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Who We Are

Below is list of our Washington, DC based staff and their backgrounds.

Veronica Adams

Riding the Wave Training & Development (RTW) is the creative brainchild born out of Veronica Adams's divergent experiences as a performance artist, food service manager/management consultant, project manager, organizational development professional, environmental nonprofit project manager and administrator, environmental lobbyist, community organizer/activist - and Unitarian Universalist community ministerial candidate and chaplain.

Veronica earned her BFA in acting, but eventually relinquished the stage for the "art" of customer service as a restaurant manager, designer, event planner, and management consultant. Then, feeling called to her denomination's community ministry, she attended Harvard Divinity School (HDS).

Like her HDS classmate Tom Chappel (founder and CEO of Tom's of Maine, and author of The Soul of Business and Managing Upside Down), Ms. Adams wanted to explore the linkages between spirituality and the values of caring in our society and how those bonds can be strengthened toward furthering positive social change and a more caring community. Veronica served in a variety of capacities doing ministerial intern work with the UUA, which included serving as a hospital chaplain for one year. She currently offers diversity and capacity training and consulting to her church district.

Her desire to help nonprofits and other organizations to become more effective, as well as more engaging and compassionate places to work (and thus, more effective), led her to pursue her M.S. in Organizational Development at Johns Hopkins University, where she is nearing completion of her studies.

Katie Garlock

began a course of studies in philosophy and theology at Rosary College, outside of Chicago, shifted her focus, and wound up establishing and running a high-end portrait studio in Ohio. As a business owner, professional photographer, and community volunteer, Katie has an entrepreneurial passion for starting and promoting small businesses, and developing relationship marketing with many diverse groups.

Her programs have included “Walk Downstairs and go to Work” – advise on working from home; “Give and You Shall Receive” – how to promote a business through cause related marketing; and “Looking Good in Photographs” – simple ways to let the confident “you” shine through in front of the camera.

With their three children grown, she and her husband recently relocated to the Washington DC area. She now brings her energy, enthusiasm, and 25 years of practical business experience to “Riding the Wave.” Her positive approach to life along with her belief that having fun at work benefits everyone helps to make her training presentations memorable and enjoyable.

Believing in the importance of giving back, she has served as a volunteer and board member on professional and community organizations and has raised money for St. Jude Children’s Research hospital since 1975. She also helped to create an annual program called “Portraits of Survival,” a portrait display celebrating women who have survived breast cancer. After photographing the second display, she was diagnosed with breast cancer herself, and is thankful to join the ranks of cancer survivors.

Douglas Fletcher

Douglas Fletcher is an organization development consultant and trainer specializing in diversity training, who also possesses expertise in team effectiveness and process consultation. He graduated from American University with a Masters of Science in Organizational Development. Doug also has a Certificate in Organization & Systems Development from the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland, and a two-year Experience-Based Learning and Training Program certificate from the NTL Institute for Applied Behavioral Science.

As an organization development consultant, he uses the methodologies of action research and process consulting to assist clients in utilizing the knowledge and resources that exist within their organizations. He partners with clients and draws on his technical competence, compassion, and sense of humor to assist them in increasing the effectiveness of their organizations.

With seventeen years of experience in business management and organization development, his client companies have included Wachovia, Nike, the Federal Aviation Administration, Lucent Technologies, Verizon, Head Start, the Randolph Civic Association, the National Association of Housing Cooperatives, and the Institute for Conservation Leadership. His academic achievements resulted in his selection to the Phi Theta Kappa International Scholastic Order. He is also a member of American MENSA, and the NTL Institute for Applied Behavioral Science.

Renée Barnow

Guided by her operating principle that people are far more alike than different and are enriched by their differences, coach, consultant, facilitator, and trainer Renée Barnow was attracted to Riding the Wave’s philosophy and unique set of training programs. Making people laugh at least once a day is one of her personal goals, which aligns with RTW’s approach of mixing laughter with learning and work to help keep the spirit vibrant and joyful.

Throughout her career, Renée has led seminars and workshops, primarily in the areas of communication and leadership, at corporations, universities, and military academies. She also brings a wealth of experience consulting on change and transition management for national and international organizations across multiple business lines, and provides business development support for contract procurement.

With an executive MBA from Georgetown University and a BA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Renée also has certificates in Coaching (Gestalt Institute of Cleveland), Mediation (Dispute Settlement Center), and Communicating Technical Information (MIT). She is the author of 15 journal articles and is currently completing her book: Action Based Communication: Changing Experience through Language.

When not supporting people in discovering and building upon their gifts in her professional realm, Renée carries on her coaching and mentoring through volunteering with at risk children in the DC public schools.

And when not in DC, she does some of her best thinking while wave watching at La Jolla Cove.

Mark Gorkin MSW, LICSW, aka "The Stress Doc"

Thirty years experience as a licensed psychotherapist adds uncommon depth and breadth to Mark Gorkin’s exuberant speaking programs and workshops. In addition, the "Doc" is an organizational development and team building consultant and a critical incident specialist. He has also found the time to become the author of two books, Practice Safe Stress: Healing and Laughing in the Face of Stress, Burnout & Depression, and The Four Faces of Anger: Transforming Anger, Rage, and Conflict Into Inspiring Attitude and Behavior.

Mark has truly earned his battlefield stripes in the field of stress, having burnt out himself while working on a doctorate at Tulane University. However, he saw the silver lining and became an expert on stress and burnout. His media experience and years as an assistant professor paved the way for the Doc's evolving path as a dynamic speaker and "Motivational Humorist."

Mark's mission as an educator and entertainer is to innovate and integrate individual and organizational psychology concepts and tools by using humor to touch, tickle, and transform an audience. His powerful and playful interactive exercises are both thought provoking and FUN and never fail to inspire while building a sense of camaraderie and community – and thus his kinship with the mission and work of Riding the Wave.

Elizabeth Terry

has worked for more than twenty years in the nonprofit field. She conducted hundreds of workshops for thousands of organizations through the Nonprofit Center at LaSalle University, the Center for Effective Public Policy, the Joseph Priestly District of the Unitarian Universalist Association, Bread and Roses Community Fund, Grassroots Fundraising Institute, and through her consulting business, NIAwork.

Nia, one of the Seven Principles of Kwanzaa, is the Swahili word for “purpose.” Ms Terry believes that a key to an organization's success is an understanding of and commitment to its purpose, its mission. Therefore, the primary work of NIAwork is to help individuals and organizations find their purposes and reflect these purposes in their organizational practices.

While working for the Center for Effective Public Policy, she compiled and edited Corporate Resources for Community Needs, a study of volunteering and giving patterns in the Delaware Valley. Most recently, she was the Executive Director of The Other Side magazine. Ms. Terry attended Temple University and Bryn Mawr College and has been a lay minister with the First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia for ten years.

Surf where you are… :-)