SUNDAY, AUGUST 30, 2026

1:00 PM – 5:00 PM

SUPERVISOR ACADEMY:

JULIE STILES MILLS

Influence & Persuasion

Everyone has a circle of influence. Learn to identify, navigate and steward yours more intentionally and effectively by communicating in ways that help you build credibility, present ideas clearly, and connect with others.

In this interactive session, we’ll explore the foundational elements of effective (and non-effective) persuasion, including an ability to identify the position and reasoning of the other person or people, how to develop and demonstrate your credibility, and even how to influence someone who doesn’t agree with you. Just as important, you’ll learn how to recognize ineffective persuasion and avoid the common mistakes that cause people to tune out or push back.

You’ll also learn how to identify the position and reasoning of others, so you can meet them where they are not where you wish they were and increase your chances of being heard. By understanding how people decide what to accept, question, or reject, you’ll be able to adjust your approach and influence more effectively.

CLASS INFORMATION

  • Date: Sunday, August 30, 2026
  • Time: 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm
  • Class Room: St. Johns 26/27

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP ACADEMY:

J. LENORA BRESLER

Employing The Law: See The Workplace Like a Lawyer

Organizational leaders do not need a law degree to protect themselves and their organizations from legal liability. Early detection of potential issues and prompt, proactive involvement of HR go a long way to stem risk.

Supervisors who have been trained can spot potentially inappropriate behaviors and vague and inconsistently enforced policies in real time, as they develop. Thus, these leaders are the first line of legal defense by their proactive intervention in conjunction with an engaged HR.

In this fascinating, fast-paced interactive session, participants will learn the most common legal issues that arise in the American workplace, the basics of the federal and Florida discrimination laws, and how to create and maintain a culture that is not only resistant to legal threats but is engaged, empowering, and values employees.

CLASS INFORMATION

  • Date: Sunday, August 30, 2026
  • Time: 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm
  • Class Room: St. Johns 24-25

MASTERS LEADERSHIP PROGRAM:

DON LEVONIOUS

Mastering The Art of Facilitation

**ELA Graduates Only

Whether you lead meetings and work sessions or facilitate training workshops, your success depends greatly on your ability to remain objective, engage others, build consensus, guide decisions, manage disruptions, and much, much more!

This program takes you “behind the scenes” with a certified facilitator to experience, learn, and apply proven techniques and “tricks of the trade” used by the most seasoned pros.

Want to facilitate productive on site and online events that help your group achieve its desired results? This program will show you how!

CLASS INFORMATION

  • Date: Sunday, August 30, 2026
  • Time: 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm
  • Class Room: St. Johns 22/23

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2026

1:00 PM – 5:00 PM

SUPERVISOR ACADEMY:

JULIE STILES MILLS

Barriers to Effective Communication

Have you ever left a conversation thinking, “That’s not what I meant at all,” or wondered why a message didn’t land the way you hoped or expected? In today’s fast-paced workplaces, communication breakdowns are common and often caused by barriers we don’t even realize are there.

This interactive session helps you recognize and overcome the most common obstacles to effective communication, including physical, physiological, environmental, attitudinal barriers, and false assumptions. Through relatable examples and group discussions, you’ll explore how things like noise, stress, bias, and misinterpretation can interfere with understanding.

More importantly, you’ll learn practical, easy-to-use strategies to improve clarity, avoid misunderstandings, and build stronger connections in both your professional and personal relationships. By the end of the session, you’ll feel more confident recognizing communication challenges as they happen and be ready to respond in ways that foster trust, respect, and better outcomes in any professional setting.

CLASS INFORMATION

  • Date: Tuesday, September 1, 2026
  • Time: 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm
  • Class Room: St. Johns 26/27

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP ACADEMY:

DON LEVONIOUS

Working Well Under Pressure

Deadlines, competing priorities, tough decisions, negative people, and disruptive change. Everyone deals with these pressures, but those who know how to prosper under pressure outperform and outlast those who freak out.

Through self-assessments, facilitated discussions, and other practical applications, this program will help you project positivity, embrace criticism, manage your emotions, welcome change, and remain resilient no matter what happens. Want to learn to work well under pressure? This program will show you how!

CLASS INFORMATION

  • Date: Tuesday, September 1, 2026
  • Time: 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm
  • Class Room: St. Johns 24-25

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2026

9:00 AM – 1:00 PM

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP ACADEMY:

DON LEVONIOUS

Gaining & Sustaining Credibility

Credibility is about earning the trust and confidence of others. People with credibility instill confidence, influence colleagues, and unify teams. Those without credibility simply cannot. If you want others to recognize you as a person of character, a trusted advisor, and a principled leader – cultivate credibility.

Through self-assessments, facilitated discussions, and group activities, this program will help you apply specific credibility-building leadership principles. Want to earn the trust and confidence of others? This program is for you!

CLASS INFORMATION

  • Date: Tuesday, September 3, 2026
  • Time: 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm
  • Class Room: Sandlake

FTCA 2026 EDUCATION FORUM

WORKSHOP FACILITATORS

COME AND JOIN US

J. Lenora Bresler

J.D., CSP, SHRM-SCP, SPHR

A Nationally Acclaimed Leadership speaker, Author, Trainer & Coach

Graduating from law school at age 20, J. Lenora Bresler is a nationally acclaimed leadership speaker, author, trainer, and coach. The author of several books, including Instant Insight: 15 Questions to Great Relationships, J. Lenora is on a mission to eradicate unnecessary stress and unpleasantness from the American workplace. She works with organizations to create the best leaders, teams, and relationships on earth.

