Career & Leadership

Cheryl has been a leader in the field of talent development and career strategy for 25 years. Her experience as an executive overseeing talent management and operations strategy in a complex organizational structure, and as an executive and career strategy coach to business leaders across industries and professions give her a rich, diverse background to facilitate others’ success.

As vice president/corporate officer of career and talent management for Education Management Corporation (EDMC), Cheryl provided leadership and strategic vision to a 400-member multi-location team in a dynamic, fast-changing environment. Talent management initiatives developed under her leadership fostered a culture of collaboration, engagement and innovation, and positioned EDMC as a leader in employee retention and building a talent pipeline.

She is an executive coach to leaders and teams at Stevens Leadership, which she launched in 2011. Cheryl, who previously served as director of career management at UNC Kenan-Flagler, is a coach to working professionals in our Weekend and Evening Executive MBA programs and our Executive Development’s custom programs.

Cheryl received MBA from UNC Kenan-Flagler and is a professional certified coach through ICF. She’s certified in numerous individual, team and 360 assessment tools including MyersBriggs, DiSC, Emotional Intelligence, StrengthsFinder, Enneagram, Energy Leadership and CCL’s Benchmarks.

As Senior Associate Director for Coaching – EMBA, MBA@UNC and Alumni, Megan works to coordinate and implement world-class coaching, programming, and relationship building across the programs. Megan coaches specifically in the MBA@UNC program but maintains ties to students in all programs and alumni through program delivery. Outside of coaching, her areas of expertise include military career transition, program planning and training/public speaking.

Megan has over 15 years of leadership experience and has worked at universities across the nation. As a certified Global Career Development Facilitator and a Certified Career Services Provider, Megan enjoys helping others understand and strengthen their career management and leadership skills. Before coming to UNC Kenan-Flagler in 2017, she spent time as a career transition trainer for the U.S. Department of Labor as a government contractor helping over 1,800 active duty military service members successfully transition to civilian employment.

Megan earned her MEd in higher education from Arizona State University and her BA in journalism and mass communication from Iowa State University. Life’s adventures have allowed her to live in Europe, Asia and in many locations throughout the U.S.  She loves spending time with her family, being outside, and watching Cyclone and Tar Heel basketball.

Bill Faulkner has spent over 25 years as a leadership educator and higher education administrator at both large state and private universities with a career focus centered on student development and engagement function areas along with mentoring/coaching hundreds of student leaders. Prior to joining UNC Kenan-Flagler, Bill gained business experience as a solopreneur, starting a leadership/organization development and coaching firm. His areas of expertise focuses on leadership and human development theory and assessment, student engagement strategies and training/public speaking. Bill serves as a Career & Leadership resource for the Evening and Weekend Executive MBA cohorts and is part of the larger working professional and alumni team.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Student Andrews University and earned both a master’s and doctorate in education from the University of Georgia. He has an affiliation as a certified coach, speaker and trainer with the John Maxwell Team.

Bill enjoys traveling, live music, reading, blogging and spending quality time with his wife, Catherine, and their yellow lab, Kaci.

Kelly E. Noble has almost 10 years of human resources and professional school career service experience, utilizing her legal training and background to serve a diverse array of students, alumni, and industries. She has chosen this career path because it allows her to connect with individuals and small teams, personalize strategic action plans, and help new or pivoting professionals realize meaningful change in their careers. She primarily coaches students in the MBA@UNC program, but is also available on a limited basis to the UNC Kenan-Flagler alumni population.

A native of Rhode Island, Noble earned her BA in political science from the University of Rhode Island and her JD from Roger Williams University School of Law. She is licensed to practice law in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and before the Supreme Court of the United States, but she has no plans to return to the law; she is committed to higher education and coaching. She lives in Chapel Hill with her husband and their two dogs, and she is thrilled to be a part of the Tar Heel family.

With over 30 years of career-management experience, Elizabeth has delivered personalized coaching and engaging programming to all UNC Kenan-Flagler alumni since 2012. Her professional background includes 12 years in industry as a consultant for Right Management, a leading global career-transition firm where she delivered a wide range of coaching and training services. During this time, she was tapped to serve on a select team delivering executive-level coaching and participated in the delivery of assessment centers that assisted client companies with succession planning for senior management. She is also principal/owner of Nexus Career Strategists Ltd., a private career-consulting firm. Prior to that, Elizabeth spent 13 years in career development within higher education, serving as assistant director, career services, at a large public university in Ohio. 

Elizabeth is certified to administer a number of career/personality assessments and coaching modalities including the First 90 Days Online and the Crucial Conversations® training.  A member of Phi Beta Kappa, she earned an MS in counseling from the State University of New York at Albany and a BA in political science at Ohio University in Athens. She is energized by partnering with people to help them attain greater self-knowledge, envision their career goals and design effective plans to achieve them.  

She and her husband live in Chatham County and enjoy raising two chickens and making wine.

Sandra Chandler has over 10 years’ experience in business development, partner engagement, sales and marketing. She has deep experience establishing and maintaining relationships with new business partners by offering quality service and creative solutions to their needs. Prior to joining UNC Kenan-Flagler, Sandra was responsible for strategic partner development for a national education non-profit organization, working to create complex partnerships with some of the largest school districts across the U.S.

She joins the Employer Engagement & Recruiting team with a focus on identifying and building out recruiting partnerships that are geared to our working professional and alumni populations.

Katrin Baker joined UNC Kenan-Flagler in 2011 and has held several roles at the School, including providing career and leadership coaching for full-time MBA, MBA@UNC and Executive MBA students. In her current position, Katrin leads the design and implementation of the UNC Kenan-Flagler MBA Leadership Experience, including the Leader for Next program. Katrin is a also a Certified Professional Coach (iPEC).

Before joining UNC Kenan-Flagler, Katrin led student services and leadership development for the Robertson Scholars Leadership Program at UNC Chapel Hill and Duke University. Earlier in her career, Katrin worked at Georgetown University, North Carolina State University and Virginia Tech, where she helped create and launch the school’s first residential leadership community.  

She earned her BS in international affairs from James Madison University and her MS in leadership and policy studies from the University of Tennessee.

Kate Kryder serves as the Associate Director for the Hodges Leadership Center for MBA Programs. Prior to joining UNC Kenan-Flagler, Kate worked at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Office of Student Life & Leadership, where she designed and delivered experiential leadership programs for undergraduate students at Carolina. Kate is a 2018 recipient of the University’s Diversity & Inclusion award and a 2017 recipient of the Chancellor’s Undergraduate Staff Award.

Kate holds a BS in visual communications form Ohio University, a MEd in higher education administration from Loyola University of Chicago, and is pursuing her MBA at Elon University.

Rachel White serves as the Associate Director for the Hodges Leadership Center for MBA Programs. She designs and facilitates leadership development programs for MBA students and manages our team of executive coaches. Prior to joining UNC Kenan-Flagler, Rachel lived in worked in Qatar for 10 years where she held a variety of roles, including supporting students at Texas A&M’s campus in Doha and implementing a national leadership program with Red Rock International.

Rachel holds a BA in international studies from UNC-CH and a MEd in higher education administration from NC State University.

Jessie Nash serves as the Program Manager for Career & Leadership for MBA & Alumni. Prior to joining UNC Kenan-Flagler, Jessie was the general manager at School of Rock Chapel Hill where she helped open the new franchise location and managed day-to-day operations. She holds a BA in biology and German language and literature from UNC-Chapel Hill and a MEd in student affairs practice in higher education from the University of Virginia. Jessie is a proud Tar Heel and is excited to combine her experiences and passions at her alma mater.