Marianne Gilmartin, Esq. – EMPOWER Conference Panelist

Shareholder, Stevens & Lee

Presentation: Managing Conflict Panel

The ability to resolve conflict in the workplace is an essential ability for leaders in any organization. When there is open and transparent processes for identifying, resolving, and managing conflict, it is proven to improve productivity and job satisfaction of employees. In this session, our panelists will discuss techniques on how to engage in meaningful conversations and manage conflict in the workplace.

Bio:

Attorney Marianne Gilmartin focuses her practice in litigation issues in the areas of construction, toxic torts, product liability and catastrophic casualty, banking, insurance, manufacturing and complex commercial litigation. She represents public utilities, owners and developers, contractors, subcontractors and material suppliers, as well as colleges and universities, utilities, banking institutions, local government, manufacturers and insurance companies in a wide range of litigation matters. She is board-certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy as a civil trial advocate and is a Fellow of the Construction Lawyers Society of America. Marianne serves as a commercial and construction arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association.

Attorney Gilmartin counsels clients regarding risk avoidance and manages construction litigation and dispute resolution proceedings, including mechanics’ lien claims. She has tried and mediated dozens of significant catastrophic casualty cases throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania, including some at the appellate level. Marianne has tried cases involving shareholder disputes, commercial transactions and trade secrets and proprietary information. She also has experience with real estate litigation, including eminent domain/condemnation, quiet title and oil and gas lease litigation throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania, including the Marcellus Shale Region, where she litigates federal claims under the Natural Gas Act.

As published in Philadelphia magazine, Marianne was recognized as a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer from 2009 through 2020 by being selected by her peers as among the top 5 percent of lawyers in the Commonwealth. She also was a Northeast Pennsylvania Business Journal’s Top 25 Women in Business Honoree for 2010.

Attorney Gilmartin is the recipient of Marywood University’s Award of Excellence in Liberal Arts and Sciences for 2016.

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Lisa Rigau – EMPOWER Conference Speaker

Registered Nurse & Certified Lifestyle Medicine Professional

Presentation: Learning to Surf the Waves of Life: A Mindfulness Approach to Cultivating Resilience

Mindfulness is an inherent quality that we all possess. Paying attention without judgment is a skill that can be learned and practiced so that we can better care for ourselves. During the presentation, you will practice mindfulness, cultivate qualities of being present, attentive, and curious, and learn about simple opportunities to foster self-awareness, wellness, and resilience.

Bio:

Lisa Rigau is a registered nurse, nutrition counselor, and community educator of health, wellness, mindfulness, and nutrition. She is a diplomate of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and a Certified Lifestyle Medicine Professional.

She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Delaware. Lisa received her master’s degree from Marywood University in Sports Nutrition and Exercise Science. Since 2003, she has been the owner of Healthy Lifestyle Management where she provides private and group nutrition counseling and educates clients on the six pillars of Lifestyle Medicine: Plant-Predominant Nutrition, Exercise, Stress Management, Sleep, Social Relationships, and Avoidance of Risky Substances.

For the past eighteen years, Lisa has worked as a private contractor for the University of Scranton as a health and wellness professional. Currently, she is teaching mindfulness meditation classes for the weekly, Wellness Mindfulness Meditation Classes for faculty, students, and staff provided by The University of Scranton’s Center for Health Education and Wellness.
Lisa is a certified Mindful Eating-Conscious Living™ teacher & certified mentor through UC San Diego.

She is a qualified teacher of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction through The Center for Mindfulness at UMASS Medical School & the Mindfulness Center at Brown
University. Lisa teaches the 8-week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Course and the 8-week Mindful Eating- Conscious Living Course to the community. She regularly teaches Drop-In Mindfulness classes in person and online.

Lisa is a regular speaker of mindfulness for corporate groups, physician and healthcare professionals, and the community. Her passion is to help people to gain awareness and empower their own optimal health
and well-being.

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Karen Darby – EMPOWER Conference Speaker

Wealth Management Advisor, Jacobi Capital Management

Presentation: Take Up Space

In this session, Karen focuses on you and how you show up in the room. Are you present and part of the conversation? As women we need to get out of our own way and go after what we want. Join Karen to learn about the past, evaluate today, and create our tomorrow with all our voices. Your voice is special and deserves to be heard.

Bio:

Karen joined Jacobi Capital Management in 2021 following an eight-year career in the financial services industry. Her natural interest in helping people led her to pursue a career as a financial advisor. Karen started her career as a financial advisor at MassMutual Eastern Pennsylvania focusing on helping families that have a loved one with special needs plan for their futures.

