TBR and TBR-VE™ Certified Trainers
TBR and TBR-VE™ Certified Trainers
There are over 400 professional trainers from a dozen countries world-wide who have been certified/licensed to teach the official 2-day in-person TBR Practitioner Class, based on the global best-selling book “Training from the BACK of the Room!” which was first published in 2008.
Throughout the pandemic lockdowns of 2020, 12 TBR Certified Trainers worked hundreds of hours together to help create the official, 5-module, virtual, live-streaming TBR-VE™ Class. As of 2023, there are currently 37 TBR-VE™ Certified Trainers. There are also two global Trainer Certification Course (TCC) and TBR-VE™ Certifiers (see below).
This page serves as an introduction to the most active TBR and TBR-VE™ Certified Trainers (listed in alphabetical order). “Active” means that they have presented (or will be presenting) in-person TBR Practitioner Classes or TBR-VE™ Classes for either public, private, or non-profit organizations. All Certified Trainers function as independent consultants and, as such, they set their own pricing, venues, and registration information for TBR Practitioner Classes and TBR-VE™ Classes.
TCC and TBR-VE™ Certifiers
Nicole Fleming, Kentucky, USA
Trainer Certification Course (TCC) Certifier
TBR-VE™ Certifier
I’m Nicole Fleming, co-founder of Fleming Services LLC. I’ve always been fascinated by how people learn and absorb information and now I’m combining two of my passions – teaching and professional development – in order to help people grow. Learner interest and engagement have always been major components of all the workshops and classes I facilitate. As a Certified Trainer for “Training from the BACK of the Room,” I take what I have learned from the experts in brain-based instruction and Agile Leadership and apply my own unique perspective and approach to all the training programs I facilitate. I am also a TCC Certifier and a TBR-VE™ Certifier. For more information about how to become a TBR Certified Trainer, you can email me at [email protected].
Jean-Paul Bayley, England
Trainer Certification Course (TCC) Certifier
TBR-VE™ Certifier
I’m Jean-Paul Bayley, partner of Actineo Consulting LLP – a Business Agility Consultancy. My mission is to share how to create fun, engaging and memorable learning experiences. Using the skills that I have honed during my career as a consultant, coach, and trainer, I now help individuals, teams, and organisations achieve their professional goals. I facilitate processes for organisations and teams that unleash what they know and how they can apply this to get to where they want to be. Be sure to read my blog posts on Sharon’s website: Blackout Bingo for Priming Learners, Small Trumps Large when Training Online and When Everything is Suddenly Virtual, as well as others: 3 Anti-Patterns of Training, Anti-Patterns of Training – Part Two and TBR, Psychological Safety, and C1-Connection Activities. You can follow me on Twitter @jpbayley. I am also a TCC Certifier and a TBR-VE™ Certifier. For more information about how to become a TBR Certified Trainer, you can email me at [email protected].
Active TBR and TBR-VE™ Certified Trainers
Angela Agresto, Minnesota, USA
TBR-VE™ Certified Trainer
Greetings, I’m Angela Agresto, founder and CEO of Agresto Coaching & Training. I am passionate about helping motivated individuals, leaders, and organizations create empowering & engaging environments so that people feel safe to explore, learn, grow, and recognize their true potential. As a TBR Certified Trainer and Professional Coach, I created the new 4Cs Interactive Design Tool called Brain Building Blueprints to help facilitators easily and quickly build their own 4Cs Training Maps using the tips and techniques taught in the TBR Practitioner Class. Feel free to connect with me at https://angelaagresto.com –
Juan Bodenheimer, Argentina
I am Juan M. Bodenheimer, Director of Instare, a Talent Management and (HR) Analytics Consultancy company based in Argentina and active throughout Latin America and Spain. I am passionate about learning, analytics, organizational psychology and the challenges of organizations. I am honored to have designed and delivered trainings that have had an impact on thousands of people from all types of organizations. A large part of my day involves the continuous search for best practices to enhance learning. You can find me on Linkedin, as well as Instare at www.instare.com.
