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Multi-Disciplinary | Experienced | Caring | Passionate | Innovative | Dedicated

The Da Vinci Team

Professionals with a Passion to Serve and Create Uncommon Value for Our Clients

Da Vinci brings an unparalleled ‘dream team’ of caring and passionate professionals with the skills and experience to successfully address many of the issues faced by individuals, families, and businesses. Our team is comprised of highly-coordinated independent contractors that work collaboratively and systematically which is important for you to have access to 'best of breed' consultants—rather than limited just to in-house resources—and avoid the confusion and chaos created when dealing with one-off consultants.

Michael Beduze

Michael Beduze

MANAGING PARTNER - Lafayette, LA

While now serving fulltime as a family and business consultant, Michael has experienced a diverse, 40-year+ professional career serving as an investment specialist for a New York Stock Exchange firm and CEO to a number of companies (including his family-owned wealth management firm). Michael is a certified consultant for two international human performance organizations and is a certified alignment optimization consultant.

 

In 1998, Michael began what would become an intense 20-year study of human and family dynamics and organizational behavior. His education spans courses on: life coaching; to a year of weekly meetings with a team of psychologists working on best practices for living a purposeful life; to multiple memberships in national, multi-disciplinary professional study groups and think tanks on family and human dynamics; to executive training received under leading experts in human, family and organizational behavior from Harvard, Georgetown, Northwestern and many other thought leaders in the field. He also received training from professors at Georgetown’s Bowen Center for the Study of Families (Bowen Family Theory). On a practical level, he has been working intensely with families and their issues for 40+ years. This work has included counseling with couples, families and business owners to reconcile severe strains in relationships.
 

Michael received his undergraduate degree in Business Management from the University of Louisiana and has attained several professional designations related to his earlier career serving as a financial advisor, including Certified Financial Planner®, Chartered Financial Consultant®, Certified Retirement Administrator®, Chartered Life Underwriter® and Certified Retirement Counselor®.

 

Michael has substantial experience and expertise working in the realms of the business system; ownership system and the family system. Some specific competencies are in the areas of visioneering, innovation, strategic planning, cultural and other forms of alignment, leadership, human development, conflict resolution, exit planning, group facilitation and family office development.

 

Michael is married to his college sweetheart, Connie. They recently celebrated their 42nd anniversary and have three adult children, three children-in-law, one son-in-law, and three grandchildren. He is active in his church, enjoys family time and investing in the lives of others.

Tracy Morgan

Tracy Morgan

SENIOR CONSULTANT - Newark, DE

Tracy is one of the world's foremost experts in the management science of Alignment Optimization, having served the White House, governmental agencies, Fortune 500 firms, and a variety of middle market and non-profit organizations.

 

She is experienced in strategic planning, marketing, market research, organizational development, and financial analysis for organizations, including DuPont, the State of Delaware, General Electric, Saint-Gobain, and Procter and Gamble. In recent years her focus has been on the execution of transformational organizational change. Tracy also has extensive experience in niche market development, program implementation, and financial modeling. Her recent projects have been primarily in chemical, healthcare, finance and IT industries along with non-profit organizations.

 

Throughout her career, she has developed and implemented programs for organizations – large and small – that have reduced costs, conserved resources, improved quality, and increased revenues. She has developed, analyzed, presented, and implemented strategies producing organizational alliances that have led to expansion, growth, and acquisitions for middle-market companies, Fortune 500 divisions, and non-profits.

 

Tracy earned a chemical engineering degree from Princeton University and an MBA from Harvard University.

Rusty Cloutier

SENIOR CONSULTANT - Lafayette, LA

Rusty's former fifty-year career as one of America's leading bankers has allowed him to gain extensive wisdom and experience in helping businesses grow from startups to initial public offerings.

 

He started a bank in South Louisiana in 1985 and took it public in 1993 as the smallest bank to ever be listed on a major stock exchange in America. His team grew Midsouth Bank from one small location to 62 locations across two states—Louisiana and Texas—with two billion dollars in assets.

