Deborah Knupp, Managing Partner

Deborah Knupp has worked globally with CEOs, executives, managing partners and attorneys as a coach and business executive for over 17 years. She has helped these leaders align their people systems and business objectives to create cultures based on the principles of accountability, integrity and authentic relationship building. Her work has focused on making the work environment a place where employees "want" to be; where clients "want" to buy; and, where leaders "want" to serve a bigger purpose in their communities and families.

Deborah brings her sales, leadership and culture development expertise to Akina and was one of Akina's founding Partners in 2001. She is currently leading the national launch of Akina Legal, a North American leader of sales and leadership consulting to law firms.

Prior to joining Akina, Deborah was the Chief Knowledge Officer for Geneer, a Chicago-based software development services firm. During her tenure, Deborah was the pivotal leader in mobilizing a sales transformation effort through the implementation of the Akina sales framework.

Prior to joining Geneer, Deborah was the Vice President of People Services for Commerx, a B2B hosted e-procurement solution provider. Prior to Commerx, Deborah was at Alcan Packaging, a multi-billion dollar international packaging business owned by Montreal based Alcan. While there, she served as General Business Manager for a $75MM business, as well as the senior executive in Human Resources for North America where she is credited with being a pioneer in global leadership and change management initiatives.

Prior to Alcan Packaging, Deborah was an Area Director for Frito-Lay in Houston, Texas and began her career at Pearle Vision holding Sales and corporate Human Resources management positions.
Deborah graduated with Senior Fellow honors and a Bachelor of Science in Speech/Organizational Communication from the University of Texas at Austin.

On a personal note, Deborah has a number of other credits and achievements in her background. She has completed 5 Marathons (26.2 miles). She is a US Trademark holder for Spectathlete™. Deborah serves on the Board of Directors for SuperSibs! and formerly on Board Operations for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Illinois. In addition, she regularly provides leadership and staff development, pro bono, for numerous non-profit organizations.

Deborah currently resides in Chicago with her husband and two daughters.

Tracy LaLonde, Managing Partner

Tracy LaLonde has 14 years of experience in the Human Resource and Organizational Development fields in the legal and high-tech consulting industries.

Prior to Akina, Tracy completed numerous professional development projects for three law firms, including Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP. These projects included creating legal and business development training curriculum, developing integrated, multi-level orientation programs, designing retreats for partners and associates, as well as enhancing mentoring and performance

evaluation systems.

Prior to working in the legal industry, Tracy worked in the high-tech consulting industry. A skilled training facilitator, she developed and delivered hours of instruction on consulting and client management, people management, project management, presentation skills, communication and change topics. Certified in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Tracy helps individuals find personal relevance in all of her programs to greater facilitate change and growth.

Tracy has spoken many times with the Legal Marketing Association, the Professional Development Institute, and the Annual Education Conference of NALP. Some of those topics include Marketing Yourself from the Inside Out, Strategic Account Management: Why Client Teams Aren’t Enough, Marketing Diversity, What It Takes to Be a PD Professional and Strategically Improving Associate Performance. She is a former Board Member of the Professional Development Consortium as well as a former Vice Chair of the Professional Development Committee for NALP. Tracy has a Masters of Education and a B.S. in Marketing, both from the University of Illinois.

Alycia Sutor, Managing Partner

Alycia has more than fourteen years experience helping law firms, corporations and non-profits in the areas of marketing, sales and strategic planning initiatives.

Prior to joining Akina, Alycia was the Director of Marketing at the law firm of Goldberg Kohn. She also oversaw marketing for the Health Law practice group at McDermott, Will & Emery, an international law firm, which at the time had more than 800 attorneys worldwide. Alycia also worked with the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, where she was involved in the strategic planning to create

and launch a line of nationally distributed educational products, including the award-winning line of Idea Factory® science kits.

Alycia is an active member of the Legal Marketing Association (LMA), where she served on the Chicago Chapter Board for five years and was the 2005 Chapter President. Alycia has spoken on a number of sales and marketing related topics and for the past two years, she has been a part of the teaching faculty at the Chicago-Kent College of Law's innovative and unique law student marketing education program.

