Steve Steckler, Senior Performance Consultant, Pritchett, LP
For over three decades, Steve has worked with business and HR executives across diverse industries to develop strategy, increase leadership effectiveness, successfully execute transformations and introduce change to achieve top-line growth. Prior to joining Pritchett as a Senior Performance Consultant, he held leadership roles in organization effectiveness, change management, executive assessment and HR M&A integration at a number of the most admired global companies.
Alexa McKinley, Government Affairs and Policy Director, National Rural Health Association (NRHA)
Alexa McKinley is the Government Affairs and Policy Director at the National Rural Health Association (NRHA). Alexa leads NRHA’s executive branch advocacy and provides policy and technical assistance to Capitol Hill. Her portfolio includes Medicare payment, Medicare Advantage, rural hospital policy, Graduate Medical Education, 340B, and oral health. She received a J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 2021 and a B.A. in political science from Michigan State University in 2018.
Jason Haglund, Rural Policy Partners
Mr. Jason Haglund, an accomplished senior executive, and proven leader within the healthcare field, brings both provider and state systems design experience. Jason has spent his career implementing programs and leading teams which span behavioral healthcare, addiction treatment, prevention, and child welfare systems. He has partnered with Schulte Consulting for the past 3 years on projects across the region and Midwest. In 2022, Mr. Haglund and Renee Schulte formed Rural Policy Partners. Mr. Haglund provides an array of services, training, and business support products to government entities, for-profit, and not-for-profit businesses and organizations. He has first-hand knowledge and personally conducts fidelity reviews and improvement consultation of evidence-based practices. His work has extended from local provider consultations to statewide system design and implementation. He has served on local and state workgroups and committees providing input to system transitions and legislative activities in multiple states.
When not working in the behavioral healthcare sector, Mr. Haglund can be found on his fifth-generation Iowa farm that he co-owns and operates with his wife Jennifer. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Northern Iowa and his master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Renee Schulte, Schulte Consulting, LLC
Ms. Schulte has over two decades of leadership experience in the behavioral healthcare field. Her work in the public and private sectors has given her a unique understanding of the complexities of delivering quality care.
Renee is nationally recognized for her expertise in behavioral health policy, system design, financial analysis, and strategic planning. As a licensed mental health therapist, Renee has worked across an array of the care continuum including psychiatric hospitals, child welfare providers, and therapeutic foster care services. She began Schulte Consulting, LLC in 2012. As a consultant she has worked with multiple states creating strategic plans, legislation, and best practice guidance in regulation and rules. Renee has taught at multiple colleges and universities in the psychology department, encouraging the next generation to join in this important work.
Darren K. Walker ACC, ACTC, SoundMind Leadership
Darren is an International Coaching Federation (ICF) certified executive and team coach. He is an expert in culture, leadership, and people solutions. He is certified in best in-class assessment tools including The Leadership Circle Profile, Collective Leadership Assessment, DiSC, WHY.os, and the Hogan Personality Inventory and Hogan 360. Additionally, Darren is a certified facilitator with Crucial Learning, Franklin Covey, John Maxwell, The Five Behaviors, The 6 Working Geniuses and other related products.
In Darren’s prior experience he served in several executive roles for large healthcare organizations. Most recently he has served as the Chief People Officer of Sanford Health. He previously worked for SCL Health, Providence Health and Intermountain Healthcare. His primary focus and expertise are people-centric, organizational transformations. His success is firmly rooted in his servant leadership approach, inspiring people, and teams around him to perform their best in achieving outstanding results.
Darren is an active member of several leadership advisory councils, thought leadership groups and provides strategic advisory services to non-profits and start-up organizations. Darren is a sports fanatic and enjoys golf, cycling, basketball, skiing, and racquet sports. Darren received his B.S. degree from the University of Utah and Master’s in Organization Design from the University of Phoenix.
Lisa X. Walden. Good Company Consulting
Lisa X. Walden is a speaker, strategist, and consultant dedicated to helping businesses create authentic, empowering workplaces that don’t inspire the dreaded Sunday scaries. Her presentations deliver action-oriented insights that help people better connect, collaborate, and communicate.
As co-founder of Good Company Consulting, her work is centered on the (strangely revolutionary) concept that people and strategy don’t have to be mutually exclusive. She takes a holistic approach to workplace strategy, keeping human beings - arguably the most valuable resources - at front and center. Lisa Walden’s speeches focus on how to maintain thriving cultures, best-practices for mindful communication practices, and tactics for nurturing the single most important component of a healthy work environment—trust.
Walden has worked with a broad range of clients and organizations, ranging from architects, to finance, real estate, and hospitality. In her speeches, Lisa strives to inspire mindset shifts by presenting valuable, research-based insights in a way that resonates, engages, and entertains. She weaves in stories, statistics, case studies, and some good old-fashioned self-deprecating humor into each and every one of her presentations.
