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Speakers • 2015

 

Juli Burney

Multiple award winning college professor, communication specialist, humorist and author, Juli Burney, M.A. makes an amazing connection with her audiences.  She is able to entertain with the ability of a headlining comedian while either motivating or training with ease as a nationally recognized speaker.  Juli has been honored by her state as Artist of the Year because of her ability to help improve people’s lives through humor and effective use of communication tools.

She has worked in all 48 continental United States and Canada, and has been commissioned by a variety of association from the national Endowment for the Arts to Fortune 500 companies to develop training programs that stick.  She has filmed for Showtime and HBO, along with making numerous guest appearances on radio and television programs.  Her humor is insightful, delightful, universal and enlightening on which ever topic she presents.

 

Chis Fesko

With a Masters Degree in Science Education and a passion for agriculture, the development of a very successful educational DVD series about agriculture and a decade of school field trips at Chris’ On the Farm Discovery center was a natural fit.  The DVD;s have won awards along side Walt Disney productions and Sesame Street.  Chris’ 11 videos have won 7 Parents Choice awards and some 30 other awards.  At the Discovery Center, Chris and her staff teach 2,000 children every spring.  Hands on curricula relating to math, science, and language arts help everyone learn and never forget.  Try teaching a pulley from a book!

Chris has 3 grown children; Ben, Kim and Todd and 7 grandchildren with another on the way.  She is the owner of Chris Fesko Enterprises, LLc and the owner of On the Farm Discovery Center, Inc.  She is part owner of Fesko Farms, Inc.  She is a Director of Farm Credit East, on the Town Board for Spafford, NY, and a Past Board member of NYS Ag in the Classroom, and on the Board of NYAAC (creators of the Birthing Center at the NYS Fair).  Find out more about Chris at www.fesko.com

 

Dave Whalen

David Whalen founded Disability Awareness Training (DAT) in September 2004. He specializes in training law enforcement, emergency responders, human service providers, public, private, and school transportation, corporations and businesses, places of worship, and educators. He has presented to over 500 audiences.

David Whalen has worked in the disability field his entire career. He spent 17 years at Opportunities Unlimited of Niagara serving individuals with developmental disabilities.

 

He is the President of the Board of the Williamsville Special Education Parent Teacher Student Association (SEPTSA). Dave is Chair of the Town of Amherst’s committee on disabilities. In March 2011, Dave accepted an invitation to the White House for an historic MOU signing between FEMA and the National Disability Rights Network.

 

David is co-founder of Access Buffalo, a progressive initiative to ensure that individuals with disabilities can access restaurants and hotels in the Buffalo area. DAT trains college students to do accessibility reviews in restaurants throughout Western New York. In August 2010 he became a certified ADA trainer through the Region II Northeast ADA center.

 

In January 2010, the New York State Board of Regents appointed him to a three year term on the New York State Independent Living Council and in the fall of that year he wrote a collaborative grant with Niagara University (NU) and received a three year NYS Developmental Disabilities Planning Council grant to develop Disability Awareness Training for First Responders (FR-DAT). In March 2011, Erie County (NY) appointed Dave to sit on the Disability Advisory Board.

 

In his current capacity as Program Director of the FR DAT at NU, he has trained 91 police departments in NYS alone, which equates to over 11,000 officers. He has a working relationship, and is subsequently endorsed, by the Law Enforcement Training Directors Association of NYS, the NYS Chiefs of Police Assn., the NYS Sheriff’s Assn., and the NYS Police Juvenile Officers Assn. He works in conjunction with NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services and is a special topic instructor for NYS. In January 2014, he accepted an invitation to sit on the National Center on Criminal Justice and Disability. Through an invite from FEMA, Dave will be attending the Emergency Management Institute with the intent to be an instructor on Access and Functional Needs.

 

Chana Mannen

Chana Mannen is the retired Deputy General Manager of the Del Mar Fairgrounds in San Diego, CA.  She was responsible for the production of the annual San Diego County Fair.

She is now the Executive Director of the Don Diego Scholarship Foundation, a nonprofit associated with the Del Mar Fairgrounds.  The Don Diego Scholarship Foundation provides scholarships to college bound students who have participated in Fairgrounds events.  The Fund also provides grants for agricultural education. 

Chana has been a member of the Fairgrounds staff since 1970 and has held many titles including Home and Hobby Coordinator, Special Events Manager and Exhibits Manager.

Chana is a Stanford grad.  She earned a CFE from the IAFE.  She also served as a member of the California State Rules Committee, the WFA Achievement Awards Committee, WFA Pro Dev Committee and the IAFE Competitive Exhibits Committee.

 

Becky Brashear

Becky Brashear has recently been named Assistant General Manager of The Maryland State Fair in Timonium, following a 19+ year career as manager of The Great Frederick Fair.  Prior to both posts, Brashear was Executive Director of the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair in Gaithersburg, MD, for six years.

This past December, Brashear was elected 2nd Vice Chair of the International Association of Fairs and Expos. She is a 2014 graduate of the IAFE’s Institute of Fair Management, and in 1998, she was awarded the IAFE’s highest distinction as a Certified Fair Executive.  She is a past Zone 2 Director and has served on many committees for the IAFE.

Prior to becoming involved in the fair industry, Brashear was the Agriculture and Greenhouse section editors of The Frederick News-Post for 12 years.  In 1989, Brashear was recognized for the Best Coverage of Agricultural News by the National Newspaper Association’s Better Newspaper Contest.

Brashear has given numerous presentations and workshops on fair operations, educational programs, public relations, recycling/green initiatives, incorporating technology into fair competitions, premium books, and computer programs at the Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Florida and Rocky Mountain Fair Associations’ conventions as well as the International Association of Agricultural Fairs and Expos Convention.  She continues to judge many county, state, regional and national 4-H & FFA youth competitions.  In 1986, Brashear was presented the National FFA’s Honorary American Farmer Degree at the national convention in Kansas City, MO.

While growing up in Frederick, Brashear was involved in the 4-H & FFA programs, raising and showing beef cattle and sheep, and livestock judging.  In her free time, Brashear is a freelance writer for Maryland Farm Bureau’s MY Maryland Magazine , the MidAtlantic Farm Credit’s LEADER Magazine, and the University of Maryland’s Momentum Magazine.  She enjoys landscape and pondscape design, and has 10 KOI fish in her backyard pond.

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