BOARD of DIRECTORS
DEAN NIEWOLNY
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
DEAN NIEWOLNY, Chairman of the Board
Dean Niewolny spent 23 years in executive roles with three of Wall Street’s largest financial firms, finishing his career in the financial sector as a market manager for Wells Fargo Advisors in Chicago, where he oversaw a $100mm market. While in Chicago, he and his wife, Lisa, traveled many times to Africa and, seeing the abject needs of widows and orphans, made life changes that enabled them to get involved, such as helping to complete an orphan home and a hospice home in Durbin, South Africa.
In 2010, Dean left his marketplace career to help more people who, like him, wanted to expand their own first-half success and skills into passion and purpose for meeting human needs and making a significant difference. Dean joined the Halftime Institute as Managing Director and in 2011 became Chief Executive Officer. In 2021, after 11 years of faithful service, Dean stepped into the role of Chairman of the Board and Halftime Ambassador. He speaks at events around the world, encouraging business leaders to channel first half achievement into a second half defined by joy, impact, and balance.
In 2017, Dean authored his first book, Trade Up: How to Go From Just Making Money to Making A Difference. In it, Dean shares candidly about his personal transition into a second half of meaning and significance and the learnings of the Halftime Institute over 20 years of helping marketplace leaders do the same. Trade Up is available on Amazon.com, Christianbook.com, and Barnes&Noble.com.
Having grown up playing sports—eventually in college and semi-professional baseball—Dean still enjoys coaching his son and attending his games. He and Lisa and their two children live in Southlake, Texas.
“The appetite for significance is at an all time high, yet most people have no idea where or how to identify their gifts and talent—and to connect to their passions. And that’s my love for Halftime. Nothing satisfies more than to help a man or woman say, ‘This is what God has for me to do.’” — Dean Niewolny, Halftime Institute CEO
Check out Dean’s articles:
DALE
DAWSON
BRIDGE2RWANDA
DALE DAWSON, Bridge2Rwanda
Dale Dawson is an investment banker, entrepreneur, and CPA. He is founder & CEO of Bridge2Rwanda and serves on Rwanda President Paul Kagame’s Presidential Advisory Council. Since 2002, Dale has helped launch and grow a number of businesses and social enterprises in Rwanda. He also serves on the boards of Halftime Institute and Edify and the investment committee of Diamond State Ventures.
During his first half, Dale served as Executive Vice President & Head of Investment Banking at Stephens Inc.; Partner and National Director at KPMG; and Chairman & CEO of TruckPro, an independent distributor of commercial truck parts that he sold to AutoZone. He and his wife, Judi, are University of Texas graduates and live in Little Rock, Arkansas. They have two grown children – Katherine and Jack.
JAY
GARDNER
EXECUTIVE ADVISOR AND CONSULTANT
JAY GARDNER, EXECUTIVE ADVISOR AND CONSULTANT
Jay Gardner has worked for several prestigious companies including Quest Software, NetIQ, BMC Software, and IBM Corp. He has been recognized for his influence and success within the information technology community.
He was selected as a finalist for the honorable Gartner Group CIO Choice Award and honored as a Premier 100 IT Leader by IDG’s Computerworld. He has served as a venture advisor for Mercury Fund, a venture capital fund assisting information technology and science-based entrepreneurs with building innovative growing companies ready to compete on a global scale.
Jay received a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and an MBA from Texas Christian University. He serves on the Chancellor’s Advisory Council, the Neeley Business School Board of Advisors, and chairs the Neeley Leadership Program Advisory Council. He received the TCU Alumni Service Award in 2019.
Jay has held a variety of board positions in non-profit organizations, including Young Life and Fort Bend Education Foundation, and has been a Halftime Fellow and member of the leadership team of the Halftime Institute. Jay & his wife Sally live in Fort Worth, Texas.
PAUL
KUEHNER
BUILDING AND LAND TECHNOLOGY
PAUL KUEHNER, BUILDING AND LAND TECHNOLOGY
Paul J. Kuehner is the CEO of Building and Land Technology (BLT) based in Stamford, CT. Paul and his brother Carl (Chairman) have led BLT for over three decades and represent the 2nd generation of this privately held family business. BLT is a vertically-integrated real estate developer and private equity fund with a current real estate portfolio in excess of 25 million square feet of commercial, residential and hotel properties across 20 states. BLT is also the largest franchisee of Sotheby’s residential real estate brokerage with 28 offices and 1,000 real estate agents.
Paul received an undergraduate degree from Cornell University and an M.B.A. from Emory University.
Paul and his wife Patricia have four children, Grace 16, Jared 19, Christie 21 and Nick 23. The family enjoys taking mission trips to an orphanage home they sponsor in Lusaka, Zambia. Paul sits on the board of AmeriCares, a non-profit disaster relief and global health organization and co-founded a men’s ministry incubator in the Catholic church.
Paul and his wife, Patricia, live in New Canaan, Connecticut. They have two daughters and two sons.
