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04/06/2026

Emerging Leaders Academy

Emerging Leaders

Program Overview

The Emerging Leaders Academy was designed to intentionally prepare the next generation of leaders while supporting today’s senior executives in building continuity, confidence, and long-term organizational strength. Built specifically for the graphic communications industry, this program focuses on practical leadership development that can be applied immediately within your operation.

Developed in collaboration with the Center for Great Work Performance, the Academy combines proven leadership frameworks with real-world application. Each session is designed to move beyond theory, equipping participants with the tools, mindset, and structure needed to lead effectively in fast-paced production environments.

Delivered through five focused sessions throughout the year, the Emerging Leaders Academy creates a shared leadership language between current and future leaders. Participants will gain clarity in expectations, strengthen communication, and build the confidence needed to lead teams, improve performance, and support long-term organizational growth.

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Who Should Attend

The Emerging Leaders Academy is designed for senior leadership, department managers, supervisors, and emerging leaders identified for future leadership roles. This program is most effective when organizations participate intentionally, pairing experienced leaders with their next generation of talent.

For each registered participant, a senior leader is invited to attend at no additional cost. This optional approach creates a valuable opportunity for alignment, shared expectations, and meaningful dialogue between current and future leaders.

Organizations may participate in the full program, attend individual sessions based on specific needs, or enroll multiple emerging leaders through our group participation option. This flexibility allows each company to engage in a way that best supports their leadership development goals.

Sessions Overview

Session 1 – May 21

Foundations of Great Leadership Performance

Session 2 – June 23

WorkforceSUCCESS® – Recruit, Retain, Reward

Session 3 – July 21

Developing Leaders at Every Level

Session 4 – October 5

Performance Analytics for Leaders

Session 5 – November 10

Navigating Change & Future Leadership Models

Full Program Recap – December 15

For added flexibility, a full-day recap session will be offered on December 15, featuring a guided review of all five sessions utilizing recorded presentations, supporting materials, and live Q&A facilitated by GMA and CGWP. Participants may attend the full program or join individual segments based on their needs.

Pricing & Participation Options

To provide flexibility for organizations at different stages of leadership development, the Emerging Leaders Academy offers multiple ways to participate.

Full Program Package*

GMA/APAN Member: $995*
Non-Member: $1,495*

Includes:

Full Program Registration

À La Carte Sessions*

Member: $225 per session*
Non-Member: $325 per session*

À La Carte Registration

Group Remote Participation*

Member: $175 per participant (per session)*
Non-Member: $250 per participant (per session)*

Group Remote Registration

Registration

*All pricing is listed per participant. Each registered participant may include one senior leader at no additional cost. Program benefits, including consultations and certificate of completion, apply to the registered participant. Group Remote Participation requires a minimum of five (5) participants from the same organization, participating together in a shared setting.

Speakers

Kurt Wells

Kurt Wells is a nationally respected workforce and leadership development executive with more than 30 years of experience building, scaling, and transforming organizations at the intersection of talent, performance, education, and business strategy. He is the Founder & CEO of the Center for Great Work Performance (CGWP) and the Center for Career Empowerment & Student Success (CCESS), where he partners with employers, educators, workforce boards, community members, and policymakers to design and implement high-impact leadership, talent pipeline, and work-based learning strategies.

Kurt’s career spans executive leadership, mergers and acquisitions due diligence, operations, and enterprise development across staffing, workforce solutions, human capital, and technology-enabled services. He has played senior leadership roles in high-growth organizations, helping two privately held staffing firms scale, professionalize operations, and successfully exiting industry multiple averages. Across these organizations, Kurt held roles ranging from field operations and business development to executive management and ownership partner, giving him a deep, practical understanding of workforce performance, leadership effectiveness, and organizational culture.

As an entrepreneur, Kurt has founded and co-founded multiple mission-driven companies focused on leadership capability, employee engagement, and workforce readiness. Through WELLSOLV=D Services, he has advised organizations on workforce optimization, leadership development, talent strategy, and growth execution. He also served on the executive leadership team at RDI Corporation (WELLSOLV=D client), where he led multi-site operations, contact center services, quality and continuous improvement, and human resources, while overseeing post-acquisition integrations and enterprise-wide leadership and culture initiatives.

Recognizing persistent gaps between education and workforce readiness, Kurt founded ApprenticeshipWorx (now part of CGWP), which evolved into a recognized platform for advancing experiential learning, apprenticeship programming, and competency-based employee development. Through this work, he has helped employers, education systems, government agencies, and training providers design standards-aligned programs that improve engagement, performance, and long-term career outcomes.

