Ron Sims
Former Deputy Secretary
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Washington, DC

Appointed by President Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Ron Sims served as the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development from 2009 to 2011. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Sims served for 12 years as the elected Executive of Martin Luther King, Jr. County in Washington State. Before becoming County Executive, he was an elected member of the county council.

His record of achievements at the county includes:

Protecting taxpayers

• Instituting sound financial practices that earned King County AAA bond ratings.

Making communities safer

• Improving the Sherriff’s Office capabilities by providing every patrol car with computers.
• Instituting and supporting DNA forensics as a comprehensive element of enforcement and investigation.
• Conceiving and funding the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS).
• Creating a state-of-the-art regional radio system for coordinated emergency response.

Making the county greener

• Protecting endangered salmon and beginning the clean up of the Puget Sound.
• Raising the alarm about global warming in the 1980’s, and then implementing one of the world’s first plans to do something about it.
• Expanding the wastewater system, and bringing Brightwater to life, to protect health, environment, and economy.
• Creating the first countywide flood protection plan to avoid Katrina-like catastrophes.
• Protecting more than 135,000 acres of land including 90,000 acres of the Hancock Forest.
• Establishing a nationally recognized regional emergency preparedness plan.
• Building one of the largest, greenest transit systems in the nation.
• Adding hundreds of hybrid buses and thousands of hours of service with Transit Now! and other projects.

Controlling health care cost

• Launching a nationally recognized health reform initiative with unprecedented participation from King County employees; a model for employers across the county.
• Creating the Puget Sound Health Alliance regional consortium of employers, labor, clinics, hospitals and doctors that works to improve healthcare and control costs for million of residents in Central Puget Sound.
• Winning the National Committee for Quality Assurance Award -- the “Emmy” for healthcare achievement.
• Being recognized by Seattle Business magazine as the only government employer ranked among the 100 best places to work.

Building affordable housing and making neighborhoods stronger

• Creating dozens of community and housing partnerships to fund and build 5,632 units of housing by streamlining regulations and offering surplus property for affordable housing.
• Becoming the first county in the nation to earn the Robert L. Woodson Jr. Affordable Communities Award from HUD.
• Working with builders, environmental groups, and cities to protect rural areas while focusing growth in the cities – 96% of all growth is now in the cities.
• Fighting for and winning completion of the East Lake Sammamish Trail.
• Expanding regional trail system to 175 miles.
• Integrating health, land use, and transportation planning to create walk-able communities that provide healthy lifestyles.

Fighting for justice and equity

• Launched the groundbreaking Equity and Social Justice Initiative to factor fundamental human rights into all areas of government policy and decision-making.
• Creating programs that reduced juvenile detention rates.
• Creating sustained successful alternatives to adult detention ---the only major metropolitan area to reduce its jail population and lower its crime rate.
• In partnership with the County Council, securing voter support to provide veteran services and programs for the mentally ill.

Awards

• Public Official of the Year, 2006 - Governing Magazine
• Edwin T. Pratt Award, 2006 - Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle
• Built Green Hammer Award for Public Advocacy, 2006 - Master Builders of King and Snohomish Counties
• Edgar Wayburn Award, 2006 - Sierra Club
• Local Public Service Award, 2006 - National Association of Clean Water Agencies
• Climate Protection Award, 2007 - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Health Quality Award, 2008 - National Committee for Quality Assurance
• Children's Health Initiative, 2008 (Extraordinary Community leadership) 

Don Borut
Executive Director
National League of Cities
Washington, DC

Donald J. Borut, executive director of the National League of Cities, manages the nation’s oldest and largest national organization representing municipal governments including 1600 direct member cities and over 18,000 cities, towns and villages through a network of state municipal organizations.
 
Mr. Borut has more than 40 years’ experience in municipal government and organizational leadership in the public interest sector. Prior to his NLC appointment in 1990, he was Deputy Executive Director of the International City Management Association (ICMA), the nation’s preeminent organization representing professional administrators in local governments.
 
A graduate of Oberlin College, with a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Michigan, Mr. Borut began working in city government in 1964 as a staff assistant in the Office of the City Administrator in Ann Arbor, MI.
 
He has served on numerous advisory boards, editorial boards, and other committees in the public interest sector, including the Boards of the State and Local Legal Center, the National Academy of Public Administration, The Center for  State and Local Government Excellence, the Association Mutual Health Insurance Company ,and the steering committee of the State of the USA initiative.  
 
He currently holds the post of Secretary General of the North American Section of the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), a global organization dedicated to strengthen the capacity and performance of local governments around the world.
 
Borut, who makes his home in Washington, DC, was born and grew up in New York City. He is married, with two children.  He is a member of the board and past president of the Levine School of Music, a community school and music center in Washington , a member of the board of The Washington Chorus and a member of the Council of the Collaborative Problem Solving Institute.

Debra Keenan
Principal and Founder
DKB Wave Consulting
New York, NY

Ms. Keenan is Principal and founder of DKB Consulting, LLC, a firm specializing in executive coaching and management consulting.  In her special brand of coaching, Ms. Keenan integrates coaching and consulting to create themost effective change program for her clients.  Ms. Keenan serves as a coach, trainer and consultant for both the nonprofit and corporate sectors.  Clients describe her as an engaged listener who helps them find their own answers.  She significantly improves her client's management and leadership effectiveness by empowering them to move beyond their current reality by focusing on how to achieve their professional goals.  Ms. Keenan brings to her practice over 20 years of business management and leadership experience.  She earned a BA from Douglass College and a MBA from University of Wisconsin.  Her areas of expertise include executive coaching, management consulting, 360 feedback, project management and image consulting.  

America’s Leaders of Change is the third leadership program that Ms. Keenan has facilitated.  Previously she developed and facilitated programs with the United Way of New York City and Enterprise Community Partners.

 Her favorite leadership quote is from John Quincy Adams:  “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”

David Mensah
Senior Trainer
DKB Wave Consulting
New York, NY

Mr. Mensah’s 21 year career has included providing on-the-court leadership to nationally recognized organizations serving some of the most challenged populations in the USA.   He has successfully led organizations facing, intense social, economic and political opposition and he has developed the leadership strategies that will allow you to be successful in any professional setting.  His work has included working as an executive director, community advocate and transformation agent on the behalf of youth and families, people living with HIV/AIDS, and victims of crime and abuse.

For five years Mr. Mensah held the post of executive director of the Hetrick-Martin Institute (HMI) the country’s oldest and largest child welfare organization dedicated to serving lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth.  Mr. Mensah led Hetrick-Martin during it’s historic six million dollar expansion phase partnering with the New York City Department of Education to found the Harvey Milk High School.

In his previous positions, David served seven years as the executive director of the Connected AIDS Residence Program providing housing and support services to people with HIV/AIDS.  Mr. Mensah also served one year as the Vice President of the Community Programs Division for Safe Horizon, New York City’s leading provider of victim assistance and violence prevention services.

David's executive coaching skills were developed during 10 years of work as a family counselor, providing counseling and support for couples and families, and working frequently with individuals challenged by substance abuse, sexual trauma and family violence.  Concurrently, Mr. Mensah held teaching positions at two universities, serving as adjunct faculty at Sacred Heart University in Connecticut, teaching courses in Leadership Studies; and at The University of Bridgeport providing courses in Counseling.

His interest in transformational leadership and coaching is informed in large part by his belief that when leaders commit deeply to a worthwhile mission, the organization that results has the capacity to impact the lives of both the employees and the communities they serve.