Non-Profit Association/M&A and Business Valuation/Accounting Education Leader. Led non-profit associations, provide client services in mergers and acquisitions and business valuation and built global professional accounting studies programs from concept through curriculum delivery. Expertise working collaboratively with professional association senior volunteer leadership, executing on the strategic planning goals of boards of directors, managing budgets and staff, and deep knowledge of U.S., Canadian, and international accounting professional qualification programs and continuing professional education.

Ben Sanders, Compliance Manager, has been with LSA since 2009. He primarily oversees the compliance audits for Title IV schools to ensure clients stay compliant with the rules and regulations set forth by the Department of Education. Ben has a Bachelor’s Degree from Utah Valley University. He’s a people person thanks to his previous career in hospitality and his favorite part of the job is interacting with clients.

Brian Newman is currently the principal of Abington Strategies, LLC, a government and public affairs firm.  In this capacity, he serves as State Relations Advisor to the American Association of Cosmetology Schools (AACS) and annually tracks over 300 state bills of interest to AACS member schools. From 1997 to 2013, Brian was a member of the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities’ (APSCU) government relations department.  As APSCU’s Director of State Affairs, Brian established a state government relations program for an association that was previously federally focused.  He resides with his family in Arlington, Virginia and holds a Bachelor’s degree from Emory University and a Master’s degree in Political Management from The George Washington University.

Cathy Koluch has been in the school business for 3 decades, and is the President and Founder of The Studio Academy of Beauty in Phoenix, AZ with three campuses. She has served as Commissioner on the Arizona Post-Secondary Education Commission and has served on committees within AACS including chair of the AACS Affinity Committee. She is currently the Chair of the Strategy Committee on the AACS Board of Directors. Cathy has specialized in building strong teams including, admissions, student services and career placement with energy and enthusiasm.

Chris DeLuca is the founder of DeLuca Law LLC. Chris has 30 years of experience providing legal, financial, and management services to business owners and career school operators. Prior to founding DeLuca Law LLC, Chris served as in-house legal counsel and Chief Financial Officer for a multi-state cosmetology school group. In addition to being a licensed attorney, Chris is also a certified public accountant (inactive status).

Dave Bracken is the COO of Bene’s Career Academy. Bene’s has over 350 students in 3 campus locations just north and west of Tampa Florida. Since joining Benes 5 years ago, Dave led the projects to move the school to a paperless environment, created a new Student Information system with mobile student portals and converted all students to electronic textbooks and Chromebook computers. His background is in operational efficiencies and introducing new technologies into a traditionally non-technical field. Dave has an MBA from the University of Nebraska.

David has been with Financial Aid Services for over 25 years working in all areas of Title IV management including Pell Grants, Direct Loans, Budget Creation, ECAR updates, Training and Compliance. David is a key customer contact for newly DOE approved Schools in creating Initial Certification for Title IV funds, as well as satisfaction assurance for existing FAS clients. David is a well-known expert in the industry with client institutions and the Department of Education and represents FAS at many workshops and conferences. FAS clients look forward to seeing David at these meetings and new and prospective school staff love David’s friendly expert advice. David has a solid background in Student Financial Aid and School Management. Before coming to FAS, David was the FA at a large career school.

Denise Herman began her diverse professional career over forty years ago, as an educator, a business person and an attorney. She holds a dual Masters in Education and Business from Seton Hall University and a Juris Doctorate degree from Rutgers Law School. Ms. Herman’s first career was as a teacher in the public sector. She taught elementary school, middle school and, later, went on to teach at the university level. Throughout her legal career, Ms. Herman has provided counsel to various regulated industries, including the aviation, health care, financial services and education sectors. Attorney Herman opened her law offices in Florida in 2009, while simultaneously teaching undergraduate pre-law students at Keiser University, Tampa Campus. Many of her students went on to become successful paralegals and attorneys. In 2010, Ms. Herman began providing legal advice and counsel to beauty school owners and their management. Never losing her passion about education, Ms. Herman developed a two part four hour course entitled “The Business of Beauty”, which she regularly delivers as a guest lecturer to beauty school students throughout Florida.

