About Us

Roger Schwarz is an organizational psychologist and founder and president of Roger Schwarz & Associates. He teaches, consults, and writes about facilitation, managing change and conflict, and developing effective work groups. For more than twenty-five years, Roger has served as facilitator and consultant to Fortune 500 corporations, federal, state, and local government agencies, and nonprofit organizations.

Distinguished organizational development consultants, executives, and academics have called his book The Skilled Facilitator: A Comprehensive Resource for Consultants, Facilitators, Managers, Trainers and Coaches the standard reference on facilitation. He is also co-author of The Skilled Facilitator Fieldbook: Tips, Tools, and Tested Methods, for Consultants, Facilitators, Managers, Trainers and Coaches and the author of various articles on facilitation and organizational change. Roger has developed a values-based systemic approach to facilitation that moves beyond meeting management and focuses on creating highly effective groups and organizations.

Roger leads workshops on group facilitation and facilitative leadership and consults to organizations on applying facilitation principles throughout their organizations. He enjoys facilitating groups that are experiencing conflict and/or that want to develop their own facilitative skills. Underlying all of his work is his desire to help others create workplaces and communities that are simultaneously highly effective and that improve the quality of life.

Formerly an Associate Professor of Public Management at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in 1996 Roger left his tenured appointment to found Roger Schwarz & Associates and better balance his work and family life.

Matt Beane is an organization development professional who works with individuals, groups and organizations to help them increase their effectiveness. Matt's focus and passion lie in helping people assess gaps between their behavior and their espoused values, allowing them to make more informed choices about their behavior and values in the future. He has worked with a number of Fortune 500 companies in the financial, professional services, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, hi-tech, travel, consumer-goods, and hospitality sectors, with non-profit and governmental organizations, and in the public workshop format.

From 1998 to 2002, Matt was an employee at the Forum Corporation, a consultancy specializing in workplace learning solutions. He created and implemented a strategic plan for the management and deployment of ResNet, a 250-member virtual, globally-dispersed group of independent training and learning professionals that delivered one-third of Forum's revenue.

Matt holds a B.A. in Philosophy from Bowdoin College. He studied Jazz Performance at the Berklee School of Music in Boston.

Margaret (Peg) Carlson is an organizational psychologist who earned her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. She is a consultant with Roger Schwarz & Associates, Inc., and Adjunct Associate Professor of Public Management and Government at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Peg teaches, consults, and writes in the area of organizational change and development. She leads workshops on facilitation and facilitative leadership and frequently facilitates meetings for governing boards, management teams, and community groups. She has published articles on developing effective groups, assessing the chief executive's performance, and multi-rater feedback.
Peg has known Roger Schwarz since 1984, and started using the Skilled Facilitator approach with him and colleagues Dick McMahon and Kurt Jenne when she joined the UNC faculty in 1992. She resigned her tenured position in 2000 to use her facilitation skills to help private as well as public sector organizations, and to more deeply consider the application of the Skilled Facilitator approach to life outside of work. She is also co-author of The Skilled Facilitator Fieldbook: Tips, Tools, and Tested Methods, for Consultants, Facilitators, Managers, Trainers and Coaches.

Anne Davidson is a consultant with Roger Schwarz & Associates. She specializes in leadership development, facilitator training, and long-term organizational and community change projects. She works internationally with management groups, work teams, and non-profit and local government boards. Anne increasingly coaches individuals who want to embrace learning and creative development in their jobs and personal lives.

Anne's journey toward organization development and training started almost thirty years ago when she began teaching eleventh grade English in South Carolina. Since that time, she has served as a media center director, a marketing and management instructor in the School of Business at Western Carolina University, the Training and Organization Development Director for the City of Asheville, North Carolina; and a Lecturer in Public Management and Government at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Anne first learned The Skilled Facilitator approach in 1988 during the early phases of its development when the City of Asheville became a client of Roger's. She is also co-author of The Skilled Facilitator Fieldbook: Tips, Tools, and Tested Methods, for Consultants, Facilitators, Managers, Trainers and Coaches.

