Orleans/Niagara BOCES

Dr. Joe Sanfelippo

Author, Former Superintendent of the Fall Creek School District, WI

Dr. Joe Sanfelippo recently retired after spending the last 26 years in the building and the final 12 as the Superintendent of the Fall Creek School District in Fall Creek, WI. The Fall Creek School District was named an Innovative District by the International Center for Leadership in Education twice during that time. Joe holds a BA in Elementary and Early Childhood Education, an MS in Educational Psychology, an MS in Educational Leadership, and a Ph.D. in Leadership, Learning, and Service. He was selected as 1 of 117 Future Ready Superintendents and 1 of 50 Superintendents as a Personalized Learning Leader by the US Department of Education. Education Dive named Joe their National Superintendent of the Year in 2019.

Joe started the #1minwalk2work Leadership Challenge, and authored multiple books, including The Power of Branding-Telling Your School's Story, Principal Professional Development: Leading Learning in a Digital Age, Hacking Leadership: 10 Ways Great Leaders Inspire Learning That Teachers, Students and Parents Love, Lead From Where You Are: Building Intention, Connection, and Direction in Our Schools, and Crafting the Culture: 45 Reflections on What Matters Most, and the upcoming 1 Minute Walk to Work: Weekly Walks to Your Greatest Year Ever (Available June 2024).

Darci D’Ercole, M.Ed.

Director of Leadership Development for the New York State School Boards Association (NYSSBA)

Darci is the Director of Leadership Development for the New York State School Boards Association. In her tenure at NYSSBA, Darci has developed and facilitated numerous training programs, board retreats and developed curriculum for both NYSSBA’s online and in-person workshops. Darci has a dozen years of experience as a facilitator with boards of education and has covered many governance topics such as roles and responsibilities, board operations, goal setting, communication, conflict resolution, board – superintendent relations, superintendent/board evaluations, and many others. She has delivered several workshops at the NSBA national conferences and recently published her third article in the Board Savvy column of The School Administrator. In 2013, Darci received her 40 hour certificate in Mediation Intensive Training, from The Center for Mediation in Law, Rockland, NY. Prior to joining the NYSSBA team, Darci served in many roles in higher education and not-for profit organizations developing and delivering professional development and organizational development to help improve individual skill level and team performance. She spent several years conducting and facilitating teams and providing guidance for organizational change initiatives. In addition, Darci applies her early background and education in psychology to the human dynamics of effective interpersonal engagement and productivity in teams. She spent eight years early in her career providing individual and group counseling in substance abuse and mental health. Darci received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the State University of New York, Albany, NY. She received her master’s degree in education from Antioch University, New England Graduate School, Keene, NH. She is passionate about people and education and welcomes the opportunity to work with boards of education on behalf of the children of New York.

Gretchen Fierle

Author

Gretchen Fierle was born and raised in Buffalo, New York, a heritage she wears with pride.  To this day, she is thankful for the many mentors and role models this city has provided her—people whose quiet dignity taught her important lessons about integrity and excellence, two values that are now ingrained in everything she does.  Her career has gone through hills and valleys, and she has learned a lot as she made her way up to the C-suite positions she held for over 17 years. The teams she led in those roles garnered everything from local to national recognition for their work, but her proudest achievements involve the talent she has helped develop and the teams she has helped build. She says, “There is nothing more satisfying than seeing an individual or group accomplish more than they ever thought possible. It’s what earned my teams the highest leadership and employee engagement scores year after year.”  Through it all, she has learned that leadership is a huge responsibility. “If you do not lead others well, then you are responsible for their failure. It doesn’t take a college degree, MBA, or PhD to know this. You just need to care and then commit.”  She has now retired from the corporate world to do her passion work: helping individuals and teams succeed and grow. Her goal is to do more than just help them support a company’s mission, vision, and values; She wants them to become important leaders and mentors to others.  “To share what I’ve learned over the years, I wrote Fish Rot from the Head Down: Stories and Lessons about Leadership. Each volume is comprised of 25 chapters of 50 words or less and is followed by probing questions and plenty of space to write, work, and reflect. The books are the foundation for the talks​ and workshops, which have been tailored to help strengthen and support those moving up the ladder.” ​