Audrey Boydston, Illinois, USA
TBR-VE™ Certified Trainer
I’m Audrey Boydston, an experienced Lean-Agile coach, mentor, trainer, speaker and SAFe Program Consultant with Thoughtful Agile. I am passionate about the value Agile delivers and focus on facilitating increased collaboration for delivery teams and creating an environment that fosters sustainable transformations. As a TBR Certified Trainer, my focus is on engaging my audience and creating a love for lifelong learning through each workshop I create and deliver. I am an avid runner and usually come up with my most unique coaching and facilitation ideas while training for half marathons. You can find me on LinkedIn or Twitter @Agile_Audrey.
Laurie Brown, Michigan, USA
TBR-VE™ Certified Trainer
Hi, I’m Laurie Brown, founder and CEO of Laurie Brown Communications, based in Detroit, Michigan. I work with leaders and teams who want to communicate more effectively. I have over twenty years of experience training, coaching, speaking and consulting. I have an international clientele and I have worked on four continents and in numerous countries. My sessions are fun, effective and a safe place where people can learn and grow. You can learn more about me at www.lauriebrown.com – I look forward to connecting with you.
Karen Bruns, California, USA
TBR-VE™ Certified Trainer
I’m Karen Bruns, Founder and CEO of Monarch Coaching & Training, LLC. I serve organizations in both the public and private sectors as both a Professional Coach and an Agile Coach, Trainer, Mentor, and Facilitator. I have created many games and exercises that foster individual and team growth. I believe in raising people to their highest potential above anything else. My experience is greatly complemented by the embodiment of TBR and TBR-VE™. If you are ready for the next step in your personal or professional evolution, or that of your team, connect with at https://monarchcoachingllc.
Stephanie Bryant, Nevada, USA
TBR-VE™ Certified Trainer
I’m Stephanie Bryant, a TBR Certified Trainer and an Agile coach and consultant. I teach Scrum practices to teams and organizations. I have a background in technical communication and have previously taught English Composition at San Jose State University. In my free time, I play games, knit, and play bass in a punk rock band. I live in Las Vegas, Nevada and you can find me at praecipio.com.
José Casal, Europe & Latin America
TBR-VE™ Certified Trainer
I’m José Casal, partner of Actineo Consulting LLP – a Business Agility Consultancy based in the United Kingdom. I have had a long career working as a developer, coach, trainer and facilitator. In a classroom setting, people say that I create “excellent learning environments where people can explore their ideas.” I love setting up creative and safe spaces where people can thrive. My courses manage to combine a balanced blend of scheduled content and unplanned “rabbit holes” led by the needs of the course participants. This makes every class different and this is consistently reflected in the course feedback. You can read my articles on the Actineo Blog, follow me on Twitter and connect on Linkedin.
Jeffrey Davidson, Texas, USA
I’mJeffrey Davidson, a strong people leader with the proven ability to build exceptionally strong teams. I am experienced at coaching staff and teams transitioning to Agile and Lean development methodologies. I am also experienced with strategic planning, including strategy plan development, communication, organizational alignment, and execution.I specialize in quickly developing comprehensive requirements for large software projects as a Senior Business Analyst for Raytheon, Dell, Ebay, and other clients. You can find more information on my website and blog at Leading Great Teams.
Deni Dayan, California, USA
I’m Deni Dayan, a licensed educational psychologist (LEP). I have a passion for creating learning environments that are engaging, effective, and fun for learners of all ages! My expertise is in providing professional learning for school staff and parents in the areas of stress resilience, trauma, informed practices, and positive discipline. I have also been coaching teachers/trainers who provide professional development for the past eight years. I love the process of helping others create powerful and effective experiences for their audiences
Salah Elleithy, Washington D.C., USA
TBR-VE™ Certified Trainer
I am Salah Elleithy, a passionate Agile Coach, Agile Project Manager, Business Analyst. and highly motivated Information Technology (IT) Project Leader. I am also the president and founder of Spark Agility, an Agile company that provides project management, business analysis, and Agile BI (performance metrics) with a focus on Organizational Agility. We help clients in the federal and commercial domains improve project delivery lifecycle through the use of a value driven approach. Please read my article in InfoQ: Applying the 4Cs Map to Enhancing Team Performance.
