NJASA

NJASA / NJAPSA SPRING LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE

Reflection, Resilience, Renewal

CAESARS ATLANTIC CITY

MAY 15-17, 2024

Wednesday, May 15, 2024 - Keynote Speaker:  TJ Kostecky

TJ Kostecky has coached thousands of players and coaches around the world. Based on his experience, he is the lead innovator of Vision Training Soccer, a developmental program that empowers athletes to maximize their playing potential. He has shared his coaching philosophy with players and coaches worldwide. Through his myriad experiences, Kostecky realized that widening your vision has the power to transform not only how players approach their sport, but also how they approach life.

With four decades of head coaching experience, TJ is now at Bard College, where he conducts Vision Training for Life leadership training workshops for the college deans, various administration staffs, citizen science fellows, and student-athlete groups. He also runs the men’s soccer program at Bard. Previously, he spent 20 years at Long Island University, teaching in the Department of Sports Science, co-founding the University’s Sport Management Program, and serving as the Men’s NCAA Division I soccer coach. In an academic career spanning 35 years and six universities, he has served variously as a professor, director of athletics, coach, and mentor.

Worldwide, TJ conducts Vision Training seminars and transformational leadership workshops for organizations, universities, sports teams, coaches, parents, and players of all ages. TJ co-produced the #1 Best-Selling Vision Training on the attack soccer video and complimentary coaches’ manual. He continues to teach players and coaches an innovative training method which empowers them to make their own decisions, gain confidence, and become creative in their play. TJ’s travels have taken him to places such as Finland, Guatemala, Iceland, Norway, Ukraine, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Canada, and Turks & Caicos. In 2020, he was Inducted into the Ukrainian Sports Hall of Fame.

TJ has just finished publishing his new book Eyes Up! which was released on February 6th 2024 by Matt Holt publishing company. The book is a comprehensive self-help guide covering all aspects of life, from career to family to spiritual fulfillment. It shows readers how small shifts in perspective can have a major impact on how they see the world and live their life, leading to higher levels of success and satisfaction. Eyes Up! has been recommended by Good Housekeeping magazine as one of "The 26 best Self-Help Books to Buy in 2024 that actually work."

Thursday, May 16, 2024 - Keynote Speaker:  Gregory Offner

Gregory Offner is an author, workforce strategist, and award-winning keynote speaker. He is the founding partner of the Global Performance Institute, a boutique consulting firm supporting organizations and executives seeking to get the most out of their workforce. Gregory previously held leadership roles in the outsourced services and risk management industries, developing future leaders and advising some of the most recognizable names in business.

The Tip Jar Culture

These days, it seems like employee entitlement is at an all-time high, while engagement is at an all-time low. But what most leaders see as problems with workforce culture are actually just symptoms of the real problem. In this unforgettable keynote, former dueling pianist and award-winning speaker Gregory Offner will demonstrate three principles of engagement—found in a piano bar—then discuss the strategies and stories of organizations who’ve applied these principles to business with phenomenal results. Attendees will leave inspired, entertained, and equipped to put these principles into action, and create a Tip Jar CultureTM️ of their own.

Friday, May 17, 2024 – Keynote Speaker:  Acting Commissioner of Education:  Kevin Dehmer

Kevin Dehmer​, Acting Commissioner for the New Jersey Department of Education, has brought to the position a long working history in New Jersey public education. Prior to becoming Acting Commissioner, Mr. Dehmer served as Executive Director and Senior Researcher at the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University. The Heldrich Center is a nationally renowned research organization that uses cutting-edge approaches and analysis that focuses on improving all aspects of the nation’s education, training, and workforce programs and policies. A key component of this research is determining strategies to improve the preschool-12 public education system and learning more about how educators and policymakers can advance career opportunities, equity, and long-term success of students.

Acting Commissioner Dehmer also spent more than 15 years in public service with the New Jersey Department of Education, directing numerous offices and twice serving as Interim Commissioner. Most recently, Acting Commissioner Dehmer was the Assistant Commissioner of Finance and Chief Financial Officer at the Department where he oversaw all aspects of public-school funding in New Jersey, including allocating more than $11 billion in state aid annually and over $1 billion in federal grants. Over this period, Acting Commissioner Dehmer also played a key role in navigating major events that impacted New Jersey’s public schools such as the Great Recession, Superstorm Sandy, and served as Interim Commissioner for the re-opening of schools in the fall of 2020 during the recovery from the COVID-19 Pandemic. Additionally, Acting Commissioner Dehmer has served on numerous councils and advisory groups in New Jersey and nationally, such as the State Employment and Training Commission, the Council on the Green Economy, the Commission on Science, Innovation, and Technology, Governor Phil Murphy’s Coronavirus Task Force, and the Council of Chief State School Officers.

Acting Commissioner Dehmer received a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Political Science from St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota, a Master’s of Public Policy from Rutgers University’s Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, and was also a Graduate Fellow of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University.