PRESIDENT
Marly Bergerud
president.pswg@gmail.com
Marly Bergerud, President, Strategic Alliance Solutions^®, LLC. Marly Bergerud established Strategic Alliance Solutions in 2004 after a lifetime career of 30+ years in higher education within the California Community Colleges.

Her higher education career was primarily in management leadership and included serving as Vice President at DeAnza College in Cupertino, CA and Dean of Business at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, CA. Her earlier career was that of a Professor of Business at Cypress College, Cypress, CA.  Her reputation is that of a nationally recognized educational leader, author and speaker building national and global partnerships between educational institutions and their industry partners specializing in technology innovation and restructuring for the workforce of the 21^st century.
Recently, Marly moved to Palm Desert, CA and continues to be dedicated to building collaborations that “see the future” for the advancement and use of beneficial technologies for changing the way people learn, work and connect.  Her interests are serving as an advisor and consultant to businesses and educational institutions for analysis, design, and implementation of innovative, experiential and immersive learning systems, leading edge technologies and alternative modes of delivery. Additionally, Marly is an active member and Educational Ambassador of the Muses, a women’s fundraising and leadership group for the McCallum Theatre that provides enrichment, education and entertainment to the community. As a writer she is actively working on a book and enjoys being a Board Member on the Palm Springs Writers Guild and engaging with the Guild’s ever-expanding membership of talented writers.
Bergerud has authored and published 25 computer technology textbooks and most recently co-authored and led a team in the development of Interactive 3D Visualization Development.  She has a B.S. degree in Business Education from California State University, Fresno, CA and a M.S. degree in Education from the University of Southern California.

EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT
Matthew Lancellotti
mlancellotti@fullerton.edu
Originally from northern New Jersey, Matt has lived most of his adult life in California. After graduating from UC Santa Cruz he joined Out magazine in New York from its inaugural issue, working in advertising and leading their online media team. He returned to California to attend USC, earning his MBA in product marketing, and then his PhD in consumer psychology. He is currently Professor of Marketing (Consumer Psychology) in the Department of Marketing at Mihaylo College of Business, Cal State Fullerton. He has published numerous research articles for academic journals and business-trade and -advice publications. At the same time he has always enjoyed writing fiction, and has done so in fits and starts since childhood. He has finally just finished writing his first novel, and is in the final editing process. He has found tremendous value and camaraderie as a member of the PSWG to help him through that journey.

Matt has a passion for geography and weather, and can often be found pouring over Google Earth or scouring radar images and weather alerts. He lives in Palm Springs, a truly inspirational place for writing, with his loving husband and adorable pooch Ollie.

VICE-PRESIDENT, PROGRAMS
Jim Misko
Jim@JimMisko.com
Jim Misko, award-winning author, teacher, journalist, and real estate entrepreneur, has written ten books. Born and raised in Ord, Nebraska, his mother taught him, at age five, to swim in the North Loup River. He came to respect and love the river. As a youth, he wandered its shores. Summers were for hunting frogs, turtles, and swimming; winter was for trapping, casting paw prints in the snow and tanning rabbit hides. Jim graduated from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon and at one time or another made his living as an oil field roughneck, mink rancher, forest service lookout, YMCA Youth Secretary, truck driver, logger, lumber mill hand, journalist, teacher and real estate broker. Entranced by the tales of Mountain Men, he quickly became skilled in travel by canoe and horseback. At the end of a summer’s work in Montana, he canoed 350 miles down the Columbia River to return to college. He and his family raised horses and canoed the waters of rivers and lakes in the Northwest and Alaska. Jim and his wife moved to Alaska in 1974 where they reside in the summer and California in the winter. 

TREASURER
Steve Schullo
Treasurer.PSWG@GMAIL.COM
Stephen A. Schullo, Ph.D. (UCLA '96) taught in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) for 24 years and UCLA Extension, retired in 2008. The first generation Italian-American, ex-Marine, Vietnam veteran wrote investment articles for United Teachers-Los Angeles' union newspaper (circ. 40,000) for 11 years. A thrice-featured volunteer retirement plan advocate, twice in the Los Angeles Times and once in U.S. News and World Report. Steve and his late husband, Dan were featured on the national broadcast PBS Frontline: The Retirement Gamble. He started an investor self-help group with Sandy Keaton for LAUSD colleagues and wrote 6,500 posts in three investment forums since 1997. Frequently quoted and interviewed by the media, testified at state legislative hearings, and honored with the “Unsung Hero” by the 40,000 member Los Angeles teachers’ union for his retirement investing advocacy.After ten years, Steve still serves on LAUSD’s Investment Advisory Committee as Member-at-Large and former co-chair. The committee oversees 457(b)/403(b) plans for 55,000 former and current LAUSD employees, assets of $2.4 billion.
He has self-published two personal finance books: Late Bloomer Millionaires and Fighting Powerful Interests.

VICE-PRESIDENT, MEMBERSHIP
Mark E. Anderson
Membership.PSWG@gmail.com
Mark Edward Anderson was born in Peoria, Illinois and lived in the southeast before moving to Palm Springs in 2002 with his husband Dan Jones and their dog Joy. He earned his visual communications degree from the Art Institute of Atlanta. Employed by Delta Air Lines for 10 years, Mark created communications for their marketing, branding, product development and training departments. He established AquaZebra Web, Book and Print Design in 2007 and quickly began designing communications for authors, retail stores and service companies.He has been a member of the Palm Springs Writers Guild since 2009. As past president during the 2010-2011 season, he redesigned the PSWG website, worked with the Board to create a successful Desert Writers Expo and secure 501c3 non-profit status.
He is grateful to have had the opportunity to work with so many Guild members helping them with cover design, interior design, book shepherding, marketing and publishing. “Authors are passionate about their story and I enjoy being part of their process. I’ve met some incredibly gifted authors here.”

