As a member of GAPRA, you will engage with the co-founders and learn from our faculty members throughout the year. Our faculty members share with you their expertise in relational aggression, child development, gender psychology, internet safety, parenting and other topics.
Following are top-of-the-field experts in faculty positions with GAPRA:
Brenda Nixon, M. A.
Get empowered in your childrearing abilities with Brenda’s wit and wisdom. Brenda’s books include the award-winning The Birth to Five Book: Confident Childrearing Right from the Start, her co-authored A Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts, and she’s a contributor to 30 titles, including several in the New York Times best-selling Chicken Soup for the Soul series.
Blending child development with practical parenting tips, Brenda is a fave on radio, TV and the internet having appeared on NBC and FOX TV affiliates and Atlanta’s Kevin & Taylor in the Morning on WFSH-FM.
As host for The Parent’s Plate radio show, she is mission-driven to empower parents of tots to teens through education and encouragement. Brenda shares today’s hot topics from discipline to understanding your child’s temperament to rules for guys dating your daughter.
Sue Scheff
Sue Scheff founded Parents’ Universal Resource Experts (P.U.R.E) in 2001. It was created to help educate parents in a loosely regulated industry called “teen help.” After struggling with her own teenage daughter, she traveled down a road that was not only destructive to her – but put her daughter in harm’s way.
Sue Scheff is author of Wit’s End: Advice and Resources for Saving Your Out-of-Control Teen and co-author of Google Bomb: The Untold Story of the $11.3M Verdict That Changed the Way We Use the Internet. She is a parent advocate and continues to help thousands of families with today’s teens.
During her crusade to help inform others, she became a victim, and now survivor, of Internet Defamation and slander. As with many people that have a voice to create change, you will have vocal enemies. However, free speech does not condone defamation or slander. After fighting back – a jury awarded Sue Scheff $11.3M verdict for damages.
Sue Scheff has appeared on many media outlets including ABC News 20/20 i-Caught, Dr. Phil, The Rachael Ray Show, Lifetime Television, CNN Headline News, Fox Morning News with Mike and Juliet, Fox News Tampabay, CBS News with Katie Couric, BBC, CBC Sunday News Magazine, Newsweek, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Washington Times, USA Today, Miami Herald, Veja, and Forbes.
Christopher Burgess
Christopher Burgess is the senior security advisor to the chief security officer at Cisco. Prior to joining Cisco, he served as a senior national security executive for more than 30 years.
He has lived and worked in South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Central Europe, and Latin America where he acquired understanding of people, cultures, and societal issues. Christopher addresses security aspects of social media, security strategy, security education and awareness and prevention of industrial espionage. He is a regular contributor to The Huffington Post which began with his piece, A Common Sense Approach to Social Media.
He also focuses on a number of societal issues such as, hunger, slavery, health, as well as how to keep one’s family safe online. Christopher is a member of the advisory board to the Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media.
Nancy Fox-Kilgore, M.S.
Nancy Fox-Kilgore, M.S., is a national trainer who specializes in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), sibling abuse and bullying. A frequent speaker and university continuing education teacher, she has helped thousands discover the connection between bullying and sibling abuse. Nancy is a recognized expert who is well-known for capturing the essence of issues resulting from PTSD and abuse from the perspective of a researcher in addition to that of a survivor.
Nancy serves as a consultant for the U.S. Department of Justice, the Office for Victims of Crime, as well as the California Alcohol and Drug Department. She has also conducted numerous training sessions and seminars for a variety of professional groups including state, domestic and rape coalitions.
In addition to having appeared on radio and television programs addressing issues resulting from PTSD and abuse, Nancy is the author of Every Eighteen Seconds and The Source Book for Working with Battered Women.
Nancy Gruver
As the mother of two girls, Nancy Gruver discovered the intertwined passions that became her life mission. First, supporting and creating a community for girls to express themselves and their individual gifts in the world. And second, educating and supporting parents, teachers, grandparents, researchers, mentors and others to raise resilient, creative girls to be powerful women in their own lives and in the world.
Nancy is founder of New Moon Girls, the safe social network and magazine for girls ages 8 and up, which is “a community for girls who support each other in staying true to themselves as they grow from girls to women.” Over the years, New Moon’s message of empowerment has touched hundreds of thousands of girls, parents, and caring adults.
Nancy is also founder of Daughters.com, an expert resource for adults who are helping girls build healthy resistance to gender stereotypes and inequities, and author of How To Say It to Girls: Communicating with Your Growing Daughter.
Co-Founders
Jane Balvanz, MSE, RPT
Jane Balvanz has worked in the field of education for over 30 years as a pre-school through junior high school teacher. She is a certified K-12 school counselor and a Registered Play Therapist.
Jane has been an adjunct professor in counseling education at Drake University. She has volunteered her time as a Hospice grief counselor and serves others as a Reiki Master. Throughout her numerous years in private and public schools, Jane has supported many children who have found themselves in Relational Aggression situations. Jane is co-author of When Girls Hurt Girls®.
Blair Wagner, CPCC, ACC
Blair Wagner is a professional Life Coach, Speaker and certified Law of Attraction Practitioner. She enjoys serving as a leader in the coaching community in her capacity as Founding President of the International Coach Federation of Eastern IA/Western IL. Blair volunteers her time to build the coaching profession and is dedicated to educating and mentoring junior coaches.
Blair’s personal experience with guiding her own daughter through Relational Aggression has led her to a passion for helping adults guide girls and boys into friendships in which they can thrive. Blair is co-author of When Girls Hurt Girls®.