Edward Cramp is a partner in the Higher Education Practice Group at Duane Morris LLP, where he also serves as the Managing Partner of the firm’s San Diego office.   Edward exclusively represents higher education institutions. He advises his clients in all areas of operations, including the federal and state law, accreditation standards, civil rights matters, and the defense of claims by students and employees. Edward is active in the private postsecondary education community. He serves as general counsel to the American Association of Cosmetology Schools (AACS), the Beauty Changes Lives Foundation, and the Andrew Gomez Dream Foundation.  As the general counsel for AACS, Edward also served as lead counsel in AACS v. DeVos, in which a U.S. District Court enjoined the U.S. Department of Education from enforcing the Gainful Employment Rule against AACS member schools.  The case led to substantial revisions in the Gainful Employment Rule for all privately owned colleges. Edward served on active duty and in the reserves as a judge advocate in the United States Navy, where he was appointed to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. During his time in the services, he defended numerous matters before courts-martial convened in the United States Armed Forces. Edward is a strong advocate of diversity and inclusion in the workplace and LGBT rights.  He serves on the steering committee of the firm’s Diversity & Inclusion program.  He regularly represents members of the LGBT community in civil rights matters on a pro bono basis and is active in the local LGBT community

Eileen enjoys helping clients manage the many financial and compliance-related issues facing them every day. Eileen has 25 years public accounting experience and is nationally known for her specialization in audit and accounting services for the career school and college sector. Eileen has a Bachelors of Business Administration, Accounting; University of Texas at Arlington, 1986.

Jacob Miller is a current graduate student at BYU in the final year of the MS Statistics program. His areas of focus are statistical modeling, machine learning, data visualization, and R programming. His master's thesis applies biased bootstrap sampling and inverse optimization methods in order to understand human biases in decision making. Jacob also earned a BS in Statistical Science at BYU. Jacob enjoys applying data science and analytics methods in sports. He has spent time working on models for the Sacramento Kings in the NBA, was awarded an Honorable Mention in 2022 in the NFL’s annual Big Data Bowl, and worked for a specialty insurance company building models to provide products to professional athletes. Before pursuing a graduate degree in statistics, he studied for and passed actuarial exams and worked for Willis Towers Watson and Oliver Wyman doing actuarial consulting. He joined Starita Solutions as a partner earlier this year. Jacob plays professional Ultimate Frisbee in the AUDL for the Salt Lake Shred and lives in Provo, Utah with his wife Kendra.

Jill Krahn has been in the Salon Industry for 35 years with a solid background in Salon and Day Spa Management as well as Personal Development.  As co-owner in Hair Success Salons and Spas in Fargo, North Dakota. An Owner of The Salon Professional Academy Fargo, owner in SPEC -Salon Professional Education Company who franchises the Redken & L’Oréal Schools, The Salon Professional Academies, and Elevate Salon Institutes. Recognized for Excellence in Education by L’Oréal Professional Products Division.

John Amico first salon was 1962. He owned 31 schools, Hair Performers 1973, 225 locations. Stated We Care Hair Salons, in 85’ with friend Fred DeLuca, Subway founder opened 175 locations. Served on the Board of International Franchise Association. John received City of Hopes ‘Spirit of Life Award’ John married for 58 years, five children and 18 grandchildren. Operates the John Amico School of Hair Design, Amico Educational Concepts & Hair Care Products

Johnny Pickering specializes in helping instructors understand the impact Social Media has on the success of their students, and the importance of teaching the next generation how to effectively market themselves to reach their goals after graduation. He currently heads up Business Development for Beauty as a Business, working with schools internationally to improve the educator's and student's understanding of Social Media.