Anne earned her B.A. in English and Secondary Education from Presbyterian College. She holds a Master of Library Science from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an M.B.A. from Western Carolina University. She lives near Charlotte, North Carolina where she is happiest dividing her time between consulting and training, designing and making clothing and jewelry, hiking and visiting with her extended family and friends.

Terrie Hutaff is Assistant to the City Manager for Organizational Development and Training for Fayetteville, North Carolina, and a consultant with Roger Schwarz & Associates. In her organizational development role, she facilitates groups and helps them develop a learning organization.

Sue McKinney, MSW, is a consultant with Roger Schwarz & Associates, Inc and independently. Formerly, she was Director of Organizational Development for an international non-governmental organization based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Sue developed her facilitation skills in the early 1980s while working for an international nonprofit grounded in the consensus decision-making process. Sue and her colleagues facilitated consensus with groups of up to 50 people. Sue first worked with Roger Schwarz in 1990-91 while serving as an intern to a county social services management team working with Roger for over one year. In 1997, Sue attended the two-week Skilled Facilitator class offered by the UNC Institute of Government and within one year began working with Roger to teach classes around the country.

Sue has practical expertise in leadership development, board development, mediation, facilitation, and training of trainers. She believes in the value of humor and play to stimulate creativity and productivity and is known for her energetic and humorous approach to working with groups. She leads workshops on a variety of topics, including facilitative leadership and facilitates public and nonprofit board and staff retreats. She is also co-author of The Skilled Facilitator Fieldbook: Tips, Tools, and Tested Methods, for Consultants, Facilitators, Managers, Trainers and Coaches.

Sue earned her AB in History from Duke University and her Master in Social Work from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with a specialization in Human Services Administration. She makes her home in Durham, North Carolina with her husband, step-son, three dogs, horse, and parakeet. Sue enjoys all that life has to offer including dog agility, dressage with her Swedish Warmblood mare, jewelry making, quilting, doll making, and writing just for fun.

Since 1976, Dale has been coaching individuals and facilitating groups in developing their creative behavior, based on a method she designed. In 1991 she began providing organizational development and management services to both public and private sector organizations. With Anne Davidson she co-developed and leads the Facilitative Coaching workshop. Dale's work is unique in helping people use metaphor and images to enhance communication and bring forth their talents. She is skilled in helping individuals and groups create supportive learning environments that encourage risk-taking and move beyond pre-conception.

Dale is the Co-Founding Director of the Center for Creative Consciousness and the New England Art Therapy Institute. She has been practicing art therapy for over 30 years, working with people of all ages, offering supervision, workshops and training. For 14 years she taught creativity and art therapy courses at Salem State College and has been a guest lecturer at numerous colleges and universities throughout the Northeast.

Her article "Making Art of Work", is a case for incorporating visual expression into the workplace. She co-authored the Facilitative Coach, a chapter in the Skilled Facilitator FieldBook, with Anne Davidson.

Dale received her B.S. degree from New York University and her M. Ed. from Lesley University with a degree in Expressive Therapies specializing in art therapy. She studied organizational development at Antioch College. She is a Registered Art Therapist and a Licensed Mental Health Counselor. Throughout her life Dale has been an artist. Her work includes collage and watercolor paintings.

Gail Young is a consultant with Roger Schwarz & Associates and works as an internal consultant for organizational development in the Land Use and Environmental Services Agency of Mecklenburg County - North Carolina's most populated county. In this role, Gail focuses on implementing strategies that increase the organization's capacity to exceed customer expectations. Areas of expertise include organizational change and redesign, leadership development, systems design/alignment and group facilitation. She also has experience facilitating planning retreats for elected officials and facilitating community-based processes where groups hold divergent interest.

Gail earned a B.A. in Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and a M.Ed. from the University of Arkansas, with a focus on university administration.

Lynn Stolp is an independent consultant with Roger Schwarz and Associates.  She is a business and life coach, specializing in leadership and team performance, career fulfillment and transition, and work/personal life integration.  Her passion lies in helping individuals discover and live their optimum lives.

