Staff & Facilitators - Conway Center for Family Business

Staff & Facilitators

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Bea Wolper

President, Board of Trustees

Women in Family Business Peer Group Co-Facilitator

Succession Planning Peer Group Co-Facilitator

Bea is a co-founder of the Conway Center for Family Business and serves as President of the Board of Trustees as well as an Advisory Board member. She is partner and CEO of the law firm of Emens Wolper Jacobs & Jasin, in Columbus, Ohio. Her practice focuses on succession planning, estate planning, general corporate law, contracts and the buying and selling of businesses, with an emphasis on family-owned businesses.

Bea serves as the Ohio President for the International Women’s Forum and serves as a director of TB Investment Properties and Insight Bank. She is on the Legal Advisory Board of the Columbus Foundation and Central Ohio Planned Giving. She has served on the executive committees of COSI, Greater Columbus Arts Council, Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce, Mt. Carmel College of Nursing, Greater Columbus News Bureau, and Small Business Council.

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Jill Hofmans

Executive Director

Jill first joined the Conway Center in 2013. As Executive Director, she works closely with our members including facilitating the C-Level peer groups, developing educational program content and delivery, and engaging with business and community leaders throughout Central Ohio.

Jill has worked, volunteered, and held internships in non-profit organizations most of her adult life. It is no surprise, then, that she has a passion for connecting with and serving others. She currently serves on the board of Small Biz Cares.

Jill earned a Bachelor’s degree, with honors, from Pitzer College (Claremont, CA) and a Master’s degree (Phi Kappa Phi) in Women’s Studies from San Diego State University.

In her free time, she creates irreverent cross stitch samplers and enjoys happy hour with clients and friends, especially if the venue makes a well-crafted, dirty vodka martini.

Amy Dotts

Amy Dotts

COO & Events Manager

Amy joined the Conway Center in 2016. She is responsible for managing day-to-day operations and for all details and logistics needed to execute smooth, successful events. Amy works closely with staff and facilitators, while connecting with and soliciting feedback from Conway Center members to offer engaging and informative groups, programs, and events.

Amy has extensive experience in association management having served as the Executive Director of a non-profit state healthcare association for over 20 years. She has a passion for working with and engaging members, and supporting businesses to ensure that their goals and expectations are met.

Amy earned her Bachelor’s degree in Health Information Management from The Ohio State University.  Amy loves the outdoors - especially early morning runs, bike rides, and afternoon patio drinks with friends and family!

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Lorna Flint

Administrative Assistant

Lorna joined the Conway Center in February 2024, providing administrative and webinar support to the team.

Lorna is a motivated individual with a passion for organization, caring for others, and sustainability. She is a prolific writer who has written a young adult fiction novel about the relationship between people and the earth. Lorna has excellent attention to detail and is excited to be involved with the Conway Center.

Lorna graduated with a Master’s degree in Sustainable Development and English Literature from the University of St Andrews, Scotland. Lorna loves to sing, read, and spend time with her family.

Peer Group & Roundtable Facilitators

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Jeff Cope

Manufacturing/Logistics C-Level Peer Group Facilitator

Jeff has over 25 years of strategic planning, business development, and business transformation leadership experience. Having worked with mid-market, closely held and family-owned businesses his entire career, Jeff has a unique understanding of how these enterprises operate and the challenges they face.

As the president of JACO Advisory Group, he is passionate about working with business leaders to build strong cultures while developing and executing strategies that deliver exceptional results that benefit all the company’s stakeholders. Jeff’s hands-on approach to working with companies begins with a commonsense approach to strategy development.

With extensive experience in organizational turnaround and growth, Jeff follows a defined process (disciplined, focused, intentional) to guide clients from strategy to execution. His experience covers a multitude of industries with an in-depth understanding of automotive manufacturing.

Jeff holds a master’s in business administration from the Capital University School of Management and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration and Management from Ohio Dominican University.

Sharon DeLay

Sharon DeLay

Human Resources Roundtable Facilitator

Sharon DeLay is a highly credentialed HR expert, a dynamic business owner and community leader, and a popular author and presenter.  She is the founder, visionary, and President of GO-HR, an HR consultancy that spans the key areas of HR strategy and compliance, recruiting and on-boarding, training and development, non-traditional benefits and consulting, and workplace investigations.

GO-HR has been recognized as a 2019-2023 Columbus CEO Best of Business honoree for HR Service, the 2022 Small Business of the Year by the Westerville Area Chamber of Commerce, and a 2023 Medical Mutual Pillar Award for Community Service. In 2023, Sharon was recognized by Columbus Business First as an HR Impact awardee. She received the Support of Family Business Award by the Conway Center in 2020, and the Lifetime Achievement award for Excellence in HR by Columbus CEO in 2019. Sharon has been honored with the 2022 NAWBO Columbus Visionary award, 2021 Business Person of the Year award from the Westerville Chamber, NAWBO Columbus 2015 Women’s Business Champion, and the 2019 WSBA Emerging Leader award.