 

Rusty served as chairman of the largest bank trade association in America (ICBA), Rusty has been involved with banks in all fifty states and has been a guest speaker at many corporate events along with providing extensive testimony before Congress as a spokesman for the banking industry.

 

Of particular distinction, Rusty served on the Federal Reserve Board of Atlanta, and as a director of the Federal Reserve Energy CommitteeOver the last 30 years, he has helped many companies with strategic planning and overall performance improvement.. 

 

Rusty has changed sides of the table and now serves companies as their advocate for improving and strengthening their banking relationshipsHis vast knowledge and experience helps companies gain insight into national and global issues critical for capturing opportunities at home and abroad. He is a published author, and he has been a frequent guest on CNBC, Fox Business News, and Bloomberg radio and TV. Also, he has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and various trade publications. 

 

Ilze Alberts

Ilze Alberts

SENIOR CONSULTANT - Johannesburg, South Africa

Ilze is a registered Psychologist and Family Behavioral Strategist. She has vast experience in serving families internationally and assisting every member of families to unlock their true potential. Her chief aim in her service to families is to help build multi-generational powerful families, with the focus on fulfilled, inspired, meaningful and prosperous family members.

 

She holds a masters degree in Psychology, has more than 25-years of experience in working with the human behavior, psychology and empowerment of families. She is one of a handful of Master Demartini Method facilitators; a method with a thousand uses for mastering life. She is a popular speaker, author of books, blogs, and articles for both adults and children.

 

Ilze is the proud mother of three powerful and inspiring children, and she is married to the love of her life. She lives in Johannesburg, South Africa and calls the world her home, as she is an avid international traveler. “I dedicate myself to my own family and every family with the desire for purpose, fulfillment, meaning, inspiration, and prosperity for posterity.”

Corine Wofford

Corine Wofford

SENIOR CONSULTANT - San Antonio, TX

Corine provides training, coaching, and mentoring in Sales, Service, and Teams to help clients achieve the highest vision of their success — faster than they ever thought possible. She is an international speaker, Amazon best-selling co-author of "The Gratitude Book Project — Celebrating 365 Days of Gratitude," Author of the forthcoming book "The Business of Being the Difference: Rich Guidance on sharing your gifts, making more money and creating a meaningful difference in the world" and creator of the Negotiate with Success: Strategies to Build Your Business, Brand and Bank Account™ program.

 

As a high-energy Certified Master Facilitator, Corine is committed to delivering the skills and strategies that help transform Business Leaders and Women Entrepreneurs with a new mindset and skillset. She shows professionals how to overcome their limiting beliefs and communicate more powerfully so they can maximize their results and profits with greater ease and effectiveness.

 

As a Senior Instructor at USAA, Corine facilitated training and coaching in Sales and Service across the enterprise at USAA and helped to impact the company’s success and recognition as Customer Service Champs across all industries by Business Week. Corine has facilitated training for over 100,000 professionals, helping Fortune 500 companies like Apple, Sony, IBM, Exxon, and USAA increase customer satisfaction scores, retain top talent, negotiate multi-million dollar deals, and increase profits by hundreds of thousands of dollars.

 

Corine has celebrated over 25 years as an entrepreneur and community contributor, receiving numerous awards for her Outstanding Sales Performance and Leadership Advocacy. In her work with companies, entrepreneurs, and her community, Corine brings her energy and passion for training and mentoring to help leaders excel in high-level performance so they can Be the Difference in their companies, strengthen their communities, and share their legacy with the world.

Donna Schumell

Donna Schumell

SENIOR CONSULTANT - Milwaukee, WI

Because wealth is about more than money and leadership is more than command and control and women intuitively know this. Donna Schumell is your ‘redefining wealth and leadership for women expert’. Donna’s approach is tactical, practical and heart focused – her style is direct with humor and always with a focus on extraordinary results for her clients.

 

Donna wholeheartedly believes that the future belongs to women and her passion is to help women become more wealthy by leveraging their wealth and to help women increase leadership ability in a uniquely feminine way. With over 25-years experience of working with wealthy women, leaders and their families Donna has helped thousands to lead, live and love with more wealth.

