Speakers

Hosted by Lauren Marquart & Samuel Felinton

featuring talks by:

Whitney Stout

"DANCE-ing Through Change: The 5 step system for managing uncertainty and reducing stress during change initiatives" 

Whitney Stout is Director of Strategic Operations at WVU Online, where she translates institutional priorities into scalable systems that advance online education. Her career spans legal aid, enterprise technology implementation, and strategic operations which has given her firsthand experience with how change communication fragments across organizational layers. Whitney relocated to West Virginia through Ascend WV in 2024, returning to her home state after years building expertise elsewhere. Previously, she led change management and process innovation initiatives and served as Interim Director of Customer Success at Lupl, optimizing processes for global legal teams. From rural nonprofits to multinational law firms Whitney observed identical communication breakdowns regardless of industry, size, or resources. Recognizing these patterns as systematic rather than individual failures, she developed a framework that depersonalizes change resistance and provides actionable steps for anyone experiencing or coordinating organizational transitions. Whitney holds a J.D. from Charlotte School of Law and a B.A. in Psychology and Spanish from Salem College.

Erin Sponaugle

"The Creative Comeback: When Teacher Resilience Is No Longer Endurance"

Dr. Erin Sponaugle is an educator, author, artist, and speaker with two decades of experience teaching and leading in West Virginia’s public schools. A lifelong West Virginia resident, she earned her master’s degree in educational leadership from West Virginia University. Erin is a National Board Certified Teacher and holds a doctorate in curriculum, instruction, and assessment. She teaches visual art to students in grades 3-5 at Tomahawk Intermediate School in Hedgesville, West Virginia. A former West Virginia Teacher of the Year, Erin has worked with teachers across the state, witnessing their commitment and the challenges that drive burnout and attrition. Her greatest interest is addressing teachers' mental health and the demands of the profession. She is the author of the bestseller Teachaholic, which examines teacher burnout, and the host of the Next Chapter for Teachers podcast, where she explores sustainability ability, leadership, and life beyond teacher burnout. After experiencing teacher burnout firsthand, Erin rediscovered creativity by writing and illustrating two children’s books inspired by West Virginia. This creative path reshaped herd her approach to teaching, leadership, and teacher well-being. Her work outside the classroom focuses on redefining resilience in education, shifting the narrative from endurance to sustainability through creativity, boundaries, and reinvention.

Zin Warda Hasan

"Diagnosis - Behind the Scenes of Medicine"

Zim Warda Hasan is a PhD student in the Clinical and Translational Science (CTS) program at West Virginia University. She currently works as a Graduate Research Assistant with the WVU Medicine Gastroenterology and Hepatology team. Originally from Chittagong, Bangladesh, Zim earned her medical degree in her home country and later completed her master’s degree at Western Kentucky University. Her recent work focuses on addressing the “treatment gap” in obesity care by supporting clinical studies that explore options between lifestyle change, medication, and less invasive procedures. She’s driven by a simple goal: to test new ideas with strong evidence and keep research focused on what patients truly need. Throughout her medical school and master’s program, Zim received the Outstanding Performance Intern Doctor and Outstanding Graduate Student awards. She is a recipient of the National Idea Symposium of Biomedical Research Excellence (NISBRE) Merit Award. Outside of research, Zim loves traveling. She also enjoys learning about different cultures and making handcrafted candles.