Bio

Born and raised in Decatur, Illinois, Cissna holds a PhD in Global Leadership and Change from Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA where she taught courses in communication and leadership. She is passionate about maximizing human potential. ​ Her research on Inclusive Leadership and Workplace Spirituality led her to discover how self-actualized leaders can leverage diversity for innovation and change. She is now determined to mobilize leaders with an entrepreneurial mindset to upgrade antiquated systems. She teaches experiential courses in creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship at Farmer School of Business at Miami University, and serves on the Advisory Board for Social Entrepreneurship and Change at Pepperdine University. ​ As a consultant and coach, she has helped over 100 companies with innovation and inclusive leadership training programs. She regularly speaks at conferences about global leadership and cultivating the virtue of creativity to design a better future for generations to come. She utilizes techniques from improvisational comedy to teach diversity, equity and inclusion, and creative problem solving (design thinking) to teach innovation and change. Dr. Cissna holds an M.Ed. from Azusa Pacific University, an Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership and a Ph.D. in Global Leadership and Change from Pepperdine University. She has published four books on women in leadership and work-life integration, and has published articles in several refereed journals, including the Journal of Leadership Education and the Journal of Global Leadership. Dr. Cissna was a postdoctoral fellow in the Program for Leadership and Character and Center for Entrepreneurship at Wake Forest University where she designed and taught undergraduate courses in Entrepreneurial Leadership and the Character of Entrepreneurship. Dr. Cissna taught courses in Human Resource Management for the MBA program at California State University, Long Beach, and designed/taught courses in Collaborative Leadership and Conflict Negotiation at Southern Nazarene University. She also taught courses in leadership, communications, research methods and social entrepreneurship at the undergraduate and graduate levels at Pepperdine University. Her career in higher education spans two decades and includes five years as Assistant Vice Chancellor, four years as Director of Housing & Residence Life, and three years as Leadership Development Coordinator at Pepperdine University. Kerri is certified to teach Vinyasa style yoga.