Alycia received her MBA from Northwestern University's J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management and her BA, summa cum laude, from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois.

Paul Trout, Managing Partner

Paul Trout has eighteen years of experience in a range of businesses, all of which focus on his passion: communication.  His thirst for variety and differentiated experience has led him to be a successful contributor in many environments including government, financial services, high tech, manufacturing, consulting and law firms.

Paul helps to build stronger bridges between firm vision, marketing aspirations and sales execution by using the voice of the client to guide his work.

Paul's focus has been helping professionals find and understand the gifts they possess and how they can leverage them to find, build and sustain productive and profitable relationships.

He has specialties and expertise in messaging, internal communications, go-to-market strategy development, market research, marketing positioning, and key account management.

Paul is a member of the University Club of Chicago and The Executives Club of Chicago. He volunteers for Howard Brown Health Center, a community-based health services provider.

Paul received his MBA in Marketing and Information Systems from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University in 1999. He also received a BA in Urban Studies and Planning from the University of California at San Diego in 1991.

Jeff McKinney, Ph.D., Principal

Jeff has spent the last 12 years teaching, conducting research, and leading organizational change efforts in the field of higher education. During his time in higher education, Jeff has been teaching about diversity issues and how people can better understand themselves in a diverse society. He has taught courses on cultural awareness, white privilege, GLBT issues, social/class privilege, public speaking, business communication, interviewing, and work/school/life balance.

In addition, for the last 4 years Jeff has independently consulted

with institutions of higher education, corporations, and nonprofit organizations on diversity issues, conflict management, change management, and communication skills. As Senior Associate Director of the Project on Academic Success at Indiana University, Jeff led a change management process for 16 colleges and universities in the State of Indiana. He conducted surveys, interviews, focus groups, and data analysis examining enrollment and retention of minority student populations. In addition, Jeff helped to develop programs to assist schools in recruiting and retaining more students from underrepresented backgrounds.

Jeff has presented numerous papers and original research at national conferences over the past decade. He has published articles on organizational change and diversity issues.

Jeff believes in serving his community as well, participating on boards and volunteering for local organizations in the areas of poverty & homelessness and glbt issues. He is founding president of the Indiana University GLBT Alumni association. After traveling for the first 3 months of 2007, Jeff decided to develop and start his own nonprofit organization which will focus of providing educational opportunities to children in Fiji and Cambodia.

Jeff earned his BA & MA in speech communication from Indiana University and his Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from Indiana University.

Lisa Glancy, Principal

Lisa Glancy has over ten years of experience in marketing communications, business development and executive coaching, supporting high-potential professionals and corporate executives in achieving their business and professional development goals.

Prior to joining Akina, Lisa worked with Inside Counsel Magazine, helping professional services firms and other legal service providers reach in-house counsel through a variety of integrated marketing communications programs, including print, online advertising, and events.

She also served as the Director of Marketing for Marshall, Gerstein & Borun, an Intellectual Property boutique in Chicago. She oversaw all marketing and business development initiatives, including public relations, website development, online and printed communications materials, and development of attorney marketing plans.

Lisa also has experience working with accounting, consulting, financial and public utility industry executives, helping them develop leadership, business development, and executive presence/personal branding skills. She has spoken and presented workshops on the topics of Executive Presence for Women, Personal Branding, and High-Impact Communication Styles, among others.

She serves as a chairperson of the Novus Officium Committee Orland Park Chamber of Commerce and is active through her church on many different committees, including communications, women’s ministries, and marriage preparation.

Lisa received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications and English Writing from Loyola University New Orleans, has completed sales training through the Sandler Sales Institute, and is a graduate of Coach University.

Barbara Bearss, Executive Assistant

Barbara is currently working as Executive Assistant for Akina Corporation. She joined the team in January 2006 and has been an integral part ever since. Barbara has a rich and varied background from property management to working for non-profit organizations focused on helping the low income elderly and homeless. As Executive Assistant, Barbara works closely with team members to ensure the successful delivery of projects as well as day-to-day operations.

