WE’RE organizational culture experts WHO craft exceptional events that deliver tangible results.
Who Are we?
Our dual capability to plan and facilitate while creating tailored content ensures a seamless experience that aligns with your vision and goals. This sets us apart from other event planning companies.
HOW DO WE DO IT?
WHY CHOOSE IMPACT?
Impact Event Solutions elevates event coordination through unique, tailored content that captivates audiences and aligns with goals. From workshops to keynote speeches, every element is crafted for maximum impact, turning your event into a key milestone that advances your strategic initiatives.
We provide bespoke content and programming.
We have extensive strategic planning and facilitation experience
With over 50 years of experience in event design and facilitation for professionals worldwide, we provide unmatched strategic insight. We manage all aspects of your event, from logistics to content facilitation.
We have led successful organizations for decades.
Impact Event Solutions was started by a team of CEOs who have founded and led thriving, people-centered companies.
We believe that culture should be the North Star of any organization.
Our approach prioritizes aligning your events with your core values and organizational culture, ensuring cohesive and purpose-driven outcomes.
Our Mission
We see a world where every event is a catalyst, fostering collaboration, innovation, and lasting memories that transform organizational culture and fuel success. We orchestrate flawless logistics, ignite engagement with masterful content facilitation, and craft bespoke programming tailored to each partner's unique needs.
Our team of leaders have all been hands-on CEOs that understand the most important asset in any organization is its people.
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Dr. Michael Moody is an experienced leader and public speaker specializing in driving engagement and organizational success through impactful events. With 24 years of experience, he designs and facilitates leadership retreats, conferences, and team-building events that foster collaboration, innovation, and sustainable growth. His expertise in organizational culture, strategic visioning, and operational management helps organizations achieve transformative change.
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Phillip I. Marcus Jr. is an award-winning organizational consultant and transformational leader with over 16 years of experience guiding large-scale change across complex organizations. He specializes in designing scalable frameworks, leveraging data-driven insights, and developing inclusive leadership programs that drive meaningful, lasting impact. Phillip is recognized for his ability to align strategic initiatives with enterprise goals to enhance leadership effectiveness, strengthen team performance, and deliver measurable outcomes. He was honored with Hunter College’s "40 Under 40" award in recognition of his distinguished career achievements and contributions to public service.
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Rebecca is passionate about advancing educational equity through the translation and application of high quality research in policy and practice. She has worked in a variety of capacities for non-profits such as Let’s Get Ready, City Year, and Teaching Lab. She has also conducted research and developed content for the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Center for Collaborative Education, and Education Reform Now. Previously, she served as the Director of Policy & Research at Insight Education Group, where she oversaw the organization’s research projects and synthesized findings for policy and lay audiences; collaborated with and created content for school partners; led all aspects of the grant and proposal development process; and managed cross-team deliverables across a portfolio of district, state and federal contracts. Rebecca has a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of Michigan, and a Master’s Degree in Education Policy and Management from Harvard University.
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As a Founding Partner at Impact Event Solutions and the CEO and Founder of SVBranches, Inc., Shawn V. Branch brings over two decades of multifaceted experience to expertly manage event logistics for impactful outcomes. His background, encompassing leadership roles in fashion retail and significant contributions to the education sector, has honed his skills in strategic planning, stakeholder management, and meticulous execution. With a keen eye for detail and a passion for creating seamless experiences, Shawn excels at crafting impactful events of all sizes, ensuring flawless logistics, effective speaker coordination, and high levels of attendee engagement to consistently deliver successful events that align with client vision and exceed expectations.
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Dr. Sharon L. Contreras is a teacher at heart, a transformational leader and a passionate advocate for children and education. She is the CEO of The Innovation Project in North Carolina, a collaborative of forward-thinking education leaders who are unleashing student potential and shaping the future of learning.
Growing up in Uniondale, NY with nine brothers and sisters, she learned early to advocate for her right to an excellent education. At the age of 10 she was told by her teacher she didn’t belong in the advanced gifted program that she knew included classmates she had tutored. After pleading her case independently, then alongside her parents, she gained a seat in the accelerated program which changed the trajectory of her life, while lighting a fire for achievement and advocacy for others. Years later, not even the gradual loss of 90% of her hearing stopped her from breaking through barriers for herself and removing them for her students.