 

Her background includes being a highly successful leader in the financial services industry as a tax lawyer and investment advisor. She has elevated the wealth and the leadership capabilities of women and men in industries within the corporate world, small businesses and entrepreneurial enterprises. Donna’s research into leadership and wealth provides strategies, tools, and tactics that are specifically designed to deliver the distinctive approach of ‘how a woman views both wealth and leadership’.

 

Donna is certified in a number of assessment tools such as Everything DiSC® (Workplace, Work of Leaders, 360 for Leaders, Management, and Sales); EQi 2.0, EQi 2.0 for Leaders, EQi 2.0 360; and she is a licensed facilitator for Situational Leadership II Concepts.

Tom Moucka

Tom Moucka

SENIOR CONSULTANT - Nashville, TN

Tom’s career mission is to help people make the world a better place through generosity. “It is a deep satisfaction for me to help others establish financial security for themselves, pass along a blessing to the next generation, and see to it that their favorite charities thrive.”


Tom’s experiences span the fields of legacy giving, nonprofit and church advancement, fundraising and capital campaigns, grant writing, board development and retreats, and conflict resolution. He wrote a book on legacy giving, "LegacyNow: A Step-By-Step Guide." He has been the special guest of the president of Benin, West Africa, part of the White House Faith-based and Community Initiative, and founding board member of two private schools.

 

Legacy Planning, Planned Giving, capital campaigns for building and debt reduction, board retreats, board development, nonprofit management, strategic fundraising, grant writing, conflict resolution and mediation, and small group facilitation are some of Tom’s specialties


Moucka earned a doctorate in leadership development from Regent University. His dissertation concentrated on strategic funding for faith-based nonprofits. Tom’s special interests include fly fishing, backpacking, golf, tennis and ultralight flying. He has four grown children and eight grandchildren.

Clark Brown

Clark Brown

SENIOR CONSULTANT - Athens, GA

I believe in the unlimited power of the human spirit. This spirit, together with the capacity to learn and grow is what fuels advancement. My passion is to empower people to maximize their human capital. Clark serves as a consultant and business coach to business leaders and their companies. My clients value my ability to help them think through their challenges, evaluate their options and discover the critical path for their journey.

 

To better serve my clients—from individuals to multi-national corporations—I have earned certifications in several leadership development and coaching practicum including the ITC Facilitator designation and the Extraordinary Leader Assessment Certification. I also hold the Certified Wealth Strategist designation and the Certified Wealth Mentor designation.

 

In my 30 year career I have come to learn firsthand that the combination of spirit and capacity is what propels innovation and enables people to come together to overcome challenging obstacles. It's human capital. It is what has driven me and it is my passion today.

 

When not working I enjoy volunteering and spending time with my wife and three children.

Jane Gentry

Jane Gentry

SENIOR CONSULTANT - Atlanta, GA

Jane Gentry didn’t dream of being a doctor as a kid, she wanted to star on Broadway. In her twenties, as she pursued her dream, she learned that eating is a good thing too. To make some money, she took a ‘short-term’ sales job in the event industry. When she left the industry ten years later, she was well fed and had had a successful career as a star closer and then vice president of sales.

 

Today she is a consultant for companies who value relationships. If your success or the success of your company involves achieving results through others, and those others happen to work for you or buy from you, then Jane will tell you that a Relationally Intelligent culture is critical to your success. Her firm helps organizations build systems, processes, and cultures that value relational as much as social. Jane says, ‘if you heard Relational Intelligence and thought we were speaking of the internet, you probably need us!”

 

In her years since earning her MFA, Jane has been an actor, teacher, salesperson, manager, VP and entrepreneur. Now she’s hired by companies big and small that are ready to grow sales, increase engagement and build more productive teams by becoming Relationally Intelligent. Phillips Medical, Stryker, The Home Depot, SunTrust Banks, Milliken and Company, Coca-Cola and GSK are just a few of the mega-companies whose performance she has impacted.