Barbara has held several managerial positions. She also has

experience in the areas of sales and customer service; having led sales quotas for a Chicago area run business in a previous position. An entrepreneur, Barbara is a part time realtor and runs a jewelry making business. She earned her BA in Social Sciences from Trinity College in Deerfield, Illinois.

Suzanne Baker, Principal

For over 20 years, Suzanne Baker has served as a catalyst and leader of change for corporations, consultants, and executives. Her accomplishments have included being a pioneer in large scale transformation efforts and culture change within a Fortune 100 company, sales and strategic relationship management for a Big 4 consulting firm, and serving as a speaker and coach to many in the arena of work-life integration and purpose.

Prior to joining Akina as a Principal, Suzanne was with Deloitte Consulting serving internal and external clients. Her most recent role

was in sales and account penetration with strategic clients. As a consultant, she served financial services, healthcare, and consumer business clients helping them to align internal programs, priorities, and executive leadership behaviors with external strategy and marketing. Serving Deloitte internally, she managed the distribution of mandatory and optional learning programs targeted to the consultant population.

Before Deloitte, Suzanne was with State Farm Insurance Headquarters serving in a variety of line and staff roles. Her career focused primarily on initiation and implementation of new business and technology strategies for sales and underwriting, transformation projects, leading and managing staff, and building an internal change management and communications practice.

Suzanne has also worked independently over the last seven years developing a speaking and mentoring career, focusing specifically on work-life integration and the development of authentic, successful, and fulfilling relationships.

Suzanne believes a complete life includes serving others. She has created and served on a variety of not-for-profit endeavors serving the community socially, spiritually, and with the arts. She is currently working on ways to harness the influence, resources and creativity of Executives & Professionals to support those less fortunate.

Suzanne has earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Illinois Wesleyan University, a Master of Arts in Religion from Trinity International University and professional certifications in Management, Change Management, and Financial Planning.

Mike Stankus, Alliance Partner

Mike Stankus is a published author and frequent speaker on topics such as transforming sales organizations, sales management, and executive leadership. He has personally trained / coached thousands of sales managers and reps.

In late 1999, Mike helped found and launch S&H Solutions, a $70 million loyalty marketing firm based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Prior to founding S&H Solutions and Akina, Mike was Vice President of Sales at Sapient Corporation. Sapient (NASDAQ: SAPE) is a $350

million professional services firm that provides business strategy, technology integration, and change management for Global 1000 companies. While at Sapient, Mike built the e-commerce strategy and organization that propelled the company into a market leadership position.

Prior to Sapient, Mike spent 5 years at CompuServe's Network Services Division. He held a variety of sales management positions as well as managing strategic planning and acquisitions.

Mike has a B.S in finance from Marquette University and a M.B.A. from Bentley College. He has participated as a member / advisor on several boards including travelgator.com, Olliance, Corey McPherson Nash, Saint Laurence High School, and Star House, a group home for severely abused children located in Beverly, MA.

Mike, his wife Wendy and their two daughters reside in Beverly Farms, Massachusetts.

Sheldon Gottlieb, Alliance Partner

Sheldon brings a unique and highly diverse experience to the Akina team. He was a practicing attorney for over twenty-five years, concentrating on real estate and commercial transactions, and estate planning. He has extensive business, financial, management, sales and marketing experience as past owner of a direct mail advertising company and a business brokerage firm. He currently serves as president and attorney at law with Fast Forward Partners Ltd.

Throughout his career he has taken an active interest in the careers

of junior attorneys. He has frequently served as a mentor to younger attorneys. Before joining Akina, he was Professional Development Partner at a Chicago law firm, where he designed and implemented a program to create career benchmarks for associate professional development and advancement to partnership.

He earned a bachelor-of-arts degree at the University of Michigan. He received his law degree from the University of Michigan Law School, magna cum laude, and was awarded the Order of the Coif.

He is a member of the Executive Board, Chicago Region, of the Anti-Defamation League and a member of the Board of Governors of Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, Melrose Park, Illinois.