Karen works with individuals, families and business owners who are often too busy and overwhelmed with all the decisions that go into building and preserving wealth. She is passionate about educating her clients and being a resource for them. As a single mother to 2 young boys she understands the challenges her clients face especially during a time of transition. When working with her clients she takes them through a simple process to uncover their goals and help them automate their savings so they can focus on what’s important to them.

Karen is very involved in her community and enjoys donating her time to various causes and nonprofits. She is a member of the Pittston Rotary Club and the 2020 Women on Boards Wilmington Leadership Committee. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, yoga, and her favorite, Friday date nights with her sons, Levi and Tyler.

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Elika Almeida – EMPOWER Conference Speaker

Motivational Speaker & Life Coach

Presentation: Am I in Burn Out? Understanding the Stress Cycle and Breaking the Patterns that Lead to Burnout

Burnout is the state of mind that comes with long-term, unresolved stress that negatively affects your work, your health – including mental health – and your life. Understanding when you are in burnout, accepting that you are in burnout, and learning how to manage it is the formula to a more fulfilling life. In this session, Elika shares strategies to help you understand burnout and how to come out on top. You’ll be surprised at how simple it is.

Bio:

Elika Maria Almeida is a motivational speaker, life coach, and advocate for women and youth with a mission to help them find and use their voices to create and drive positive change in their communities and the world at large.

As a young mom at the age of 18, Elika knew that she would one day be a business owner. In 1999, she realized that goal by launching EA Wedding Planner & Elysian Events, which still thrives.  Her love and passion for helping youth comes from her own experiences of not feeling seen or heard. In 2009, Elika co-founded a non-profit called Youth Infusion, focusing on service-learning, social-emotional learning, and school-based youth programming fulfilling her philanthropic heart and commitment to providing youth with a platform to be seen and heard.

Her move to the Pocono Mountains, PA, from New Jersey left Elika looking for employment in the corporate world, while remaining involved with her philanthropic endeavors, and her passion for helping youth and women in business was always at the forefront.

A significant life setback put Elika on her current path as a motivational speaker and life coach. In 2019, she thought she was entering the next stage of her corporate career but was unexpectedly fired. Simultaneously, she suffered the loss of a wonderful young woman and friend to leukemia.

It didn’t take long to realize it was time for her life to go in a new direction. She was burnt out and had spent years in the corporate world being mistreated as a woman. Being fired at such a critical point in her life was a true blessing in disguise. “What am I going to do next?” played on a loop in her mind every single day for months. She was free to do anything; the world was her oyster.

Throughout her journey of self-reflection, she found consistent love and support through a circle of strong women. One day, she had an “Aha!” moment. When women speak, change happens. Her new mission was going to be using her voice. There is tremendous power in connecting, engaging, and supporting other women.

This moment led to the H.E.R!, Heal. Empower, Rise! podcast and her new life goal to use her voice to connect with and support other women. After launching the podcast, she began speaking at community events like Women in Business luncheons and serves as the Pocono Mountain Chamber of Commerce’s Chairwoman for the Women in Business Council. Since then, she hasn’t stopped speaking up for women and youth. Elika lives in Monroe County, PA with her summer love, her husband, Jorge. They have two grown children, Angelika and Jorge, a strong-willed little chihuahua, Belle and a flock of 11 chickens, who brought them so much joy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Apply for Leadership Fundamentals 2.0

Our affiliate Leadership Lackawanna is hosting Leadership Fundamentals 2.0 — an 8-week virtual course that will provide advanced leaders with an innovative and flexible online learning experience – complete with a variety of personal and professional development skills.  The program begins February 14, 2022 and ends April 8, 2022.

Participants can work on weekly course content at their own pace.  There are eight mandatory Zoom meetings: February 15 and 22, March 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 and April 5 (every Tuesday from 12-1 p.m.).

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Leadership Lackawanna Applications Open for Executive Program

Leadership Lackawanna, the premier community leadership and professional development affiliate of the Chamber, is now accepting applications for its Executive Program.

This five-week Executive Program engages high-level professionals more deeply in the greater Scranton region, broadening their social network, and increasing their overall knowledge of the community. Participants meet key business and community leaders as they receive an overview of Lackawanna County’s history and culture, economic and political structures, community events, civic groups, recreational activities and nonprofit organizations. 

Sessions are held one evening per week for five consecutive weeks at various locations and include cocktails and dinner. Leadership Lackawanna’s Executive Program accepts applications from public and private sector administrators and professionals in an executive level position who live or work in Lackawanna County. Sessions start in September.

To apply, visit www.leadershiplackawanna.com. Applications will be accepted through September 8, 2021.