Contreras is celebrated for implementing policies and practices aimed at eradicating opportunity gaps. She has held two superintendencies—one urban and one in a county-wide district serving urban, suburban, and rural students. Her tenure in Guilford County—one of the nation’s largest school districts—has been recognized for driving results, including expanding access to Advanced Placement courses, career technical education, and dual-enrollment programming preparing students and their parents for the workforce. GCS’ high impact tutoring initiative and learning hubs started during the pandemic are considered a national model. In 2022, the GCS graduation rate reached a high of 91.8%.
Contreras was named Superintendent of the Year by the North Carolina PTA (2019), a North Carolina Regional Superintendent of the Year (2020) by the Piedmont Triad Educational Consortium and a Top 5 Finalist for the Green Garner Urban Education Leadership Award by the Council of Great City Schools (2020). She was among Triad Business Journal’s Most Admired CEOs in 2020 and named to the Business North Carolina Power List 2022. Most recently (2024), Contreras was recognized by LatinxEd with the From Dreams to Action Award. She holds multiple degrees, including a Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Leadership & Policy Analysis from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Dr. Sharon L. Contreras’ legacy is one of courage, determination, and unwavering commitment to children and families. Her work has not only transformed the districts she has led, but also set new standards for reimagining education nationally. Her relentless pursuit of educational justice and equity continues to inspire and pave the way for future generations of educators and students.
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Dr. Aleesia Johnson is an educator with over two decades of distinguished service and leadership. She currently serves as superintendent of Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS), the largest district in Indiana serving more than 30,000 students. Named superintendent in 2019, Johnson has achieved success as a teacher, school leader, and administrator in both public charter and traditional district schools. She is the first Black woman to serve as superintendent in Indianapolis Public Schools. Dr. Johnson is a servant leader who strives to ensure every student is known, seen, loved, and learning.
Now in her seventh year as superintendent, Dr. Johnson launched the district’s ambitious 2025 strategic plan elevating the focus on high-quality curriculum, strong literacy instruction, maximizing fiscal resources, and expanding the district’s racial equity initiatives, all in the midst of leading the district through the complex challenges COVID-19 brought to communities and schools. This work has led to historic gains for students in early elementary literacy and year-over-year increases in graduation rates for IPS students since 2020. Among the notable achievements of her tenure, Johnson led efforts to successfully pass a $410M referendum in 2023 in order to significantly renovate and improve learning conditions over 25 buildings across the district.
A native of Evansville, Indiana, Johnson comes from a family of educators, including her mother, who recently retired from serving as an elementary school principal; her grandfather, who was one of few African-American administrators in the Evansville area during the 1970s and 80s; and her grandmother, who worked as a high school classroom assistant. Growing up spending a lot of time in her mother’s middle school classroom, Dr. Johnson began her career in middle school as well, teaching 6th grade Science and Social Studies.
Dr. Johnson holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and African-American Studies from Agnes Scott College; a Master of Social Work in Children and Youth and Community Organizing from the University of Michigan; a Master of Arts in Teaching degree in Secondary Education and a Doctorate of Education in Educational Leadership, both from Oakland City University.
Dr. Johnson believes deeply in service not only to the students and families of IPS but also to the broader Indianapolis community. She demonstrates this belief through her membership on several local organizational boards including The Arts Council of Indianapolis, the Indianapolis 500 Festival, the Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI) Board of Advisors, and the Board of Trustees for Ivy Tech Community College, Indianapolis Campus. She serves on the advisory board at Harvard University’s Center for Education Policy Research and is also a member of the Aspen Superintendents Network as well as Chiefs For Change, a national advocacy organization of state and district education leaders. Dr. Johnson is privileged to also be an active member of the The Links, Incorporated and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.Dr. Johnson and her husband, Andre, are the proud parents of an adult daughter, Deja, Frederick, a first-year college student, and two school-aged daughters, Naomi and Grace, who are also IPS students.
