Our Authors

Lauren Wittenberg Weiner, PhD became a barrier-breaking entrepreneur when she quit her White House job to follow her husband on military orders to Italy. Once there, she was told that military spouses were prohibited from holding professional-level jobs. She started WWC Global, and she and her team grew it to $100m in annual revenue. In 2018, WWC Global won the largest-ever contract to a woman-owned business in US Special Operations Command headquarters history— the headquarters for the Navy SEALs and Army Green Berets—making WWC Global one of the most successful women-owned small businesses in the government contracting space. After opening doors and demystifying the GovCon process for many, Lauren’s company was acquired in 2022. Lauren has an undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in psychology from Dartmouth College. She lives in Tampa Bay with her family, where she sits on the Board of multiple non-profits, acts as primary caregiver for her aging parents, and is a loud and proud hockey mom.

Michael Wolff, Ph.D., is currently a faculty member in the psychology department at Penn State University, where he teaches undergraduate and graduate psychology courses and is a staff psychologist at the Penn State Psychological Clinic. He received his B.S. from Penn State University, his master’s in counseling psychology from Antioch New England Graduate School and his Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Penn State University. His research interests include psychotherapy processes (alliance, relationship, therapist factors, etc.) and their impact on outcomes.

Brad Wolgast (who received his Ph.D. from Temple University) learned the basics of group dynamics under the stress of the outdoors as a backpacking guide in New Mexico, and later across the country. He thought he had struck research gold when an adviser recommended he use a survival analysis for a research project. Not knowing this statistical method, he said, “No problem, I analyze that show every week. But how do we use that for a research project?” Well, now we know. Brad would like to thank the hardworking Daniel Strunk, Ph.D., without whom this wouldn’t have been written, and his two favorite “Survivor” fans, Henry and Claire.

Naomi Wood was born and raised in Congo (formerly Zaire). After years of feeling apologetic about her taste in books, she suddenly has been caught up in the popular-culture vanguard, which astonishes her. She teaches children’s and adolescent literature and Victorian studies at Kansas State University, where she is an associate professor of English. She has published articles on a range of fantasy and magic realist authors including George MacDonald, Lucy Lane Clifford, Charles Kingsley, C. S. Lewis, Philip Pullman, Virginia Hamilton and others.

James Wood holds a Doctorate of business Administration and is certified as a Project Management Professional (PMP) through the Project Management Institute. He is a leadership consultant and coach based in both Denver, Colorado, and Honolulu, Hawaii. He has more than 25 years of diverse leadership experience with project management, software development, engineering, operations, and training organizations. He is deeply passionate about utilizing brain-based, results-focused techniques to consult with and coach individuals and organizations to realize greatness. To that end, he is ardently driven toward teaching, inspiring, and guiding others in discovering methods that lead to fulfilling and enriched personal and professional lives.