The PPL Story
It is not overstating it to say going to college changed the course of my life. Through involvement in student leadership positions at Texas Christian University (Go Frogs!), I found my voice and my life's purpose - to help others find their power and fulfill their purpose. After college I took a position at the American Productivity and Quality Center in Houston. The role of APQC is to improve leadership and effectiveness in non-profits.
Cathy Smalley Pales, Ed.D.
PPL Founder
Part of my job at APQC was to organize training workshops. I began noticing a pattern among the workshop participants. The vast majority of participants were white, middle-aged men - few women and people of color. The workshop content covered topics I learned during my experiences at TCU. How was it this material was new to seasoned professionals? I realized I wanted to be sure that people of all backgrounds learned about being their best much sooner than middle-age. I went back to college to teach students about leadership. A Master's Degree from the University of South Carolina helped prepare me for my new role.
Fast forward several years, several institutions and a doctorate from the University of Virginia in Higher Education Administration, I became the Senior Director of Education and Content Services at NACAS - National Association of College Auxiliary Services. I learned about association management and worked with higher education administrators and the business partners who serve the higher education market.
I noticed very early on in my tenure at NACAS that members, association executives and volunteer leaders were hungry for leadership development and weren't sure where to go. They had limited opportunities within their organizations. They also found that much of the available leadership training was designed for corporate leaders; not non-profit leaders.
Forming PPL is my contribution to address a great need - high quality leadership development for higher education administrators, association executives and volunteer leaders. We face great challenges in the non-profit sector - challenges that are only going to become more complex over time. Our leaders and teams need to be functioning at their highest potential in order to meet these challenges. So often I see great leaders get in their own way (including me) because of self-limiting beliefs, by being stuck in problem-solving and not taking the time to maximize their team's working dynamics.
It is my passion and purpose to work with great leaders and teams to help make them even better. I would be honored to partner with you.
Formal Biography
Cathy Smalley Pales, Ed.D is the principal of Powerful Purpose Leadership, LLC. Dr. Pales has 20 years of experience in leadership development. She spent most of her career in higher education serving in administrative leadership positions and designing leadership development programs for college and university students. Dr. Pales later became a higher education association executive and created professional development opportunities for member administrators and business professionals serving the higher education market.
Dr. Pales is an adjunct faculty member in the School of Continuing and Professional Studies at the University of Virginia and has delivered presentations for the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Center for Non Profit Excellence (Charlottesville), the Virginia Network of Non Profit Organizations (VANNO), NASPA National and Region III (Student Affairs Administrators) and NACAS (College and University Auxiliary Services Administrators). She also serves as Vice Chairperson of the Board of the Charlottesville Chamber of Commerce Non Profit Business Council and Secretary of the Board of the Mediation Center of Charlottesville.
Her particular areas of interest include: emotional intelligence for leaders, organizational conflict resolution, stages of adult leadership development, effective team dynamics, mindfulness, and applying positive psychology principles to leadership and team development.
Doctor of Education in Higher Education Administration with a concentration in Leadership and Organizational Change, University of Virginia
Graduate, Georgetown University Leadership Coaching Program, Accredited Coach Training Program, International Coach Federation
Certified Mediator, Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of Virginia