New leadership at Tobyhanna Army Depot

There are two new leaders at Tobyhanna Army Depot. Col. John W. McDonald relinquished command of Tobyhanna Army Depot to Col. Daniel Horn during a change of command ceremony on June 28.  Sgt. Maj. Shantae Gordon also relinquished responsibility as the depot’s senior enlisted officer, welcoming Sgt. Maj. Michael J. Wiles to the Tobyhanna family.

The ceremony, which culminated with a passing of Tobyhanna’s flag, was presided over by Maj. Gen. Mitchell Kilgo, Commanding General of the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command.  Depot employees, representatives of state and local government, and family members witnessed the event.

Col. McDonald’s next assignment is with the Joint Staff Operations Directorate at the Pentagon.  In his parting remarks, he promised to never forget his time at Tobyhanna Army Depot.

“My assignment here at Tobyhanna has been, without a doubt, the best and most broadening I have experienced in my career.  I will take and share the Tobyhanna legacy with anyone who will listen.”

Horn is the depot’s 34th commander, joining Team Tobyhanna fresh off an assignment as the military deputy of the Defense Logistics Agency, U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command forward.  He earned a Bachelor of Science in Business from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. Horn also has Master of Science degrees in Supply Chain Management from Kansas University, and Strategic Studies from Army War College.

As commander, Horn will lead 3,700 employees responsible for supporting global readiness for Command, Control, Communications, Computer, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C5ISR) systems across the Department of Defense.

Wiles is the depot’s 21st sergeant major.  His most recent assignment was as the chief mechanical operations sergeant major for the 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Stewart, Georgia.  He has served in staff and leadership positions at stateside and overseas military installations including the Republic of South Korea; Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Fort Hood, Texas, and Fort Lee, Virginia.

As sergeant major, Wiles serves as the voice of the warfighters who use equipment repaired by the depot.  He advises the commander on all matters relating to Soldiers, the civilian workforce and their family members.

In his first address as depot commander, Col. Horn expressed his excitement at joining Team Tobyhanna.

“When I learned that commanding Tobyhanna Army Depot was my next assignment, I was elated that I’d be leading such a skilled and dedicated workforce.  You have a reputation for strategic planning and innovation,” adding that he holds the mission of Tobyhanna close to his heart.

“As Army Civilians, you have what many other people do not:  a sacred purpose behind your work.  What you do matters.  You matter.  Like any job, there will be good days and frustrating days.  But when you get home at night, I hope you’ll remember that your work helps our warfighters keep America safe.  And I hope you’ll be as proud of that as I am.”

Leadership Lackawanna Core Team Celebrates Keystone Mission Project

Leadership Lackawanna Core class members meet with Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti and Justin Behrens, executive director, Keystone Mission.
Front row, left to right: Justin Marino of United Neighborhood Centers; Mayor Paige Cognetti, City of Scranton; Vivian Williams, Scranton Area Foundation; Justin Behrens, Keystone Mission; Meredith Mercuri, Barry Callebaut; Jennifer Shoemaker, Outreach Center for Community Resources; Robert Welsch, Tobyhanna Army Depot; and Michelle Cook, Community Bank, N.A.
Back row, left to right: Jesse Novatski, Penn State Scranton; and Patrick Keehan, University of Scranton Small Business Development Center.

One of this year’s Leadership Lackawanna Core Program teams recently celebrated their community service project for Keystone Mission in Scranton.

Homeless individuals without identification have difficulty accessing the critical services and benefits that can move them out of homelessness and poverty. To help Keystone Mission serve these individuals, the Leadership team worked with the organization to design, outfit, and equip a utility van that provides opportunities for homeless individuals to receive photo identification, social security cards, and birth certificates. 

This “mobile office” van is stocked with essential items, but more importantly, allows the Keystone Mission staff to conduct on-site outreach to homeless individuals. The team marketed the van to the community, secured community partners to obtain more supplies, and secured donations to pay for the project.

“On behalf of Team Keystone, I would like to thank all our community members who generously donated their time, items, and resources to this great cause. It has been our pleasure working with Keystone Mission in assisting them to be able to do such important work in our community,” said Justin Marino, Core Program participant from Team Keystone.

Each year, the Leadership Lackawanna Core Program class completes various service projects helping to fulfill a need in our community. By working with fellow non-profit organizations, class participants expand their leadership abilities and further develop their skills.

“I am truly thankful to the Leadership Lackawanna class of 2021 for supporting our effort to build relationships and a community of hope across NEPA. To help the homeless men and women takes the community to come together. From the bottom of my heart, thank you!” said Justin Behrens, CEO, Keystone Mission.