Spotlight
At CI International, our journey to becoming the industry standard for guiding leaders and organizations to greatness is built on our team of experienced consultants and experts who understand our clients and provide custom solutions that lead to lasting results.
In our CI Spotlight Series, we’re shining a light on our team members making a difference for the corporations, cabinet-level government agencies, public health institutions, and non-profits we serve.
Jackson Wallace
Growth Outside his Comfort Zone
Over the last few years, you probably would’ve found Jackson Wallace hanging around the Nashville restaurant scene or going on runs around the campus of his beloved alma mater, Belmont University.
“Nashville is such an awesome city,” Jackson said. “Any chance we get, my wife and I are exploring the city’s food and restaurant scene. That’s our go-to activity.”
A college graduate in 2021, Jackson chose to stay in higher education and begin his career in admissions and recruiting at Belmont. He was tasked with working with prospective students and building relationships with their families. It was a role Jackson found both rewarding and an opportunity for growth.
“In my time at Belmont working in admissions, it’s a very public facing position within the university,” he said. “You’re the front door and the first face that a student and a family encounter when they step foot on campus.”
Staci Taustine
First Generation College Student
For as long as she can remember, attending college was very important to Staci Taustine.
“I remember since I was five years old getting to college was the biggest deal to me,” she said.
Originally from Northern New Jersey, Staci would be the first in her family to attend college. Even though she knew she wanted to study journalism, she had to get creative when it came time to decide where she wanted to spend her undergraduate years.
“I knew nothing about it, so I Googled ‘good journalism school’,” she said.
Staci landed at the University of Wisconsin and double majored in Journalism/Mass Communication and Gender & Women’s Studies. While on campus, Staci started cultivating her love for leadership development by working with the campus Student Leadership Program. As an officer, Staci designed meetings for up to 150 students monthly. It was during this experience that she rediscovered how she wanted to spend her career.
“I fell in love with planning, hosting, and facilitating workshops,” Staci said. “I used to say I found my love for this for work playing with my Beanie Babies then I validated it in college,” she said. “I realized that facilitating meetings in all their forms is how I wanted to live my life.”
Margaret Walthall
Always Game for a New Challenge
Margaret Walthall has no intention of slowing down.
A lifelong Marylander, Margaret enjoys keeping a full schedule. When she’s not busy adding her expertise to the robust consulting services at CI International, she’s spending time by the ocean, enjoying the outdoors, or cheering on Washington sports teams. She’s also actively involved in the day-to-day lives of her two grandchildren and spends time volunteering with organizations in her area.”My husband is retired, but even when I have two weeks off from work, I keep thinking ‘I’ve got to do something’ which tells me I’m not ready to retire,” she said.
Margaret’s active lifestyle shows up in her professional life too, serving as an adjunct human resource management professor with the University of Maryland Global Campus. Her natural desire to take on new challenges is part of what makes Margaret such an important member of the CI International team.
Fancy Mills
Raised in Public Service
Fancy Mills grew up with a deep understanding of what it means to serve.
Her mother was a thirty-year veteran schoolteacher and as the daughter of an Air Force Commander and pilot, granddaughter of an Army pilot, sister of an Air Force reservist, and wife of a Naval soldier, Fancy’s family has shown the willingness to set themselves aside and serve their country.
“My entire life, I’ve been surrounded by people who take service really seriously, which has also impacted my choice of career,” Fancy said.
Military life, Fancy said, also contributed to her having a close-knit family and played a major role in the level of confidence she brings to her career.
“My early life helped me build a lot of confidence. We moved quite frequently, so I had to go to new schools and make new friends quickly. This led directly into my career because my entire career I’ve had to walk into rooms and establish credibility quickly.”
Heath Harding
“Running fast and holding hands…”
Heath Harding has spent his entire professional career shaping, developing, and guiding leaders to reach their full potential and impact. While today you can usually find him outside hiking in the mountains around his Colorado home or walking his dog, his passion for developing and teaching leadership skills has its roots in his rural Midwest upbringing.
“I grew up in a rural community in Kansas where people helped each other with a cup of sugar, sharing farm implements, and fixing a fence,” he said. “Community services has been a part of my life since the beginning.”
Beginning at his alma mater, Kansas State University, Heath spent the first several years of his professional life working in academia at multiple universities as a lecturer and leadership program director.
It was during his time in Manhattan, Kansas that his leadership philosophy first took shape. Working as an assistant director of the school’s leadership program, Heath heard the program director describe their rapid growth by saying, “We were running fast and holding hands.”
“That has become a mantra since then. It’s not if you stumble but when you stumble, you don’t face plant in the dirt because someone is on either side of you carrying you in that moment,” Heath said.
Shelly Heath-Watson
A Lifetime of Service
“That’s just what you do. You serve others. It’s not even something I took on knowingly. It’s the water I swam in. (Service) is a family value.”
For Shelly Heath-Watson, service isn’t just something you do. Early on, Shelly saw the powerful impact of serving others from the example set by her parents within their extended family and their tight-knit community in Catskill, New York. Shelly remembers singing Christmas carols at local nursing homes and a nearby prison, as well as contributing to her church and helping family members in need. It was all done with the core belief that “we are called to serve,” a belief that Shelly carries into her professional life.
Alex Carlin
A true team player
Alex Carlin learned the value of being part of a team at an early age.
The fourth of five brothers, Alex understood the importance of relationships and how to put the values of the team ahead of your own.
“Having people in your life who you don’t want to let down, has been my motivating factor,” Alex said of his tight knit family. “Having that group around, and understanding the sacrifices made for me, is why I always want to be sure I’m pulling my weight and doing the right thing. That same mindset applies to my ‘work family’ too.”
A life-long sports lover and high school quarterback, Alex carries the lessons he learned from his experience playing team sports to his professional life. While his sports playing days are now with his weekend hockey league, these experiences have allowed Alex to have a deeper understanding of the way relationships can influence and empower an organization.
“My end goal remains wanting to create truly valuable relationships with the people that are around me in my inner circle and those I engage with,” he said. “That takes a lot of work, and there’s a lot attached to actually practicing it.”
Kim Douglass
Grace Under Pressure
Today, Kim Douglass is the Acting Director of Consulting at CI International, where she partners with leaders and organizations to develop human capital strategies: resolving workforce challenges, promoting organizational efficacy, and building wise succession plans. But when this New Jersey native began her journey at Villanova University, she was a marketing major with no thoughts of becoming a consultant. “I studied marketing because I was deeply interested in human motivation and behavior,” Kim explained.
Kim is known for her grace under pressure, which she credits to having many years of managing high-stress situations. Her professional path began as Director of Special Events for the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, the nation’s oldest natural history museum. Experience in fundraising and event planning taught her to navigate one complex challenge after another, leading her into campaign and convention event management.
A Move to the White House
Kim’s time in event management opened a new door: into the White House. In 2001, she moved to Washington, D.C. to become Deputy Director for White House Management. The role was fundamentally operations-focused: from contracts and billing to meeting every logistics need for fellow White House offices. Kim believed her calm, centered leadership style would serve her well in juggling operational demands, and the opportunity to serve was compelling. One week into her new role brought the terrorist attacks of September 11. “That experience completely colored my entire time in the White House, and beyond,” Kim said. “It was always about public service, but that day, public service became a part of me. I felt I had a part to play; a chance to support what really mattered.”