Kurt also co-founded ULIMI, a technology company delivering custom workforce and performance platforms, including employee engagement, performance management, and work-based learning administration tools. His work consistently blends leadership development, technology, and human-centered design to help organizations build sustainable talent pipelines and high-performance cultures. He is also a partner at BigScore Engagement Solutions and PD Pro Solutions as well as strategic advisor to numerous companies and organizations across the United States.

Deeply committed to leadership development across the lifespan, Kurt has designed and delivered leadership and career education programs within businesses, education (secondary and higher), and national organizations. A former collegiate athlete (soccer) and scholarship recipient at Rollins College, he has served in senior alumni and governance leadership roles, including two-term president of the Rollins Alumni Association Board and member of the Rollins Board of Trustees as well as an Assistant/Goalkeeper Coach for twelve years for the Men’s and Women’s soccer teams and had the honor of receiving the Rollins Alumni Service Award in 2015.  Kurt was also a member of the Chi Psi National Fraternity Executive Council for ten years and Council chair for two-terms. In 2025, Kurt was named to the inaugural State of Ohio Public Policy Fellows on Education and Workforce.

Kurt resides in Cincinnati, Ohio, and continues to coach athletic teams and serve on boards, advisory councils, and community initiatives focused on leadership development, workforce innovation, education alignment, and economic mobility.

James A. Wulfeck, Jr.

Jim Wulfeck is an Educator, Executive, and Entrepreneur.

He founded the GMP Institute (1977), the Artisan Consulting Group (2002), and Co-Founded the Center for Great Work Performance (2022) and the Not-for-Profit, Center for Career Empowerment and Student Success (2021)  

Jim has over fifty-five years of management experience in education, healthcare marketing, manufacturing operations, and family business operations.

Jim’s background in business and education, and his unique communication skills, enable him to address the needs of all levels of the organization from top management to newly-hired associates. 

After teaching English, History, Speech and Drama at the high school level from 1967 – 1970, Jim worked for Richardson-Merrell, Inc. in Sales, Marketing, and Manufacturing roles from 1972-1977. From 1977 to 2002, through the GMP Institute, Jim and his team specialized in helping food, drug and medical device manufacturers embrace the challenge of making Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) a Performance “Lifestyle”, not just another costly government regulation.

During this time, the GMP Institute provided performance and quality management consulting services, developed and conducted GMP training programs, and performed GMP compliance audits that positively influenced the business strategies, systems and results of over 5000 corporations and organizations within FDA regulated industries. Major clients include the FDA, and all the major healthcare manufacturing companies such as Procter & Gamble, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck, Abbott Laboratories, Eli Lilly, Kimberly-Clark, Baxter Healthcare, Amgen, Biogen, 3M and the American Red Cross, just to name a few.

Over his career, Jim has developed and conducted certification programs, which include Sales Certification, Manager Certification, Trainer Certification, Auditor Certification and Supplier Certification. In addition, he has designed and published Quality System and Performance Excellence workshops, workbooks and audio-visual training programs that have been used to train thousands of people all over the world. Titles of his work include the following: “They Trust Us”; “Our Responsibility”; “Everyone’s Concern”; “Doing Our Best”; “GMP – The Best Way To Comply”; “GMP – Why Do We Need It?”; “GMP And The Workplace”; “Written Procedures – Our Roadmap To Quality”; “Write It Down – Keep Good Records”; “Doing The Job Right The First Time”; “Defending Against Contamination”; “Keep It Clean”; “Building Quality Into Our Products”; “Check And Double Check”; “Auditing For Compliance and Improvement” and “GMP Makes Good Business Sense”.

In addition to his executive and entrepreneurial responsibilities at the GMP Institute and the Artisan Consulting Group, Jim served as President and CEO of Wulco, Inc., a family-owned holding company of manufacturing, distribution and service companies located in the Greater Cincinnati area from 1990 – 2002.

After selling the GMP Institute to the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering in 2002 and retiring from Wulco, Jim began to design and build the Artisan Consulting Group, a premier network of performance consulting partners with the mission of helping organizations and professionals proactively master performance excellence and realize exceptional and sustainable results.

Jim is a graduate of Thomas More University with concentrations in English, Education, and Speech and Drama.  He has done graduate work in Business Administration and Human Resources Management at Xavier University and continuing professional education in Executive Management, Operations Management and Quality Management. Jim served in the United States Army Reserve from 1970 – 1976 as a Training and Supply Specialist.

An avid reader and constant learner, Jim has been a frequent presenter at major industry, association and company meetings on Instituting Dynamic Leadership, Serving Delighted Stakeholders, Managing Dependable Systems, and Leading Deliberate Strategy, Culture, and Change. He has worked with the boards of many local non – profit organizations in the Greater Cincinnati area.

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