Secretary
Candace Fagan
Secretary.PSWG@gmail.com
Account Manager, Visual Numerics, Inc. Accomplished, innovative, highly focused Enterprise Software Sales producer with 15+ years experience offering proven track record of consistent over quota performance. A driven leader with a career of profitable growth for corporations across various IT and computing sectors including technical solutions, new business development, custom enterprise applications, and consulting services. Generator of new revenue streams through achieving trusted advisor status with clients by offering expertise and experience with major OLAP, CRM, and BI tools.

I am a highly skilled contract negotiator, sales closer with an expertise in marketing and strategic planning.

Author and Writer: CL FaganProductions
Lightning Strikes the Colonies is my first novel published with AEG publishing Group and now I am in the process of publishing my second novel, Enlightening Strikes England. Stay tuned for further updates....

VICE-PRESIDENT EDUCATION & TRAINING
Cynthia West
cynthiaswest@gmail.com

Most of my professional background has been in education—both at the secondary level as an English and history teacher in East Coast schools and at the college level as a speech and grant writer at Princeton University. I also spent a wonderful year as a Fulbright Fellow at the Antwerp International school in Belgium teaching the International Baccalaureate curriculum and researching World War I and World II landscape memorials. It seems like ages ago…1988-1989—loved the Belgian people and their beer! The students were from all over the world, so I got my first taste of modern globalism back then.

In my earlier years, I played professional tennis and enjoyed a decade as a teaching pro. I am a Life member of the United States Tennis Association and a certified professional with the international Professional Tennis Registry.

I love tutoring students and am looking forward to working with Coachella valley students. I am currently writing my first fiction novel, which is so different from academic writing I have done—it’s challenging and hard work, yet I’m enjoying every minute creating story-lines. When I’m not tutoring or writing, you can find me spending time with family and friends, photographing, biking and hiking and volunteering at the BNP Paribas Indian Wells tennis tournament.

My website is: www.finetutoring.com

VICE-PRESIDENT, CONTESTS
Kathy Weyer
katweyer@att.net

Kathy Weyer is a writer, having retired from many different professions including Human Resources Administration, Marriage and Family Counseling, and running several non profit agencies. Her experiences in those roles have given her fodder for writing fiction and some fact-based articles that have run in national magazines.

A native San Diegan, she recently moved to Palm Springs with her husband of 40 years. She is involved with the Palm Springs Rotary Club, the Friends of the Palm Springs Library, Voices For Children, and devotes her time to creative arts and animal welfare.

She lives with her husband and two black labs named Nick and Nora, a black cat named Freddie, who is her office mate and is sometimes helpful, but not always, at the keyboard, and a cockatiel named Socrates.

You can find Kathy at www.kathyweyer.com or on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/kathyweyerauthor.

VICE-PRESIDENT, CRITIQUE GROUPS
Gordon Davis
gdavis3@dc.rr.com
Gordon Davis was born and raised in Ludington MI. He attended the University of Notre Dame and is an alumnus of The Art Center School in LA (now The Art Center School of Design in Pasadena). During his career Gordon designed cars, construction equipment, motorcycle and automobile accessories, and recreational vehicles. He also was an executive recruiter for twenty-three years. Gordon relocated to Newport Beach CA in 1995. He retired ten years later and set course for Rancho Mirage CA. To occupy his time he began to write, one of his early passions. Gordon completed six works of genre fiction (to include a published trilogy) and a collection of short stories. He is married and has four great kids!

VICE-PRESIDENT, COMMUNICATIONS
Carol Lansen
carollansen@yahoo.com
As the former CEO of Columbia Lake Consulting Group (North America), Carol was responsible for planning and developing business strategy initiatives, channel allocation recommendations, integrated business solutions as well as the overall management of projects.

Carol is a creative, problem-solving leader with a (30-year) history of driving consumer connections and building brand equity.  She  is experienced in creating unique media/channel plans across many categories, including Entertainment, CPG, Travel, Gaming, Automotive, Financials and more—representing billions of dollars in US ad spend.  Carol’s responsibilities have also included group development and synergies across agencies, as well as financial performance. Carol assumed the role of consultant after a long and successful career at media companies and full service agencies, beginning with the legendary Ted Bates and concluding with MEC Global. She was awarded Ad Week’s marketing plan of the year for team participation on Lord of the Rings, created, with all strategic partners, the first truly global reveal campaign for Activision’s Call of Duty and led the agency’s movie group in their successful NBCUniversal ($700MM) pitch.
As the former head of Columbia Lake Group, she oversaw the activities of non-profit organizations as well as growing entries in the digital and digital content business—described by clients as “an advocate of the big idea”, “causal and tenacious”, “a curious, self-aware person who embraces change”. She has also started a concierge business in the greater Palm Springs area called Hoptuit, that begins operation in May, 2019. The Yale/VIA personality evaluation lists “love of learning” and “curiosity” as Carol’s top attributes…this is not surprising.
Carol now lives in Palm Springs after spending the majority of her life/career in NYC and LA, although…it’s widely known that she loves her Midwesterner upbringing and will die a Cubs fan. She also follows the Packers and UW Badgers. Carol is an avid supporter and lover of animals and their causes (Pacific Whale Foundation, ASPCA,  Bill Foundation) and of course, dedicates much of her time to writing and the prospect of publishing her first novel: Rough Water as she works on a comedy script Going Down on Madison Avenue©. She looks forward to her new role as VP Publicity on the Board of Directors for the Palm Springs Writers Guild and enjoying the programs and activities provided by the PSWG.