As an organization development and training professional, Lynn has over 25 years experience working with individuals and teams at all levels of organizations, in both the public and private sectors.  She has designed and led numerous training programs and workshops, facilitated team and board retreats and meetings, and created career development/transition programs for organizations going through downsizing.

Lynn earned her BA from the University of Iowa, focusing on organizational development, and studied organizational design and change at the graduate level.

Annie Caulkins is consultant with Roger Schwarz & Associates and has a private coaching and consulting practice in Hillsborough, NC. Annie teaches workshops on facilitation and facilitative leadership, and she facilitates meetings for management teams, community groups, and non-profit boards. Annie's expertise and passion is in helping individuals and groups become more effective in their personal and professional relationships and in helping them navigate significant change.

From 1999 to 2007, Annie was an employee of SAS Institute, a large software company based in North Carolina. As a Leadership Development Consultant, Annie coached leaders and teams to increase their interpersonal effectiveness. She also facilitated meetings and taught leadership, facilitation, and interpersonal communication workshops.

Annie earned B. S. in Education from the University of Arkansas. She holds a Master of Arts in Communication from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where she specialized in interpersonal and organizational communication.

Annie lives with her husband near Hillsborough, North Carolina where she enjoys balancing her time between coaching and consulting and spending time with her family, working in her garden, cooking gourmet meals, and her latest passion, quilting.

Kristen Kolakowski is a consultant with Roger Schwarz and Associates.  She also has a coaching practice based in Saratoga Springs, NY. Kristen's passion and focus lie in helping her clients make choices that add fulfillment and reduce stress in their lives.

Over the past twelve years Kristen has held a variety of management and director-level roles within both the public and private sectors.  In these roles, she developed practical expertise in leading significant change initiatives and new programming, facilitating team retreats and meetings, and working with teams to improve interpersonal communication. In the same time period, she also practiced as therapist and worked with a diverse population including both groups and individuals.

Kristen earned her BA in Psychology with a minor in Anthropology from the University of Rochester.  She holds a Masters of Social Work from Boston College.  She is the founder of Tributes, a business that produces biographical videos for people who are nearing the end of life.

Annie Bentz has been a mediator, facilitator and trainer since 1993, and has extensive experience helping individuals and groups work through conflict and maximize their potential for interpersonal effectiveness.  In addition to being an associate with Roger Schwarz and Associates, Annie works at the University of Oregon in the Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity.  In this role, she offers mediation, facilitation, consulting and training related to workplace and organizational issues.  Annie has been working in higher education since 1999, and prior to that was the Executive Director of a community mediation center in Nebraska.

Annie is also an adjunct faculty member in the University of Oregon School of Law Master’s Program in Conflict and Dispute Resolution.

Annie received a B.A. in Psychology from Sonoma State University and an M.A. in Conflict Resolution from Antioch University.  In addition to this formal education, Annie is in the process of earning a parenting degree from her two outstanding sons and is an aspiring mandolin player.

Sterling Newberry has been a mediator and facilitator since 1996, is a Certified Professional Facilitator by the International Association of Facilitators, and is an independent consultant with Roger Schwarz Associates.

Sterling helps groups do the hard work of putting the lofty values of their organization into every day practice.  He uses a variety of facilitation techniques to help teams work better, to improve how organizations function both internally and in connection with the outside world, and to help individuals work through conflict artfully.  He teaches classes in Community Building and using conflict as a springboard to change.

Sterling has a BA in Sociology from Dickinson College, and a Certificate in Conflict Resolution from John F. Kennedy University.  

Jessica Mills is the project manager for Roger Schwarz & Associates. She has been with the company for several years and spends the majority of her time behind the scenes making sure that all aspects of the company run smoothly.

Her background is in business administration and management. Her commitment and dedication to the company is unwavering and she believes strongly in the values and mission of RSA.

A native Vermonter, she has resided in Chapel Hill for over 13 years and considers it home.