National Network of ToP Trainers
Our national network of skilled and experienced ToP® Trainers train over 4,000 people each year on ToP Facilitation Methods.
If you would like to connect with a particular trainer, or if you are interested in learning more about the journey to become a ToP Trainer, submit an inquiry through the Contact Us button.
Trainers appear alphabetically by first name. Use your browser's search function to find a particular trainer.
Aaron Wolowiec
Certified ToP Facilitator (CTF) and Mentor Trainer - Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
Aaron Wolowiec is a learning strategist and meetings coach for leading trade associations and individual membership societies across the United States. Committed to the latest research and trends on learning, intentional networking environments and meaningful transfer exercises, he launched Event Garde, a professional development consultancy, in 2011. Aaron earned a master’s degree in administration from Central Michigan University. He’s also a certified association executive (CAE), a certified meeting professional (CMP) and a certified tourism ambassador (CTA), as well as an Association for Talent Development (ATD) master instructional designer.
Angie Asa-Lovstad
Certified ToP Facilitator (CTF) and Qualified Trainer - Algona, IA
Angie Asa-Lovstad has worked in substance abuse prevention for over 20 years. She is a Certified Prevention Specialist. Her coalition work is based on SAMHSA’s Strategic Prevention Framework where she uses her facilitation skills to engage stakeholders.
Ann Epps
Mentor Trainer - Denver, CO
Ann Epps is one of the originators and trainers of the ToP facilitation and strategic planning methods. Ann is a past board member of the ToP USA network and has served as consultant, trainer, and facilitator to numerous organizations in Europe, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and North America. She specializes in the areas of facilitator training, strategic thinking, group creativity and innovation, organizational change and leadership development. She is a founding member of the International Association of Facilitators (IAF), past board member, and one of the initial organizers of the Malaysia Facilitator Forum and IAF Asia Facilitator Conferences. She is an IAF Certified Professional Facilitator and Assessor, and was named to the IAF Hall of Fame in 2014.
Becky Foreman
Certified ToP Facilitator (CTF) and Mentor Trainer - Riverside, CA
Becky Foreman is a professional facilitator, trainer and consultant with a successful track record of helping organizations of all sizes develop practical, sustainable long and short-term strategies that build consensus and shared ownership among all stakeholders. Becky is a certified strategic planner, facilitator and mentor trainer licensed by The Institute of Cultural Affairs. She also has expertise in board and staff development and training through her prior role as a nonprofit executive director as well as through her service on many local nonprofit boards.
Becky's community recognitions include: Outstanding Executive Director (Agency Executives Association), Community Champion (Molina Healthcare), Woman of Distinction (California 63rd Assembly District), Woman of Distinction (City of Riverside), and Everyday Hero (YWCA of Riverside County). Becky holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and Management from the University of Redlands.
BethMarie Ward
BethMarie Ward, San Luis Obispo, CA
Certified ToP Facilitator and Qualified Trainer
BethMarie Ward is Regenerate Group, a consulting firm, since 2011. She has over 20 years of experience working in non-profits and higher education designing planning and whole systems change initiatives for colleges, universities, and public institutions throughout the United States. Her practice specializes in collaborating with leaders to help them create strong teams moving into bold, dynamic action driven by data collection and analysis. She holds an M.A. in Human Development with an emphasis on organizational development from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota. She teaches community development courses at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, and during her tenure at the University of Minnesota, she received an Outstanding Community Service award. Deeply committed to social change innovation, she facilitates art and creative writing for youths in-custody as a form of healing and restorative justice for the greater community. She is a producer, maker, and social entrepreneur with a constant drive to work towards empowering the lives of those whose voices are often not heard.
Beverly Scow
Certified ToP Facilitator (CTF) and Mentor Trainer - Green Bay, WI
Beverly Scow is Executive Director of Wise Women Gathering Place located in Green Bay Wisconsin. Beverly has over 25 years of experience supporting community wellness. Beverly brings the values of safe space and trust the process from her midwifery beginnings into her work as a ToP facilitator. She has facilitated for local, tribal, state and national organizations, embracing the ToP foundational values of inclusive participation and profound respect. Beverly has provided ToP Facilitation Methods and ToP Strategic Planning Public and In-House Courses, since 2007, and the Designing for Change course since 2015. Beverly lives on the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin reservation since 1991, with her children and grandchildren. She is a member of the Kwakwakawak First Nations from the mid coastal region of British Columbia Canada.
