Department of Economic Development Board. He also serves on the PGA TOUR Championship Host Committee, National Black MBA Association Board, and the WellStar Health Systems-Research Review Board. Born in Philadelphia, PA, Cassius was raised in Orlando, FL, and currently resides in Atlanta, GA. He enjoys the creation of the multimedia podcast www.talktocassius.com which focuses on today’s business, sports, and entertainment topics. Cassius continues to follow the motto; “your passion is your purpose, and your purpose is your plan.”
Jodi Orgill Brown is a strategist-turned-survivor on a mission to help leaders and teams improve interpersonal interactions to grow stronger from struggle and catapult from change. She is a resilience & antifragility expert professional speaker, trainer, award-winning author, certified business coach and consultant, and a brain tumor survivor.
Through her work at Global Leader Group, she’s taught and inspired thousands of organizational leaders to influence through their interactions, and create systems for growth.
Jodi helps individuals thrive through speaking and business coaching, resilience and communication courses, and through her inspirational YouTube channel.
She earned a master’s degree in organizational leadership & communication, a bachelor’s degree in public relations, and is an Exactly What to Say® certified guide.
When organizations like Comcast, AstraZeneca, Coldwell Banker, and United Way want their people to grow together through change, they reach out to Jodi.
She is the 2023 Storytelling Champ (National Speakers Association MW), an award-winning author, and she earned a master’s and bachelor’s degree.
Jodi and her husband, Tolan, live in an idyllic mountain valley in Northern Utah, where they are raising four children.
Nancy Murphy has been a business owner and partner for the past 20 years. After her husband, Dale, retired from baseball, they worked together to create and grow Dale Murphy, LLC, where Nancy is head of operations. In this capacity, she handles all of the planning, logistics, customer engagement, and support for Dale’s speaking and appearance events. She also co-owns a restaurant in Atlanta with Dale (“Murphs”). During the first 20 years of their marriage, Nancy’s time was filled with raising their eight children and keeping their life balanced during the busy years of Dale’s Major League Baseball career.
Nancy spent 3 years side-by-side with Dale in a volunteer position for their Church supervising 700 young people in Boston between 1997-2000 where she held responsibility for a variety of roles from emotional support and counseling to education and strategy.
Nancy is an author, speaker, and Certified Clifton Strengths Coach. She joins Global Leader Group excited to share her life experience with others and help businesses and individuals find their greatest strengths and reach their highest potential.
Sean is a global sales executive with over 25 years of experience across multiple industries from medical to financial services to network marketing. In his most current role, his responsibilities have included leading over ten thousand sales professionals spanning thirteen countries. Sean is a strategic thinker who is known for his ability to remove and navigate obstacles. He spends significant time teaching execution and accountability while building a reputation as someone who delivers results to the top and bottom lines. His holistic approach to sales management, leadership development, and industry-leading sales training delivers immediate returns to sales organizations worldwide.
In his role as Global VP of Sales for Youngevity, Sean was tasked with uncovering gaps in sales performance across multiple markets. By working with Country Sales Heads and meeting the needs of those gaps with real-time strategies, Sean delivered results totaling 120 million dollars annually. Sean’s success can be tied to his front-line experience as a top performer across many roles with large companies such as Bank of America & HSBC.
Sean is a firm believer in excellence, hard work, and leadership development. He believes that by investing in your internal team and helping them to deliver a first-class experience to customers, companies will separate themselves from the competition. As a student of the sales cycle and customer experience, he has learned to deliver an immediate lift to clients in a tangible way. Sean possesses the ability to help leaders identify and retain top talent while working with them to become aware of blind spots that are holding them back.
Sean resides in Utah with his wife Annelise of 23 years and their 4 sons ages 12 through 20. They are very much a soccer family with their two youngest sons 14 & 12 playing all year round. Their family is very active in the community with Annelise serving as a volunteer head of a large women’s organization, and Sean teaching volunteer leadership classes to groups of youth around Utah.
Devonia is a business, mind management, and emotional intelligence coach for leaders, with special expertise in entrepreneurship. Clients come to her for clarity and direction on how to be resilient and joyful on their professional and personal journey, whether they are launching or growing a business, taking on challenging new roles or becoming more deliberate in creating a vision and plan for living their best life.
Mrs. DeBeck was trained and certified at the prestigious Life Coach School and brings over 15 years of experience as a successful business owner in both the real estate and design industries. In addition to coaching, she is known as the executive search expert, delivering talent for her business client’s critical C-level and senior leadership roles.
Devonia’s coaching philosophy: Mindset work is not a destination. It’s a lifestyle of continuously checking in with yourself and doing a little mind management and thought clean up as you evolve. The more you grow and achieve in life, the more you will discover how important it is to review and refine your beliefs. This is the key to feeling grounded at every level of success. Life is an emotional 50/50 split, with emotions that feel good and emotions that don’t. No need to resist, react to or distract ourselves from uncomfortable feelings. When we accept that split as part of this human life, then we can grow from the 50% that challenges us and thrive with the 50% that thrill us.
In her spare time, she sits on several boards of charities and professional associations. Devonia currently calls Canada home. She and her husband consider themselves foodies, love to travel, and entertain with family and friends.