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Jason Culbertson brings over 20 years of visionary leadership in crafting impactful experiences that cultivate strong company cultures and climate to drive organizational growth. His diverse background, spanning education, non-profit, government, and business, equips him with a unique perspective on fostering dynamic and high-performing teams. Jason excels at designing and executing a wide range of events, strategically addressing organizational needs to ignite creativity, collaboration, and a shared sense of purpose, ultimately fueling future success.
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Dr. Deborah A. Gist is a purpose-driven leader, lifelong learner, and passionate advocate for transformational leadership. She brings more than 35 years of experience across public policy, education, and executive leadership, and today serves as a strategic advisor, executive coach, and consultant to organizations and companies across the country and around the world. A dynamic and nationally recognized speaker, she is known for helping individuals and organizations lead boldly, navigate complexity, and deliver real results.
Deborah was raised to believe in compassion, hard work, and service. Those values served as a foundation for her life and launched a career spanning classrooms, statehouses, and boardrooms. As a young teacher in Texas and Florida, she embraced experiential learning, co-founded an innovative public school, and launched a family literacy and tutoring program that grew to serve more than 100 schools. That early work inspired a career-long commitment to expanding opportunity and centering student and community voice.
Over the decades that followed, Deborah held top leadership roles across the U.S., including as senior advisor at the U.S. Department of Education, the founding State Superintendent of Education for Washington, D.C., and Commissioner of Education for the State of Rhode Island. She was the first woman to serve as chief education officer in both roles, where she led major statewide reforms, launched new funding systems, expanded innovative learning experiences, and expanded access to college- and career-ready learning. In recognition of her leadership, Time Magazine named her one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World, and The Atlantic honored her as one of its Brave Thinkers.
In 2015, Deborah returned to her hometown to lead Tulsa Public Schools as superintendent—becoming the first woman to serve in that role. Over eight years, she led a bold redesign of the district’s high schools, expanded dual-language and Montessori options, championed high-quality, place-based curriculum, and improved graduation rates. She also stood shoulder to shoulder with teachers, students, and parents during a statewide effort to advocate for funding for public education and a better future for Oklahoma.
Continuing her commitment to leadership development and innovation, Deborah served as Senior Advisor to the President at The University of Tulsa, where she created a faculty leadership program, led strategic initiatives, and coached both students and faculty. She built on her earlier experience teaching doctoral students at the University of Oklahoma, bringing a deep understanding of both instructional leadership and institutional transformation to her work in higher education. This work was informed by her own academic journey, which includes degrees from the University of Oklahoma, the University of South Florida, Harvard University, and the University of Pennsylvania. She is also a fellow of the Aspen Global Leadership Network through the Pahara Institute.
Today, Deborah works with leaders and teams across sectors to cultivate courageous leadership, transform organizations, reimagine learning, and build purpose-driven systems. Her journey continues to be grounded in service, curiosity, and a deep belief in the potential of people and communities to serve others and improve our world.
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Dr. Sonja Brookins Santelises is a distinguished leader and educator with extensive experience in every aspect of public education. For more than 35 years she has been guided by her core conviction, that – properly resourced and supported – every child can be successful, and that excellence in urban education is achievable at scale.
Entering her tenth year as Chief Executive Officer of Baltimore City Public Schools (City Schools), Dr. Santelises is the longest serving City Schools CEO in more than 80 years -- providing stability and continuity of purpose to this urban district of 77,000 students, many of whom live in areas of concentrated poverty. Her tenure has been characterized by data-based improvement and innovation to achieve steady, sustainable progress in academics, community engagement, student wholeness, and leadership development among district staff. The cumulative impact of these measures was highlighted by an increase in student enrollment of more than 1,000 students for school year 2024-2025, the first such increase in decades and a marked difference from the trend in urban districts nationwide.
Most recently, City Schools students demonstrated the second largest growth in reading since 2022 among large urban school districts nationally; the district is one of only five urban districts performing better in reading than before the COVID pandemic. English Learning Arts (ELA) scores improved in statewide assessments in every year of Dr. Santelises’ tenure, reflecting the district’s ongoing focus on improving literacy. In addition, City Schools consistently outperforms the state in kindergarten readiness. Dr. Santelises’ commitment to a strategy of continuous improvement and innovation resulted in a significant reduction in the number of low-performing schools during her tenure. Unlike many school districts nationwide, in school year 2023-24 City Schools increased daily attendance by 5.4 percentage points, which translates into improved attendance for 30,000 students; at the same time, the district reduced chronic absence by more than 4.0 percentage points, or 4,000 fewer students who were chronically absent.