Ali Ezzeddine, Dubai, UAE
Greetings, I’m Ali Ezzeddine from Lebanon, based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. I am an international trainer, consultant, and author in the education fields. I facilitate global workshops and training programs in French, Arabic and English. I’m a lifelong learner and so happy to be part of the professional TBR Certified Trainers community. You can find me on LinkedIn.
Simon Flossman, Germany
TBR-VE™ Certified Trainer
I’m Simon Flossmann, a Trainer at Colenet, a Business Agility Consultancy based in Germany. I have had a long career working as a Scrum Master and Professional Scrum Trainer at Scrum.org. I am driven to create learning environments where participants of my class respond with: “Very entertaining, interactive and not boring at all. Very experienced trainer who knows how to bring the knowledge to the participants.“ If you like to read more about my work and get in touch with me, connect with me on LinkedIn.
Teri Frith, Bournemouth, England
TBR-VE™ Certified Trainer
I’m Teri Frith, a Bournemouth-based (UK) TBR Certified Trainer. My career has taken me from teaching in mainstream schools to the world of software development where I work alongside technical specialists at all stages of their careers to grow and develop their technological and leadership skills. I have first-hand access to what participants really think about the various technical (and other) training courses they attend, and I apply this feedback in my own training practices alongside the brain science principles. Please visit my website at www.TFTraining.co.uk for information about the TBR classes I offer to private clients in Europe and the UK.
Natalia Gulchevskaya, Russia
TBR-VE™ Certified Trainer
I am Natalia Gulchevskaya, CoFounder of OKR Academy. All my life I have been teaching adults and this is my mission. I’m a PhD in Pedagogical Psychology, professional coach PCC ICF, team coach, Agile and OKR coach, and business trainer. I help companies and teams grow, become more agile and reach the next level. “Training from the BACK of the Room” significantly improved all my training and workshop programs. For more information, you can message me by clicking HERE.
Rune Hansen, Denmark
TBR-VE™ Certified Trainer
I am Rune Hansen, founder of Next Level Agile ApS – an Agile Consultancy. I am an experienced Agile coach, facilitator, and trainer with a passion for releasing human potential in creating awesome solutions. I have a strong track record of designing learning environments that are characterized by trust, cooperation, and continuous learning. As a trainer, I am creative and interactive and I help others to design interactive and engaging learning experiences. I have helped 40+ teams start their Agile journey in technologies ranging from mainframe to mobile apps, across a wide range of industries and countries.
Shane Hastie, New Zealand
TBR-VE™ Certified Trainer
I’m Shane Hastie, the Director of Agile Learning Programs for ICAgile. I’m based in New Zealand and work all around the world. I’m an ardent Agilist and have been a professional trainer & coach for the last 15 years. Taking Agile values and principles beyond software is important and making sure they are properly embedded is absolutely crucial for success – we’re in an industry that touches every aspect of people’s lives and massively influences society as a whole and I want to be a part of making sure that industry is both ethical and sustainable. I am the Lead Editor for Culture & Methods on InfoQ.com and the host of the InfoQ Engineering Culture podcast.
Mat Hayes, Coventry, UK
TBR-VE™ Certified Trainer
Hi, I’m Mat Hayes. I am a training consultant, executive coach, and I’m also very active in the Agile community. I love improvisation, mindfulness and listening to people. I love to bring a sense of kindness and playfulness in whatever I do. The moment I came across TBR I just knew it was going to be a passion of mine. My favourite thing to do is create immersive and interesting workshop and mixing things up as much as possible. TBR has quite literally changed my life! I am trained to deliver TBR in person or virtually, and I’m always happy to help others with their workshops by building their ideas. You can find me at Mat Hayes Coaching.