Katherine D. Brodie heads the Washington, D.C. team of the firm’s established national higher education law and policy practice. She serves as a team lead for the Duane Morris Education industry group. She is one of a small number of attorneys in the United States with a daily practice devoted primarily to the needs of higher education institutions (non-profit, public and proprietary), higher education associations, higher education companies, and investors in higher education. She has a keen interest in supporting institutions and their partners to effectively lead and adapt to the fast pace of change in the U.S. education sector while maintaining high quality postsecondary educational services as measured in cost and student outcomes. Katherine supports her clients with effective and cost-efficient regulatory advice geared toward identifying and reducing operational risk or facilitating acquisitions, lending and other transactions that promote institutional adaptation and innovation. When necessary, she advocates in defense of institutional interests in response to adverse federal, state or accrediting agency actions with the goal of limiting both institutional liability and the likelihood of reoccurrence through strengthened internal controls. Ms. Brodie’s experience includes, among other areas of the law, U.S. Department of Education Title IV student financial aid regulations and accrediting agency standards including substantive change (ownership and governance, program, location and other changes), Title IX compliance and response, campus safety, marketing (federal and state misrepresentation prohibitions), distance education, foreign school and overseas operations including study abroad programs, affiliation and partnership agreements, and skills focused programs including coding boot camp and other short term courses.  Her advice also includes compliance with U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Student Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), U.S. Department of Veterans (VA)/U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) education benefit, Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) funding, state education grant program, and other federal and state regulations and programs relevant to institutional operations. Because the needs of institutions are so diverse, she is often aided in her work by subject matter experts in the firm’s other disciplines including tax, real estate, immigration, corporate, and trial. She is a frequent speaker and writer on higher education topics and trends and, as a registered federal lobbyist, advocates before the U.S. Congress and U.S. Department of Education on higher education policy reform proposals.

As Senior Vice President, leading the marketing, education and business development teams, Kevin oversees Pivot Point International brand development. He brings a strong background and experience from over 30 years in the professional beauty industry starting as a cosmetologist; holding positions as a national guest artist, salon/day spa owner, beauty school instructor and director, and national to global education leader. For the past nearly 20 years, he has held numerous roles in global brand leadership focusing on strategic brand development, education, marketing and brand communication strategy. Before joining Pivot Pont International in 2014, he established an admirable trajectory within KAO Salon Division, leading global marketing and education initiatives for over 16 years, including the iconic lifestyle brand KMS and GOLDWELL, often referred to as the world’s most admired expert in professional hair color–while residing in North America and central Europe.

Lee Gray is business minded and results oriented. Helping business owners define their own vision to meet their goals and take their business to the next level is her passion. She helps clients achieve double- and triple-digit profitability through improvements in sales, marketing, team training, systems development, and strategic planning. Lee has spent more than 20 years in sales and business development. She has owned several successful businesses and has worked in corporate marketing and business development for a technology company. As an Action COACH, Lee is skilled at breaking down complex business issues into simple, actionable steps.

Nancy Rogers, co-founder and Vice-President of Source for Training, Inc., is a noted expert and leader in admissions and analytics for post-secondary schools. She embodies the belief, “We do not sell education, we motivate students to buy it”. Her unparalleled knowledge of the field arises from the fact that she has held every position in a postsecondary school from receptionist to Campus Director.    For the last 30+ years Nancy has presented hundreds of seminars, training thousands of professionals nationwide. She has also authored several online training courses, publications and manuals on admissions processes, techniques, and enrollment management. Her clients state that her insight and experience, combined with her good nature and sense of humor, make her workshops enlightening and enjoyable.

Patrick Bene is the Owner & President of Bene’s Career Academy for 15 years. Bene’s has over 350 students in 3 campus locations just north and west of Tampa Florida. Patrick is manages all day to day business and educational activities and staff at Bene’s. Prior to owning Bene’s, Patrick was an accountant, auditor, manager, director in ISO9000 manufacturing businesses. Patrick has an MBA from DePaul University in Chicago.

I'm a digital content marketer. I am an avid sports fan and have been basically since birth. I am a good communicator, a very social person and very good with deadlines and meeting them. I thrive in an up pace environment and am very relaxed under pressure. I want to have a family and still enjoy them with my career.

