Imo Leadership

   Xavier Fowler is an enthusiastic, insightful, lover of learning and sharer of knowledge. A recent graduate of the University of Connecticut. He earned his B.A. in Chinese and B.G.S in Kinesiology, Exercise Science coursework. He is also a graduate of the Beijing Institute for Education in Beijing, China where he studied Chinese language and culture. 

He currently works as a Youth program Coordinator with Husky Sport, a University of Connecticut affiliated program that focuses on bringing physical literacy, nutrition education, academic support and transferrable life skills to students at Fred D. Wish school; additionally, as a Driving Instructor for CT licensure. 

Xavier is an outgoing individual that only pursues avenues that help further a mission of helping improve the lives of others, especially the plundered, minoritized and marginalized. He is most passionate about equity, Sport Based Youth Development, and Self-improvement through acquiring knowledge and practice along the 7 areas of well-being (spiritual, intellectual, physical, emotional, social, environmental, occupational). He believes that happiness and actualization is a by-product of creating wholistic wellness conditions for oneself. He is currently studying for his Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist certification and plans on pursuing a master’s degree in Sport-Based Youth Development.

Gordon LeVasseur is an educator and a game designer. He is friend to many, enemy to few, and an all-around decent guy.

Gordon is an educator and has been for the last 25 years. He currently teaches middle school math at Hartford Magnet Trinity College Academy. Gordon has worked with a wide array of children – from struggling students to talented and gifted learners. Most of his teaching has been with elementary school children, and he has worked with individuals, small groups, and in classrooms. Additionally, he has lead teams of teachers, written curriculum, conducted educator training, and served as the local teachers’ union president.

Gordon is a published game designer. He has designed Keepers of the Questar and co-designed the upcoming Space Jam: Serververse Showdown Card Game, both for Upper Deck. Working with Forever Stoked Creative, Gordon was one of the designers of Blow My Mind for Kickstarter. He was the game designer for the Connecticut Historical Society’s latest exhibit – The Bicycle Game where museum goers make your way through the exhibition by playing games and solving puzzles in order to save bicycle history from the villainous Barnabus Boggs! It is a unique way to learn about the development of the bicycle and its impact on society.

It is no surprise that he teaches and makes games, Gordon believes that curiosity and imagination are vital to the growth and learning of an individual. Play is the way and there is no wrong way to play. Whether it is around a table with dice, in a gym with equipment, or among the trees of a forest with ropes – a young person needs to feel safe and secure so that they can take the reasonable risks that are necessary for their flourishing.

Dennis is an experienced management and technology consultant, with over 30 years of industry experience across Insurance, Healthcare, Legal and other industries. Dennis is passionate about the potential impacts that artificial intelligence and machine learning can have. He also advises customers on technology choices and transition to the cloud. Dennis supports the IT community through organizing and public speaking at user groups like Hartford SQL Server User Group, Power BI User Group, Code Camps, Boston Architect Summit and IT Round table for business users.

REPRESENTATIVE ENGAGEMENTS

New England Give Camp
For the last 10 years has participated and coordinated 100 to 150 individuals for this annual “hackathon” event to assist charities. Activities include PayPal integration for donations, event calendaring, social media usage and analytics. Volunteers typically work round the clock during this 3-day event.

Theia Solutions LLC

Founder of socially responsible technology firm for non-profits, schools and other start-ups leveraging a “mobile first" application development strategy. Services focused on information architecture, application development and cloud hosting.

Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology (CCAT)

In partnership with CCAT, developed “Goodwin Choice” application for magnet school enrollment lotteries.

Sentiment Analysis

Developed “Omni Analytics Engine” leveraging Bing and Twitter search to locate matching topics in question. Results were passed to text analytics for topic detection, key phrase and sentiment analysis. 

EXPERTISE

Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Management and Analytics, Solution Architecture, Technology Transformation

    Driven by a passion for education and equity, Nicole has centered her career around connecting young people of all ages to educational opportunities. 

Nicole is a peace education and youth development professional, with over 12 years of practice in a variety of settings, ranging from her service as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic to local and national non-profits in the U.S. Nicole first found her way into youth development through Outward Bound, where she fell in love with outdoor education. An alumna of the Practicum for Experiential Peacebuilding program with Outward Bound's Center for Peacebuilding, she discovered experiential peacebuilding through the Outward Bound community as well. She is an advocate for experiential peacebuilding, and believes that facilitating opportunities that create common ground across lines of difference not only creates connection, but can also be an avenue to building more just and equitable systems -- and a more just world. 

Nicole earned her Bachelor’s degree and K-6 teaching certificate in elementary education at Bridgewater College and earned her graduate degree in International Peace and Conflict Resolution at American University. 

Currently, Nicole is the community engagement director for Reading Partners in Baltimore, MD where she lives a sailor's dream on the Chesapeake Bay with her husband and pup, Baxter.

 Jason Hyland is training manager at a behavioral and mental health services nonprofit. He retired as a police lieutenant at the University of Connecticut Police Department after 23 years in policing. He lead the agency’s Community Outreach Unit as well as a matrixed team of public education and engagement officers across the state. Prior to serving UConn, he was a police officer at the University of Arizona Police Department in Tucson, a corrections officer for the State of Arizona, and an adventure educator in camps and resorts. During his police career he served in patrol, special victim’s unit, professional standards, and community outreach capacities. 

His expertise includes stakeholder relationship building, problem solving models, collaborative governance strategies, public education and engagement, event management, facilitating adventure programs and experiential peacebuilding programs, and organizational strategic planning. He specializes in curriculum and educational program development, public information campaign development, classroom facilitation and instruction, managing program goals and objectives, and program assessment.

He has been recognized for creating a Police Community Challenge wherein groups of community members and police officers engage in a day-long sequence of challenge course activities focused on reducing negative perceptions of “other” and building strong interpersonal relationships and problem solving skills that enhance public confidence in their law enforcement agents and provide officers with greater skills for community engagement. This initiative is one of only a few such programs in the nation and engages in independent data collection to measure program efficacy. It has been featured at a national conference of outdoor recreation and experiential education. 

His education and facilitation history extends over thirty years and includes over 3,000 hours of direct facilitation and instruction for well over 15,000 participants in a variety of outdoor, classroom, and workshop settings . A lifelong leaner, he  finished a Bachelor's Degree on the same day he retired from policing. 30 years in the making, he completed his B.S. in General Studies with a focus in Child & Youth Development.