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Kelly Jasin

Women in Family Business Peer Group Co-Facilitator

Kelly is a partner and President of the law firm of Emens Wolper Jacobs & Jasin, in Columbus, Ohio. Her practice focuses on helping closely-held and family business owners plan for the succession of their business. EWJJ enjoys taking a holistic approach to succession planning, taking time to listen to the clients' goals and implementing a business and estate plan that works for the family, both professionally and personally. Kelly’s background in psychology allows her to navigate the sensitive issues surrounding succession planning, helping to ensure family harmony from start to finish.

Kelly is a member of the American Bar Association, the Ohio State Bar Association, the Columbus Bar Association, Women Lawyers of Franklin County and the Worthington Estate Planning Council and serves on the Board of The Charitable Gift Planners of Central Ohio.

Mike ODonnell

Mike O'Donnell

Next Gen Leaders Peer Group Facilitator

As a leadership consultant and executive coach for Integrated Leadership Systems, Mike is passionate about guiding people toward the truth of their own story and the discovery of their purpose. A teacher, baseball coach, and mentor for the better part of 20 years before becoming an executive coach, Mike earned his BA in English from The Ohio State University, his teaching certification from Ashland University, and a Master’s in Creative Writing and Literature from Regis University in Denver, Colorado.

Our collective stories and the art we share motivate Mike to connect people with their calling, and he brings a unique perspective to coaching and leadership through his understanding of how we learn through the stories we tell. Mike and his wife have been married for 22 years, and have six kids together, ranging in age from 9-20 years. He enjoys fitness, hiking, exploring small towns, restoring homes, and searching for the beauty in all things.

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Jackie Schetter

Leadership Development Peer Group Facilitator

Jackie is the founder of Lead for Culture, where she specializes in employee development, engagement and well-being.  She enjoys a holistic approach to culture, working with leaders to ensure the founder’s story, vision, values, processes and systems are working in harmony to drive ideal organizational behaviors.

Prior to starting Lead for Culture, Jackie spent several years working in the sports and entertainment industry as a strategy, brand and revenue generation consultant. Sport is an interesting microcosm of leadership and teamwork at its best (and worst), which led Jackie to pursue a career where she can positively impact workplace satisfaction.

Her credentials include a Bachelor’s in Education from The Ohio State University, an M.B.A. from the University of Central Florida, and post-graduate certificates in Change Management and Positive Psychology. She is also a board-certified Health and Well-being Coach, executive coach and Edward Lowe Foundation facilitator, among other trainings and tools.

In addition to working with Conway family businesses, Jackie has provided training and coaching in the financial services, tech, healthcare, education, logistics, construction and NFP spaces.

Sugar Meredith

Meredith Sugar

Succession Planning Peer Group Co-Facilitator

Meredith’s practice at Taft/ is focused in the area of sophisticated wealth transfer, estate planning and administration, tax planning for individuals, corporations and partnerships, business succession planning and general corporate representation. She frequently advises high wealth individuals on how best to structure and implement wealth transfer and estate planning vehicles such as GRATs, dynasty trusts, family limited partnership and limited liability companies. She also represents estates, businesses and individuals in IRS audits. She regularly forms and advises nonprofit and tax-exempt organizations.

In addition to her estate planning and tax practice, Meredith also advises business owners regarding structuring complex transactions, entity formation, succession planning, mergers and acquisitions and other corporate needs. She has developed a special focus on representing business owners who are involved in the development, installation and construction of energy facilities, as well as oil and gas leasing and development transactions. She frequently collaborates with members of the firm’s Environmental practice.

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Kim Troy

EOS Integrator Peer Group Facilitator

Kim is the Founder and CEO of Civilis Consulting. Civilis works with CEOs, board members, entrepreneurs and leadership teams to strategize and implement organization-wide transformations. As an embedded member of her clients’ leadership teams, Kim serves as a fractional COO or EOS® Integrator to help companies – and their visionaries – with:

  • Translating strategic vision and directives into elegant and executable plans of action
  • Leadership development and training, including DEI&B programs and workshops
  • Strategic talent acquisition and retention
  • Culture-building and differentiation
  • Organizational change and transformation
  • Exit and succession planning
  • M&A pre- and post-integration

Kim has a BA in Psychology and Business Administration from the University of Puget Sound and a Diversity & Inclusion certification from Cornell. She is a Prosci® certified Change Management Practitioner, DDI® Targeted Selection trainer, certified Tilt™ coach, and EOS® Integrator Masterclass graduate.

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