Brigid Riley
Certified ToP Facilitator (CTF) and Qualified Trainer - Minneapolis, MN
Brigid Riley has worked in—and alongside—the public health arena for more than 20 years, leading community-focused public health programs, directing a statewide nonprofit organization, and guiding others’ positive change through facilitation and capacity-building. Her work in the nonprofit sector included a special focus on reframing how we think and talk about youth, young parents, adolescent sexual health and the concerns of LGBTQ populations. Since 2011, she has built her consulting practice around group facilitation, organization and Board development, and special-focus project management. Ms. Riley uses internationally-recognized facilitation tools that emphasize authentic participation by all. She has honed her facilitation skills in projects with local, state and national groups of all sizes. Brigid holds an undergraduate degree from the University of St. Catherine, Saint Paul, MN, and a Master of Public Health from the University of Minnesota. She is an alumna of the Policy Fellows program at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute for Public Affairs, and the Emerging Leaders Network, a leadership development program of Minnesota public health associations.
Charity Adams
Charity Adams is a ToP Certified facilitator and a ToP Qualified trainer with more than 25 years of experience in entrepreneurship, non-profit leadership, board and corporate training, and community collaboration. She holds a BS in Management from Bellevue University. As a lifelong entrepreneur and former community and economic development consultant, Charity combines her extensive experience in entrepreneurship, nonprofit leadership, and community and economic development with her work in educational, private, government, and non-profit sectors. Her solid facilitation and training skills help groups work together to develop innovative ways to address conflict, build consensus, develop and implement strategies, and move groups to action.
Charity's expertise in facilitation, training, coaching, and consulting spans a wide range of areas, including strategic planning, project management, team building, process design, executive coaching, and leadership development and mentorship. She is professionally affiliated with the ToP (Technology of Participation) Trainers Network and is a member of the ToP Trainers Leadership Forum (TTLF). Charity is the principal owner of Vision Fusion Facilitation and Consulting and co-owner of Great Plains ToP Facilitators.
Charity and her husband Darren live and work on their row crop farm operation near Cairo, Nebraska. They enjoy watching their three adult children navigate this world in the company of their fourth child, Jasper, the Springer Spaniel.
Dawn Newman
Certified ToP Facilitator (CTF) and Mentor Trainer – Parrish, FL
Dawn is the founding principal of Blackhawk Facilitation offering facilitation, training, and consulting. She is an enrolled member of Ho-Chunk Nation that has professionally worked with Indian Communities and Nations for 30 years. She retired from University of Minnesota Extension in 2021 as an American Indian Leadership and Civic Engagement Educator after 17 years. She has an MA in Education from Roosevelt University, Chicago IL and BA in Business from Elmhurst College, Elmhurst IL. Dawn is a credible facilitator and leader trained to empower people, communities, and organizations. She builds trust through focused dialogue, strategic planning, action planning and community engagement all while ensuring respect. She resides in Parrish Florida for most of the year and Barnum Minnesota during the summer.
Deb Burnight
Certified ToP Facilitator (CTF) and Mentor Trainer - Sioux City, IA
Deb is a certified professional facilitator with more than twenty-five years of experience in facilitation, board and corporate training, and community collaboration. A graduate of the University of Iowa and a former elementary and middle school teacher, Deb blends a rich background from her work with educational, private, government and not-for-profit sectors with solid facilitation skills to help groups communicate and work together effectively. Deb’s expertise in facilitation, training and consulting covers a wide range of arenas, including strategic planning, project design and evaluation, team building, process design, executive coaching and leadership development. She is also an experienced facilitation skills trainer, coach and mentor. Deb is professionally affiliated with the International Association of Facilitators and the ToP® (Technology of Participation) Trainers Network, has served on its national Board of Directors, is principal of Prairie River Partners training consortium, and is a founding partner of Great Plains ToP Facilitators. Deb and her husband Randy live on a small acreage in the Loess Hills outside Sioux City, Iowa, where they enjoy their native prairie restoration project and a rather noisy family of productive chickens.