Anil Jaising, New York, USA
TBR-VE™ Certified Trainer
I am Anil Jaising and I lead Concepts & Beyond, an Agile, DevOps and organizational change training and consulting firm. My role is focused on Agile, product management, and organizational change. From the beginning of my career in 1993, I realized that if I wanted my audience to experience and learn new ideas, I had to deliver impactful presentations and facilitate them effectively. TBR has dramatically changed how I deliver my workshops and the impact it has made on my audiences, both in-person and now in the Virtual Edition.You can reach me HERE or on Twitter @aniljaising.
Kriti Jaising, New York, USA
TBR-VE™ Certified Trainer
Hi, my name is Kriti Jaising Founder & CEO of Concepts & Beyond. I am a facilitative trainer and instructional designer. I believe in making learning fun and “Training from the BACK of the Room” gives me the ability and framework to transform any learning material into an interactive & engaging experience. I have over 25 years of experience in advertising, traditional & digital marketing, consumer research, events management and training. I’ve also implemented the values of TBR into sales, consumer research, and education. You can follow me on Twitter @Kriti Jaising and connect on LinkedIn HERE.
Carmen Jimenez-Pride, Georgia, USA
I’m Carmen Jimenez-Pride, owner of Outspoken Counseling and Consulting LLC. Outside of being a clinical mental health therapist, I have a passion for helping professionals take their skills to the next level with a new approach to consulting that focuses on mental health. I work around the world as a skilled facilitator and trainer for individuals and groups. My motto is “I Grow You Grow, Together We Will Grow.” You can learn more about me at www.carmenpride.com.
Thorsten Kalnin, Germany
I’m Thorsten Oliver Kalnin and I’m a business and executive coach (SoC), Co-Active Coach (CTI), professional facilitator, Communication Scout, StrategicPlay, and facilitator and Certified Trainer for “Training from the BACK of the Room!” I work with companies, teams, and eager individuals to unleash their full potential. I accompany and facilitate change initiation, coach individuals, and change the world a tiny little bit for the better every single day.
Julian Kea, GermanyTBR-VE™ Certified Trainer
Matt Khodadad, Florida, USA
TBR-VE™ Certified Trainer
I’m Matt Khodadad and I’m dedicated to helping people discover the key to their inner-self and empowering them to unlock their true potential. I am an Enterprise Agility Transformation leader of a Fortune 500 company and a results-driven professional with deep Agility and business transformation experience. I’ve spent my career helping individuals and organizations move from a fixed mindset to a culture that has transformed into a growth mindset. You can learn more about me at www.humdevcoaching.com.
Hafedh Messaoudi, France
Hi, I’m Hafedh Messaoudi, and I’m a “learnaholic” and a passionate coach. I help people, teams, and enterprises to improve their performance. I also facilitate trainings and workshops in French, Arabic and English. I have had a long career coaching worldwide teams and companies in their journeys towards business agility. Training is a big part of my work and I thrive in improving the workshops and trainings that I design to make them as much fun, interactive and exciting for learners as possible. If you wish to connect, please reach out to me on Linkedin.
Tricia Munsey, Florida, USA
TBR-VE™ Certified Trainer
I’m Tricia Munsey, President of Infinity Academy and Consulting. As a trainer and coach, I help individuals realize their full aptitude as I empower them to make what may be a huge dream into an attainable reality. I collaborate with some of the best trainers in the industry as I do this, usually having an expert co-trainer or co-facilitator in each class to add individualized attention, breadth, depth and value to the learning experience. My company’s motto is, “We can help make your possibilities infinite.”
