History
Since 1985, the Aslan Group has worked with dozens of organizations to help them become better at what they do. Here is an incomplete list.
Chamber of Commerce
Chicago Forest Preserve District
CILCO
Columbus-Cabrini Medical Center
Cook County Administration
Frances Nelson Health Center
GrowMark
Illinois League of Savings Institutions
Mars Co. (Kai-Kan Division)
Millikin University
National Cancer Institute
NUCFAC- National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council
PIXO
Rural Partners/Kellogg Program
State of Illinois- Commerce and Community Affairs
Trees America
U.S. Army Civil Engineering Research Laboratory
U.S. Department of Education
U.S. Forest Service
Wisconsin Power & Light
Y.M.C.A.
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Our Team
Principal and CO-Founder
Shirley Faughn
Shirley is a co-founder and senior partner of the Aslan Group and has over thirty years of supervisory and training experience. She began her professional career in the mid-70’s in university administration after receiving degrees in Social Work, Psychology, Counseling, and Education from Murray State University. After ten years of professional experience she returned to campus and earned her doctorate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in a program which combined fields of education, communication, and business. Shirley serves as an executive consultant in the areas of leadership development and communication across a variety of organizations. She also serves as an executive coach, facilitator, and presenter.
Dr. Faughn worked for several years in university teaching and administration roles in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota where she instructed university courses in Administration, Managerial Communications, and Organizational communication. Shirley is the recipient of several honors, including Outstanding Young Women of America, Who's Who in Human Service Professionals, and a recipient of the John E. Corbally Fellowship at the University of Illinois. She lives in Champaign, IL and enjoys traveling, ballroom dance, and the entertainment of two lively cats.
Principal and CO-Founder
Robert Husband
Bob is co-founder and principal of the Aslan Group, and an emeritus faculty member of Communication at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is recognized nationally for his work in organizational leadership and executive training, and has consulted with some 50 different corporations across the country. He consults primarily in the areas of executive and leadership development, communication, and strategic planning. He also has extensive experience evaluating communication structures of large and small corporations, health care organizations, government agencies, and university administrative units.
For over 30 years, Dr. Husband has been a featured speaker on such topics as executive dialogue, listening, interpersonal communication, high performance teams, customer service, and leadership development. He has received several teaching honors, including campus teaching excellence recognition and outstanding teacher of the year award. Listed in Outstanding Educators of America, he holds degrees from Central Michigan University, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, and the University of Illinois. Bob and his wife, Judy, live in Champaign, IL.
EXECUTIVE Consultant
Bill Kruidenier
Bill is a consultant with the Aslan Group with over forty years of service in various local, national, and international leadership and executive positions. Bill recently retired after serving twenty years in numerous campus programs at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Prior to his work at the University, Bill directed an international organization that introduced over 90 new educational programs and publications throughout the world and grew tenfold in membership. During this period he served as chairperson of a national council at the request of the United States Secretary of Agriculture.
Mr. Kruidenier has extensive experience in executive consulting, strategic planning, team-building, program development and analysis. He has received several awards for his leadership and professional contributions throughout his career. Bill earned his B.S. and M.S. at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and resides in Chicago, IL.
EXECUTIVE Consultant
Dana Lobocki
Dana Lobocki is a consultant with the Aslan Group with more than twenty-five years of corporate human resources, consulting, and executive coaching experience. Dana has held senior HR leadership positions in manufacturing and professional services industries having served as an HRBP manager with ExxonMobil, a global HR director with Aon-Hewitt, and a Vice President of HR with REV Group. Highlights of Dana’s career include leadership of an international HR team, design and development of global succession management programs at three organizations, and the establishment of a strategic HR talent management center of excellence. Dana also has strong project and change management skills having led several employee M&A integrations, global HR system implementations, and internal HR transformations.
As an HR consultant, Dana has led multiple, complex, global projects across manufacturing, agriculture, and financial services industries. Key clients include Johnson Controls Inc., Brady Corporation, Growmark, Quad, and RW Baird. Dana is also an ICF trained executive coach and has years of experience coaching senior business leaders both internally and externally. Dana earned a bachelor's degree in Communication and a master’s degree in Labor and Employment Relations both from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and lives near Milwaukee with her husband Ray and two sons.
EXECUTIVE Consultant
Patty Gaumond
Patty is a consultant with the Aslan Group and has over thirty years’ experience in digital transformation, technology, and research. As a former executive in the insurance and financial services Industries, she most recently served as the Vice President of Digital Strategy for a Fortune 25 company. Her primary responsibilities included enterprise digital transformation and the delivery of enterprise digital solutions. She began her career as a software developer and her passion for solution development and innovation led to a broad range of leadership positions across the technology spectrum, including application development, infrastructure, information security and telecommunications. Throughout her career, she successfully navigated partnerships with many of the major technology solution providers across the industry.
Patty’s additional career experiences include being a research lead with responsibility for conducting qualitative and quantitative studies across a variety of disciplines. In addition, she participated in and led several corporate communication and change management initiatives. She has served as a mentor and coach for a wide variety of professionals, particularly in the technology arena. Patty holds a bachelor’s degree with an emphasis on mathematics and computer science from St. Mary’s College in South Bend, Indiana. Patty and her husband, Paul, live in the mountains of Asheville, NC.
EXECUTIVE Consultant
Joshua Barbour
Joshua is a consultant with the Aslan Group and Professor of Communication at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His research has been published in multiple academic and professional journals. He earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in Communication at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Dr. Barbour has consulted with numerous private and public sector organizations and has directed survey design, implementation, and analysis. His research interests center on how institutional and organizational structures converge in communication and organizational life; how we can improve organizational life by understanding it through better analytics; and, how to bring about change through intervention in and through communication. Joshua lives in Champaign, IL with his partner, Jennifer, and children, Henry and Hazel.
EXECUTIVE Consultant
Brad Kolar
Brad Kolar is the founder and leader of Avail Advisors. Brad works as a consultant with the Aslan Group with over twenty five years of experience. Brad was formerly the Chief Learning Officer for the University of Chicago Medical Center and the Director of Learning and Performance Strategy for the global consulting firm, Accenture. Brad is an expert at connecting organizational and individual development strategy and implementation. Brad has earned degrees in Economics, Communication, and Computer Science from the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign and Northwestern University.
Mr. Kolar’s areas of concentration include executive level leadership and workforce development; and, productivity improvement, process redesign, training and development in communication. Brad regularly writes on leadership, motivation, and business strategy and is the co-author of the book The Brain Advantage: Become a More Effective Business Leader Using the Latest Brain Research. He lives in Naperville, IL with his wife, Peggy and two children, Zachary and Rebecca.