MICAH
LACHER
ANCHOR INVESTMENTS LLC
MICAH LACHER, ANCHOR INVESTMENTS LLC
Micah Lacher is the President and Founder of Anchor Investments, LLC. Micah focuses on identifying and underwriting real estate investment opportunities for Anchor and other private real estate partnerships of which he is a partner.
Prior to forming Anchor Investments, he was a local partner in a regional development and brokerage firm as a developer of new retail facilities and residential communities. Along with a local partner, Micah founded and ran the Nashville office.
Prior to that partnership, he had several successful years in brokerage in the Nashville office of Colliers Turley Martin Tucker, which is now called Cushman & Wakefield. Over the course of the last 14 years, Micah has been involved as the managing partner in the acquisition and development of close to 2 million square feet of commercial real estate.
Micah stays extremely involved in his community through his board and volunteer positions with the Nashville House Foundation for Young Life, Team Chad, Redbird Ministries and Pursue Ministries. He is also a past board member of the Davidson County Chapter of the University of Tennessee Alumni Association and the Ronald McDonald House. He has also served as a Young Life leader at John Overton High School. Micah is one of the founders of Team Chad (www.teamchad.us), a non-profit that raises money to support leukemia-based charities. Since its founding in the fall of 2007, Team Chad has raised over $1.6 million.
He and his wife, Brit, are currently in the early stages of founding a new charity which provides basic essentials and Christmas presents for underprivileged children. Mr. Lacher holds a BS in Finance from the University of Tennessee, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude.
TIM
PATTON
CEO, PATTON HOLDINGS
TIM PATTON
A resident of Ann Arbor since 1983. Tim has been married for over 30 years to his wife Shann and is the father of their six children. He is a graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
From 1981-1988 Tim held progressively higher management positions at McGaw Labs, the intravenous products division of American Hospital Supply, ultimately acquired by Baxter. From 1989 to 2003, Tim co-founded Health Care Solutions and grew this provider of home-based respiratory and intravenous therapies serving over 40,000 patients concurrently in seven states through 47 offices with 750 employees before the sale of the company to Lincare (LNCR-OTC). Tim has since initiated the successful start-up of four companies, primarily in the healthcare services field. He is presently the Chairman and principal shareholder of Patton Holdings, a diversified holding company with controlling interests in Jordan Reses Supply Company, a distributor of respiratory products into the Veterans Administration and U.S. Military Hospitals, Flagship Private Air, which provides private charter flights and Patton Real Estate Holdings, a developer and an investor in residential and commercial properties in Michigan, Colorado, Florida and Illinois. In 2012 Tim divested his interest in Sleep Well Centers, an operator of outpatient sleep apnea diagnostic laboratories which he founded in 2003.
Tim and his wife, Shann, are active in the Ann Arbor community where Shann is the Executive Director of Arbor Vitae Woman’s Center; which is a limited medical clinic providing ultrasound imaging, pregnancy testing, counseling and social services coordination in support of women with unplanned pregnancies who choose life.
Tim chairs the board of Holy Cross Children’s Services serving disadvantaged youth with boarding schools, foster care, and vocational training. Tim also serves on the Boards of Arbor Vitae (referenced above), Renewal Ministries-an international organization evangelizing Christianity throughout the world, and Biovigil, a firm providing infrared sensing systems to maximize hand washing compliance resulting in minimization of hospital-acquired infections. He is also a founder and board member chairing the executive and compensation committees for the Ann Arbor State Bank. Finally, Tim founded the Ann Arbor Chapter of Legatus International, an organization of Catholic business leaders.
Tim enjoys boating both in Michigan and Florida and also participates in an occasional game of high handicap golf.
JOHN
SIKKEMA
HALFTIME GLOBAL PARTNERS
JOHN SIKKEMA, DIRECTOR OF HALFTIME GLOBAL PARTNERS
“I have watched many people who are running a thriving business, or who are in the middle of a remarkable career, yet have this vague sense that something is missing; life hasn’t turned out as they’d hoped. Few things make me happier than seeing others ‘get it’ and make the necessary changes and use the unique Halftime process to discover their life purpose and calling.”
As an accomplished business leader, CEO and the largest shareholder of a national financial planning group and Funds Management company, John successfully sold the two businesses to an Australian top ASX 200 company. He had transformed the small company he started in Tasmania into a successful franchise business with 65 offices across Australia.
Yet, it was his personal transformation in moving his focus from success to significance that remains his most satisfying and rewarding achievement.
John was inspired to bring the Halftime Institute coaching programs to Australia after reading the book ‘Halftime’, visiting Dallas, Texas, and meeting Bob Buford in 2008.
Today, as Director of Halftime Institute’s Global Partners, John is passionate about inspiring and empowering motivated leaders in different countries around the world to become part of the growing Halftime movement, by helping other high capacity leaders to become world changers.