Dr. Santelises’ experience encompasses leadership and policy positions at all levels of public education. She previously served as Vice President for K-12 Policy & Practice at The Education Trust, where she convened school district leaders nationwide and advised national policy makers on federal and state legislation for school funding. Prior to her 3-year tenure as Chief Academic Officer in Baltimore City Public Schools (2010-2013), Dr. Santelises held several leadership positions in Boston Public Schools, while earlier in her career she was a Lecturer on Education at Harvard University and Executive Director of the renowned New York City Algebra Project.
Dr. Santelises’ executive experience includes decades of effective management of large-scale budgets and complex operations, including a $1.9 Billion annual budget at City Schools. In the first year of her tenure she developed a strategy to close historically recurring funding gaps, by implementing cost-saving measures and securing a 3-year, $180 Million commitment for state and local funding to close a significant funding gap and restore financial stability to Baltimore City Schools. She continued to lobby for increases in state funding formulas for education, while writing and championing key legislation at the state level. At the same time she developed robust fundraising partnerships with a wide range of national organizations, who contributed more than $75 Million to support district priorities.
During the COVID pandemic Dr. Santelises established the second largest asymptomatic testing program in the nation, administering more than 40,000 tests weekly to students and school staff. The program was hailed as an effective national model by the Rockefeller Foundation and was instrumental in allowing Baltimore City Schools to safely reopen for in-person learning much earlier than other school districts in Maryland. She also oversaw the provision of more than 4,000,000 meals to students and families throughout COVID. Emerging from the pandemic, she planned and implemented the use of $444 Million in ARP/ESSER funding to support key investments, including extended learning time, high-dosage tutoring, personalized learning, teacher recruitment and critical building upgrades. During her tenure Dr. Santelises oversaw extensive improvements to City Schools’ antiquated building infrastructure – the oldest in Maryland – with many buildings more than 50 years old.
She oversaw construction of 30 new school buildings across the district, collaborating with Baltimore City and the State of Maryland in one of the largest public construction projects in the history of the state and the nation. In addition, she reduced the number of schools without air conditioning from 75 to 0. Finally, Dr. Santelises planned and oversaw the implementation of the second phase of Baltimore’s multibillion dollar school construction program, in which four buildings housing five of Baltimore’s largest and most historic high schools will be completely renovated and modernized.
Dr. Santelises earned a Doctorate of Education in Administration, Planning and Social Policy from Harvard University and a Master of Arts Degree in Education Administration from Columbia University; she is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Brown University. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Foundation and is Chair-Elect of the Council of the Great City Schools, where she was formerly Secretary-Treasurer. She is a Founding Board Member of Ed Reports, and serves as a Board Member for Chiefs for Change. Dr. Santelises is also a Trustee of the University of Southern New Hampshire
Dr. Santelises was named one of “Maryland’s Most Admired CEOs” and one of “25 Black Marylanders to Watch.” She was also a two-time finalist for the Green-Garner Award, the nation’s highest urban education honor, in recognition of outstanding contributions in urban education.
Dr. Santelises is a nationally renowned speaker and an innovative thinker in public education and driving change in large organizations. She lives with her husband and three children in Baltimore, Maryland.
We’re hiring! Impact Event Solutions is seeking an Event Coordinator to help us create unforgettable experiences.
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Sulina Mohanty is an accomplished leadership consultant and strategist committed to helping individuals and organizations reach their full potential. As the Founder and Principal Consultant of BrightSpot Leadership, she brings deep expertise in human-centered design, leadership development, and experiential learning. Sulina’s career spans roles such as Director of Professional Learning at Boston Public Schools and Regional Strategy Lead at Teach For America – Rhode Island, where she drove measurable improvements in employee engagement and retention. She is highly skilled in executive coaching, talent competency design, professional learning community facilitation, and change management. Her approach combines strategic insight with a strong focus on systems thinking, program evaluation, and inclusive leadership practices.
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