Pawel Olchowik, Denmark and Poland
TBR-VE™ Certified Trainer
I’m Pawel Olchowik, hands-on Scrum Master, Visual Agilist and a trainer for “Training from the BACK of the Room” (for both the Virtual Edition & in-person classes). I organize meetups for people interested in using different visual tools that help in their software development endeavors – coaches, software engineers and product managers among others. I help other Scrum Masters grow in their role, especially focusing on their Scrum Master stances of teacher, facilitator and change agent. You can contact me here: [email protected].
Jan B. Olsen, Denmark
I’m Jan B. Olsen, founder and owner of Jan B. Olsen Consulting and a Fellow Coach with Better Change Consulting. I have more than 20 years of experience as a trainer and have rooted my training approach in the TBR principles for the last seven years. I’ve facilitated train-the-trainer programs where 5,000 people had to adapt new skills and competencies within a week! If you want to create “stickiness” in your training programs, you are always welcome to reach out to me at [email protected] with questions or just to chat.
Sivakumar Padmanaban, India
TBR-VE™ Certified Trainer
I am Sivakumar Padmanaban, Founder of Coach2Reach. I am an experienced mentor, trainer & professional coach. I was introduced to TBR a few years ago and now all my training programs through ICAgile and the International Coaching Federation are designed using TBR. I have over 21 years of career experience in Scrum/Kanban/Scaled Agile/Project Management. I have worked in multicultural environments in various countries, including India, the USA, Australia, and the UAE. For more information, you can message me on LinkedIn.
Amir Peled, Romania
I’m Amir Peled,an enthusiastic and energetic Agile Coach with over 7 years of practicing Agile and more than 18 years of project management experience. I have successfully aided organisations in their Agile journey to either adopt or improve their use of Scrum and other Agile frameworks both in troubled projects and new ones. Please read my blog post on Sharon’s website titled: A Different Approach to Teaching.
Kelly Pfeiffer, South Carolina, USA
TBR-VE™ Certified Trainer
I’m Kelly Pfeiffer, owner of Go Interactive Training with expertise in active learning, social-emotional learning and experiential facilitation methods. As a trainer and training designer, I’ve been integrating TBR strategies into my training work since 2006. I love the challenge of taking a typically boring training topic and breathing life into it through the TBR learner-centered training design taught. Currently, I facilitate face-to-face training programs and I also work with companies to improve their training design. I regularly tweet at @GoInteractiveKP.
Dana Pylayeva, New York, USA
TBR-VE™ Certified Trainer
I am Dana Pylayeva, the founder and CEO of Agile Play Consulting. I love everything that helps to engage people I train or the teams I coach – Agile games, Open Space Technology, LEGO and TBR. I am also the author of “Introduction to DevOps with Lego, Chocolate and Scrum Game.” I’ve trained teams in the US, Canada, Ireland, Japan and the UK, and everywhere people enjoy being engaged in the classes – staying alert and focused as well as having fun while learning.
Evelien Roos, Netherlands
TBR-VE™ Certified Trainer
I am Evelien Acun-Roos, and I work at Xebia Academy. I am a professional Scrum trainer for Scrum.org. Working in the Agile environment for 11 years has given me great insights, learnings and experiences in Agile and Scrum and I have been transferring that to Scrum Teams, their surrounding environments and their management. Since I have learned about TBR, my training courses are filled with brain-based learning activities. For more information about me you can visit www.evelienroos.nl , on Twitter @evelienroos2, Instagram @scrumboosters or Tiktok @scrumboosters.
Sakina Williams, New York, USA
TBR-VE™ Certified Trainer
I’m Sakina Williams, an experienced Agile Coach, and I am motivated by helping others learn. While I thrive in Agile, it was through TBR that I learned and recognized how so many miss the mark on creating environments where real learning and engagement can take place. I am thrilled at the opportunity to share what I have learned and continue to pay it forward. My motto is: “Build it and they will come!” I can be reached at [email protected] or you can follow me on LinkedIn.