After frequently sharing the story of his own powerful halftime journey, he wrote Enriched: Re-defining Wealth, in which he tells of the harsh lessons he learned in his pursuit of success; contrasting with the life of impact and adventure he has enjoyed since having a life-changing spiritual encounter.
John is also actively involved in community transformation with Empart. He regularly takes entrepreneurs, business and community leaders on trips to North India, which is truly a life-changing experience.
John and his wife Sue live near the beaches of Bayside, Melbourne, Australia and have four adult children.
Check out John’s book, Enriched here.
PHIL
SPENCER
MEGABROADBAND INVESTMENTS
PHIL SPENCER, MEGABROADBAND INVESTMENTS
Phil currently serves as President & CEO of MegaBroadband Investments. MegaBroadband Investments (MBI) acquires and invests in rural-focused cable systems serving residential and commercial customers. MBI acquired Northland Communications, Eagle Communications, Vyve Broadband, FamilyView Cable and currently passes 650,000 homes & businesses in fifteen states.
Mr. Spencer previously served as Chief Executive Officer of RBI LLC, which operates as NewWave Communications. NewWave completed six additional acquisitions over the last three years and serves 260 rural communities across six states. The company currently passes 430,000 homes and offers cable TV, high-speed internet and local phone service to residential and commercial customers. On May 1st 2017, RBI was sold to publicly traded CableOne (CABO-NYSE) for $735M.
Prior to establishing RBI, Mr. Spencer was CEO of Windjammer Communications where he partnered with MAST capital to own and operate 143 rural cable systems purchased from Time Warner. After significant subscriber growth and operational improvements, the systems were sold to publicly-traded Charter.
At the request of MAST Capital, Mr. Spencer also served as a member of the Board of Directors and CEO of LodgeNet. LodgeNet provided in-room cable service to approximately 2 million hotel rooms worldwide in addition to healthcare facilities throughout the United States. The company was sold to Los Angles-based private equity firm Colony Capital in 2012 and currently operates as Sonifi.
Mr. Spencer also served as President and CEO of Everest Connections, Inc., a Kansas City-based cable, telephone, and Internet access provider. Mr. Spencer led the sale of Everest to publicly traded Surewest (now Consolidated). A Marquette University graduate, Mr. Spencer holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Finance.
CHRIS
TRAVELSTEAD
FOUNDER – T-N-T ENGINEERING, INC.
CHRIS TRAVELSTEAD, FOUNDING PARTNER, T-N-T ENGINEERING, INC.
Chris resides in Westlake, Texas with her husband of 39 years, DeWayne Travelstead. They have two sons and two daughters-in-law along with several semi-adopted children. Chris and DeWayne graduated alongside each other in 1981 in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University. She is a Texas Registered Professional Petroleum Engineer.
Professional Career:
From 1981-82 Chris worked as a drilling and production engineer for Amoco Production Company. From 1982-86 she worked in drilling, production, and reservoir for Galaxy Oil Company. She was responsible for design and implementation of some of the initial high volume, high concentration fracture treatment designs that have made production from tight formations possible today. In 1987, Chris formed Texaust with a former client from Australia. They partnered with Bridge Oil Inc. of Australia as BridgeTex Oil to purchase proven producing oil and gas leases in the U.S. Their success resulted in Bridge Oil developing Bridge Oil USA, Inc. Chris sold out of the partnership in 1991 to form T-N-T Engineering, Inc. with her husband. From 1991-96 they were semi-retired while their children were young. In 1996 they formed a partnership with an Australian Oil Company that grew T-N-T Engineering, Inc. into a multistate operator with more than 1500 wells. Their Australian partner became a premier stock on the Australian Stock Exchange in 2008. In 2009, Chris and DeWayne sold T-N-T Engineering, Inc. along with the majority of their production to their Australian partner. Chris, along with her husband, continue to invest in the oil and gas business. They have also diversified through the years investing in real estate and manufacturing.
Ministry and Charitable Involvement:
Chris has been involved in Young Life for 40+ years including serving as volunteer, counselor, board member, and chair couple. She is a sustaining member of The Junior League of Wichita Falls. She was a sponsor of the German Squadron of the Euro-Nato Joint Jet Pilot Training at Sheppard Air Force Base and eventually the sponsor of the Norwegian Air Force Squadron at Sheppard for over 20 years. She was also a liaison between the U. S. and the Norwegian Air Force. Chris and DeWayne were named to the ENJJPT Hall of Fame. Chris is a private pilot with an instrument rating. She served on the boards of the Straight Street, The Episcopal School of Wichita Falls and Inheritance Adoption Agency. She was also a member of the North Texas Oil and Gas Association, the Society of Petroleum Engineers and Leadership Wichita Falls. She serves as a mentor to youth at her church and to a young Haitian man at the Gartland Youth Center in Turks and Caicos. She currently serves on the Gene Conley Foundation and is involved with First Liberty, Mission of Hope Haiti and The Gatehouse. Chris currently attends Watermark Church in Dallas, Texas, a neighborhood women’s bible study and teaches a couple’s bible study in their home.