 

Jane feels blessed to be able to marry her business knowledge with her performance skills in a way that impacts her clients.

Susan Axelrod

Susan Axelrod

SENIOR CONSULTANT - Albany, NY

As a Philanthropy Advisor, Susan inspires people to understand life’s experience and purpose and helps to transform that passion into a Philanthropic Plan that makes an impact. Susan works with individuals, families, businesses and with professional advisors as a speaker, consultant, and coach.

Susan serves both as a Philanthropy Consultant to families; and, a Fundraising Coach for nonprofit CEOs and college Deans on high-level personal solicitation strategies. Being a donor and volunteer has provided a realistic perspective and insight into her work with individuals and charitable organizations.

 

She is the Global Strategic Advisor for Jewish Girls Unite, an organization she helped co-found based on her own Philanthropic Passion, a desire to "help our Jewish daughters become Jewish mothers."

 

Susan is married to her college sweetheart, Howard Axelrod and has two daughters, Rebecca and Sarah, in whose honor she works daily on Jewish Girls Unite. She lives in the Capital Region of NY.

Sandi Mitchell

Sandi Mitchell

SENIOR CONSULTANT - Dallas, TX

Sandi Mitchell is dedicated to both people and profitability through an intentional emphasis on leadership, negotiation, and emotional intelligence for extraordinary leaders. Sandi knows leadership requires more than simply having followers. Her passion is working with high-achieving leaders who want to transition from leading followers to leading leaders.

 

Sandi works with leaders from small businesses to major corporations to help improve and/or accelerate in areas such as: leadership presence and capability, senior team alignment, strategic planning, emotionally intelligent negotiations, and employee engagement. Her approach utilizes hands-on experiential learning, resulting in the highest impact and results through sustainable, long-term productivity improvements.

 

Sandi is certified as an executive coach who created and uses the APEX Leadership System™ – Awareness. Performance. Excellence. Xtraordinary Leadership. She also specializes in emotionally intelligent negotiations through her EQ Negotiation™ program. Sandi is an international speaker and executive coach who connects to audiences, inspiring and motivating to reach even higher. She coaches exceptional people to be leaders and leader makers.

 

Sandi has an MBA from Texas Wesleyan University, an Advertising degree from the University of North Texas, and is a Certified Executive Coach.

Andrew Bryan

Andrew Bryan

SENIOR CONSULTANT - Boise, ID

Andrew’s expertise is as an educational consultant with a focus on college admission and career guidance for students who have experienced emotional, behavioral, and/or learning challenges.

 

Andrew designs and implements transitional planning and support for adolescents and emerging adults.

 

His educational consulting and mentoring model is based on the premise that people learn basic life skills through positive interaction with the world around them. 

At the center of my work is assisting individuals in discovering their Core Gifts, essentially embracing the question: "Who am I, and what do I have to offer the world around me!"

 

Andrew’s TrekEpic—a non-profit organization—offers international walking treks for emerging adults, Core Gift Institute Pilgrimages, and the Emerge Gap Year. All are designed to provide unique and dynamic experiences to help people identify and live more fully through the awareness of their Core Gifts.

Ed Miltenberger

Ed Miltenberger

SENIOR CONSULTANT - Covington, LA

With over 30-years experience, Ed has an active track record in M&A, Strategic Planning, and change management arena, and is an expert in The Affinity and Program Markets space.

 

Ed’s experience includes leading several successful organizations. His involvement in senior management at Gilsbar, Inc., one of the largest TPA’s in the Southeast, provided exposure to the full dynamics and challenges which growth and change demand.

 

He also enjoyed his four years spent overseas working with American International Group (AIG) leading their Personal Lines division in Germany. In 2010 he started Carrier and Affinity Group Strategies, which is actively involved in consulting on behalf of insurance companies, agencies, and professional affinity groups.

 

Miltenberger has a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Southern Methodist University. Also, he has attained the designation of Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS).

 

Ed is active in his church and cherishes time with his family.

"If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere." – Frank A. Clark

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