****************************
Authors of TBR Blogs, Podcasts, and Articles
Victor Bonacci, California, USA
I’m IT specialist and avid Agile Coach Vic Bonacci. In 2012, I created Agile Coffee for the purpose of bringing together the local Agile/Lean community around a focal point of conversations. As more trainer/coaches joined this online community, they exchanged many creative ideas – and consumed a lot of coffee! My use of the moniker “Agile Coffee” owes as much to the Lean Coffee (and What is Lean Coffee?) movement as to my own love for the roasted bean. You can find my podcast about TBR on Sharon’s blog HERE and on my blog HERE.
Ed Buhain, Washington D.C., USA
I’m IT specialist Ed Buhain. With over 15 years of professional experience in software development and technical project management, I enjoy using cutting-edge technology to solve problems and to teach/train/coach others. I also apply my expertise to professional software development and technical project management. I am a “technical overachiever” at InfernoRed Technology. You can visit my blog there, and find me on LinkedIn. You can also find my guest-post on Sharon’s blog: Terrible Technical Talks (and How to Avoid Giving Them).
Angela Johnson, Minnesota, USA
I’m Angela Johnson, a TBR Certified Trainer and Certified Scrum Trainer (CST) with Collaborative Leadership Team and one of the first CSP Approved Educators. I founded CoLeadTeam in 2010 to provide education and consulting services to clients adopting Scrum and Agile. In 2019, we opened our very own training venue to share with others and West End Conference Center. I’m a lifelong learner focusing on work in my backyard of Minnesota. The best ways to follow me are LinkedIn and Twitter @AgileAngela. And please do read my blog post on Sharon’s blog titled: 4 Virtual Classroom Management Tips.
Torsten Werchmeister Hansen, Denmark
Bob Hartman, Colorado, USA
I’m known by friends as “Agile Bob” because I bring over 30 years of experience and broad industry knowledge and was a very early adopter of Agile processes and principles. I’ve served in almost every role in the software industry; consequently, I have deep expertise in training, coaching and mentoring across all areas of Agile development. The following article I wrote was before I become a Certified Trainer for TBR. I think you’ll find the article an informative and interesting “back-story” to TBR: Adventures in Accelerated Learning.
Luca Minudel, England
I am Agile Coach Luca Minudel and the founder and CEO of the company SmHarter. “SmHarter” is the fusion of two words: “Smart” (working and improving with intelligence and mastery), and “Heart” (using collaboration, purpose, passion, and creativity to delight customers and learners). I passionately believe that “smart” and “heart” are two key ingredients of any successful learning organization. I have combined my own “smart-heart” passion with TBR. Please see my slide presentation on Sharon’s blog: Draft Your Next Training Course with Ideas from TBR.
Miquel Rodriguez, Spain
I’m Miquel Rodriguez, an experienced Trainer and Consultant working at Netmind, a Spanish IT Training & Consulting company. I’ve dedicated my career to help organizations get the most out of their IT projects and teams. Currently I’m focused on working with large enterprises to lead organizational improvements and agile transformations. When I became a TBR Certified Trainer, I created a Course Design Canvas for the TBR Practitioner Class. I also write articles at Netmind’s Knowledge Center. You can follow me on Twitter @miquelrodriguez
Paul Tevis, California, USA
I’m Paul Tevis, founder and CEO of Vigemus Consulting(which is Latin for “Together We Thrive”). As a coach and facilitator, I have more than a dozen years experience in helping leaders foster effective change in their organizations, in both start-ups and Fortune 500 companies. I also present virtual workshops on remote facilitation and techniques for making the most with meetings in general. Recently, I was a guest on Vic Bonacci’s Agile Coffee Podcast. You can find me on Twitter @PTevis.
I’m Agile Coach and Consultant Emily Webber and the author of Building Successful Communities of Practice. I work with learning organizations and Agile development in the business world. As part of my TBR certification, I created a short, image-rich, informative slide presentation that brings together many of the TBR concepts. You can find my slide presentation 5 Tips for Trainers on Sharon’s blog.