GoToCollegeFree! relies on and is very privileged to have these talented professional educators review all content delivered in GoToCollegeFree! seminars and workshops. Our group meets at least annually and may have discussions on various topics throughout the year.

Mr. Joe Egan – Retired Public and Private School Administrator and Educator, Bellevue/Seattle, WA. Joe Egan has 42 years experience in both public and private school education and administration in the Bellevue-Seattle area. He earned his Bachelors Degree in Education from Seattle University and is a trained Reading Specialist. He also attended the University of Washington for a time. He obtained his Masters Degree in Education from the University of Oregon and taught in the elite Bellevue Public School District for 27 years, spending time in all elementary classrooms Grades 1 through 6 and in junior high. The Bellevue District has a leading reputation and history of innovation in education in Washington State. Mr. Egan also served as Bellevue District Assistant Principal in Junior High/Middle Schools (split mostly in Tillicum and Ardmore schools) over a five year period after obtaining his Administration Credentials at Seattle University. He also served as Principal at Medina Bellevue elementary school over a four year period.

Upon retiring from the Bellevue District Public School System in the early 1990s, he served in the Catholic Archdiocese as Vice Principal of St. John Catholic School for next 13 years before his “finally final” retirement to do a lot of fishing, relaxing and spending more time with his wife, Mary (also a lifelong educator with an Oregon Duck Masters Degree) and family, including three grown children and two grandchildren. He still keeps up with teaching by periodically substituting in intermediate classrooms when asked. Beyond reading and rooting for Seattle University Redhawks, Oregon Ducks and Washington Huskies (except when Huskies play the Ducks…Yes, Joe is 100% DAWG when it comes to the Ducks!), Joe is “Mr. Fixit” and is skilled and busy in nearly every area of property, truck, auto, and tractor maintenance and repair. His more favorite personal hobbies, however, include training his hunting dog, hunting and fishing.

Laurie Akehurst. Founder/Director, Summit Learning Center, Tacoma, Washington. Laurie Akehurst is a licensed and certified teacher in Washington State with over 30 years experience as a junior high and senior high school educator. She graduated from the University of Washington with a Bachelor of Arts in English emphasizing Language Arts and Education. She completed her fifth year at the University of Washington and also minored in Special Education by completing the Special Education Program and Special Education Internship at the University of Washington Experimental Education Unit. In her early career, she substituted in various Seattle area schools and held teaching posts in two private Seattle schools (Chabad Lubavich School and Shorewood Christian School). In 1996, she founded Summit Learning Center, a private Learning Center affiliated with Academy Northwest where she conducted weekly classroom teaching sessions and implemented a unique private school teaching model and homeschool support service. In addition to direct classroom instruction, Summit Learning Center joins with and guides parents in weekly planning, curricula selection, and testing toward fulfilling Washington State grade school, junior high and high school requirements. Ms. Akehurst has endorsements in English, Reading, Language Arts, and Special Education. She is additionally a specialist is teaching Washington State History and has organized and led numerous field trips in Washington for students and parents interested in gaining deeper insight into the history of Washington State. She has also led  East Coast educational trips to study American History at the source. Laurie Akehurst is married 39 years to husband Richard and has four children and seven grandchildren. Her personal interests beyond her family include reading, sewing, and gardening.

Dr. David Warner, Founder/Principal, Coaching4Destiny  (www.c4dgroup.com). Dave earned his Bachelors  Degree in Business at the University of Idaho where he was also a member of the university golf team before beginning his 25+ year career in sales, marketing, and management. After college, he excelled as a regional sales executive in Boise, Idaho. Marriage moved him to Seattle where he transitioned into telecommunications and gained substantial experience in sales/marketing strategy and tactical execution, as well as management and leadership in the high tech arena. Over this 15+ year period, he held various executive and management posts in sales/marketing with Fox Telecommunications, Pentastar, Allegiance Telecom and more recently with Onvia, a business/government intelligence SaaS provider (software as a service). In addition, he obtained significant management experience in real estate and the financial services industry at FSBOexperts and MILA. He also spent two years in Sales at Acura of Lynnwood, Washington.

Toward the end of this season in life, Dave earned his doctorate degree at the Wagner Leadership Institute specializing in entrepreneurship and principled leadership where his expertise and passion evolved out of his experiences quite naturally into helping others become a significant influence in society and in the marketplace. Dr. Warner is an inspirational Professional Erickson Coach promoting corporate and personal mission, goals and values combined with specified action plans. He utilizes his own unique approach based in integrity while helping business leaders follow his Seven Effective Steps To Success — which he defines as greater marketplace and community influence and honorable profit growth.  He has extensive training in CISM (Critical Incident Stress Management) processes and serves his own county as a local community chaplain. In his free time, he promotes statewide school athletics as a seasoned baseball umpire and, of course, continues as a very low handicap golfer. Dr. Warner has two wonderful grown children and one new “favorite” grandchild. He recently completed his first triathlon and is setting goals to “go the distance.”  Because GoToCollegeFree! training touches on many threads of character development, personal responsibility, influence and leadership, Dr. David Warner is a particularly effective advisor at GoToCollegeFree! as a reviewer of its training material and guide to future directions.