With a strong hairdressing background, Paul’s goal as Senior Director of Education Implementation, North America is to capitalize on the strengths of each team member to ensure a well-rounded implementation strategy. He does so with progressive tools that will inspire, motivate and empower the industry to raise the bar of excellence. Paul has diverse and dedicated experience within the beauty industry. He has directed and participated in a number of editorial photo shoots with renowned artists, including celebrated photographer Babak, and has been featured in industry trade publications, including Modern Salon, South African Hairdressers Journal, Sophisticate’s Hairstyle Guide, Penteados, Beauty & Hair, Estetica Italia, Inspire and Canadian Hairdresser. Random Facts ·  Loves cooking and entertaining; is addicted to Ina Garten (AKA Barefoot Contessa) ·  Reads motivational leadership books ·  Plays the piano ·  Before going into cosmetology,  worked in mortuary science ·  Had the privilege of combing Sir Anthony Hopkins’ hair on a Hollywood movie set—and still has the brush!

Ronda has been with FAS/GENESIS for the past 17 years and has been serving as the friendly first contact for newly DOE approved Schools, as well as, our FAS and Genesis School Management Software users. Ronda represents the company by attending numerous conferences and workshops around the country and strives to build personal relationships with present and future clients. Ronda has a strong customer relations and legal background which includes five years as a New England Patriots Cheerleader and additional years as the Manchester Wolves Arena Football Dance Squad Coach and Fan Event Coordinator, as well as, 7 years as a legal secretary for a prestigious law firm in the Boston area. Ronda also brings experience from the technical industry in working as an account manager for a major wireless phone company for over 4 years.

Ronda has a passion for positivity and a contagious energy that defines FAS and our genuine aspiration to help schools through the complex regulatory environment and the many strict processes of aid disbursement in the Title IV arena. Her effective communication skills help the client relations team focus on streamlining the school’s transition into Title IV seamlessly.

Sally is one of the country’s leading authorities on Federal financial aid administration with more than 42 years of “in the trenches” experience. As a respected Industry leader, she is frequently called upon to speak at School, Accrediting, Regional and State conferences as well as to act as school liaison during program reviews and compliance audits. Having processed, reviewed, and taught financial aid for over 42 years, Sally’s experience includes representation at over 500 program reviews and certification visits for postsecondary institutions. In addition, Sally brings real life experiences, observations, and illustrations to her audience, adding a touch of humor to regulatory compliance. Her style makes the sometime complex topics easy to understand and audiences always come away with practical knowledge that they can apply to their everyday situations. Sally is a senior member of the FAME management team and currently serves as Director of Compliance for FAME. She is a former board member for the Private Career Colleges & Schools (PCCS) and has served on several committees for the American Association of Cosmetology Schools (AACS), as well as a member of NASFAA & SASFAA. Her experience and regulatory knowledge make her uniquely qualified to bring you the latest regulatory information and training.

Scott has over 20 years of experience in multimedia production, coupled with an extensive background in higher education management. In past positions Scott has worked with brands such as Stanley Black & Decker, Aveda, and Ohio State University, as well as a wide array of clients across education, technology, manufacturing and entertainment. Scott prides himself on effective and creative communication in order to inform and improve all clients and their stakeholders.

As VP of Business Development, Sterling collaborates with proprietary school owners and senior management to improve their online marketing and admissions performance. His comprehensive analyses have found clients millions of dollars in untapped opportunity that they had no idea was slipping through the cracks. As a former Conversion Leader and award-winning search marketer, Sterling is an excellent resource for private postsecondary schools interested in improving their conversion rates and increasing enrollment by evaluating and developing their online marketing tactics.

Sarah Holmes has more than 12 years of experience as a former executive director of admissions & marketing with a prominent beauty school, fostering one of the highest conversion rates in the industry. She uses her sales techniques and expertise to help schools grow enrollment. She has been consulting with vocational schools for the past five years. Most recently, Sarah joined Advance 360 Education and is helping to demonstrate the power of marketing and admissions working together to drive enrollment.