Lenora holds the two highest credentials in the human resources field, the SHRM-SCP and the SPHR, and the highest earned designation in the speaking field, the coveted Certified Speaking Professional, held by fewer than 800 people worldwide.

Lenora has been a trial lawyer, a symphony orchestra executive director, a newspaper columnist, a freelance magazine writer, and a talk show radio host. In addition to being the president of Bresler Training, LLC., J. Lenora operates the unique party business, Victorian Teas by J. Lenora, and is a financial advisor with Primerica. A guarantee of any interaction with J. Lenora is “She’s never boring.”

Don Levonius

MA, BCCLC

Professional Consultant, Trainer and National Public Speaker

Don believes good people can change the world, and he’s passionate about helping them do so. As a certified life and leadership coach, speaker, facilitator, and virtual presenter, Don draws on over 25 years of leadership experience – including 13 years with Disney. His ability to connect with others has helped tens of thousands of people worldwide master the skills they need to live and lead well. 

Following the 9/11 attacks, Don was handpicked by Disney to transform its security training and help combat the increased threat of terrorism. Under his leadership, the Disney Security Training Institute became a benchmark for law enforcement and security organizations worldwide.

Having recognized Don’s transformational impact on security, Disney promoted Don to lead operations training for Disney Transportation and 25 Disney Resort hotels. He was ranked among the top 2% of Disney employees and awarded a “Partners in Excellence” lifetime achievement award.

Don left Disney and launched Victory Performance Consulting, where he and his team now provide leadership development coaching and training for a broad spectrum of Fortune 500 companies, state and federal government agencies, non-profits, and others.

Don has been an adjunct instructor for Valencia College since 2016 and is a favorite among Continuing Education clients who tell us “he is one of the best leadership developers” (Orange County Public Schools) whose “presentation style is enjoyable and informative” (City of Orlando) and who “always gets the best feedback from our teams” (McCoy FCU). Don is also a regular instructor in our Public Safety Leadership Development Certification Program.

Areas of Specialization

  • Employee wellbeing: de-stressing, setting healthy boundaries, working well under pressure.
  • Interpersonal influence: civility, collaboration, communication, critical thinking.
  • Leadership ability: authenticity, coaching, change, conflict, credibility, culture, ethics.
  • Organizational effectiveness: communication, change, civility, ethics, strategic planning.

Education

  • Master of Arts (MA), Human Resource Development, Webster University
  • Master of Arts (MA), Business & Organizational Security Management, Webster University
  • Bachelor of Science (BS), Management, Nova Southeastern University

 

Certifications

  • Certified Life Coach, American Association of Christian Counselors
  • Certified Leadership Coach, Speaker and Facilitator, Maxwell Leadership
  • Certified Virtual Presenter, eSpeakers

JULIE STILES MILLS

Communication strategist and leadership development educator

For 30 years, Julie has been providing training and consulting with a demonstrated history of immediate and lasting increase in effectiveness. With a consistent pursuit of competence and an intuitive ability to empathize with and relate to clients of all levels of experience, the training and consulting she provides are targeted and impactful. She considers her best measure of success to be when her clients don’t need her anymore.

In addition to corporate training and consulting, Julie taught Business and Professional Communication at UCF for 7 years and is now an Associate Professor for Valencia College’s Bachelor of Applied Science in Business and Organizational Leadership, writing curriculum and teaching Human Relations in Management, Negotiating Conflict, and most recently, Employee Relations in HR Management for the Human Relations Concentration and Advanced Certificate Program, which launched in Fall of 2024.

No matter the topic or the environment, Julie’s speaking style is extemporaneous and incorporates a combination of down to earth instructional and engaging inspirational content with the goal of helping people go from where they are with what they have, to where they could be with what they need. Her favorite words are edify [to build someone up through instruction] and pragmatic [focused on needs and results, rather than with ideas or theories]. She strives to live out those words as she helps people grow stronger in three areas: Communication Effectiveness, Career Success, and Computer Efficiency.

  • Communication Effectiveness

Through Interpersonal and Organizational Communication Training and Consulting, Julie’s focus is on teaching clients how to recognize situations in which it would be helpful to employ a particular communication technique and by equipping them to apply it effectively and successfully. Some of her areas of specialization are: conflict resolution, negotiation, motivation, and interpersonal communication.

  • Career Success

Through professional development training and career consulting, including individualized one-on-one resume and interview prep, Julie helps clients research and identify career options, create career plans, strengthen both hard and soft skills, overcome barriers to employment, and even start their own businesses.

  • Computer Efficiency

Through customized computer training and consulting for individuals and small groups, Julie’s focus is on empowering clients to work smarter, not harder (or longer), maximizing efficiency by eliminating unnecessary steps and automating repetitive tasks.

In her role with Valencia’s Continuing Education Department, Julie provides instruction for a variety of leadership development programs, developing and facilitating workshops in topics such as conflict resolution, developing synergistic relationships, influence and persuasion and more.

Education and Relevant Coursework

  • BA in Organizational Communication from the University of Central Florida
  • MBA from The Crummer Graduate School at Rollins College
  • Continuing Faculty Development to Attain and Maintain Associate Professorship