Instructor — James Burns
Adjunct Professor at UCF and Strayer Universities respective
Jim Burns retired from a 40-year career with Marriott International in 2019. Over that time frame Jim held positions at property, regional and corporate levels as well as having discipline experience in Food and Beverage, Rooms, HR, Quality, Brand Management, and R&D. His last position was as VP and Managing Director of Grande Lakes Orlando and was responsible for overseeing the JW Marriott and The Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes. The resort complex sits on 500 acres and does over $250M in annual revenue.
For the past four years Jim has been providing leadership training and coaching in collaboration with Resilient Leadership LLC. For the last two years Jim has been a partner and co-owner in the firm. The key customer segments are within the government and hospitality sectors. Clients include the Food and Drug Administration, US Pharmacopia, Sodexo, MasterCorp, and Marriott International.
Jim's educational background includes a Bachelor of Arts Degree in secondary education from Temple University and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Hotel Administration from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Jim completed his MBA from the Jack Welch Management Institute in 2015 and spent 5 years as an adjunct professor at the Strayer University and the University of Central Florida between 2015 and 2019. Jim and his wife Sonja live in St. Petersburg and have three grown children.
Instructor — Sofia Gonzalez
Talent Developer, Executive Coach, and Team Builder
Sofia Gonzalez has a passion for teaching others and developing leaders. She brings decades of experience as a trainer and talent manager to assist managers in becoming their best selves. She utilizes a blend of expertise as part of a systems approach when working with leaders experiencing wide-scale change, team challenges, leadership effectiveness or the balancing of competing needs.
Sofia brings infectious enthusiasm, energy and depth to her coaching interactions and facilitation sessions. Her extensive business operations background allows her to fully optimize her coaching sessions because she has walked a mile in others’ shoes.
Her practice with Resilient Leadership has created great resonance in her life; and she is an enthusiastic sharer of this information to continue fulfilling her life mission of assisting others in achieving resonance and range in their own lives.