Bob Buford is chairman of the board of The Buford Foundation/Leadership Network and, until the sale of his company in July 1999, served as chairman of the board and CEO of Buford Television, Inc., a family-owned business that started with a single ABC affiliate in Tyler, Texas, in the early fifties, and grew to a network of cable systems across the country. A classic entrepreneur, Bob has authored four books—Halftime, Game Plan, Stuck in Halftime (Zondervan), and Finishing Well (Integrity). Bob was the founder and initial chairman of the board of the Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management, now Leader to Leader Institute. He and his wife Linda make their home in Dallas, Texas. bob.buford@leadnet.org

Jay Bennett is the managing partner of a Minneapolis law firm through which he has developed other business interests. For 24 years he has run The Wallestad Foundation, a private foundation supporting Christian ministry.   He is also the founder and Chairman/ CEO of The Kingdom Oil Christian Foundation, a Christian community foundation serving the Twin Cities. He has been married to his wife, Sally, for 36 years, and they have three grown sons.

Dr. Marjorie Blanchard, known as "Margie," has earned a reputation worldwide as a compelling motivational speaker, an accomplished management consultant and trainer, a best-selling author, and an entrepreneur.

In 1983 she was chosen Speaker of the Year by New Woman Magazine and American Express. Margie was the co-recipient, along with her husband, Dr. Ken Blanchard, of the 1991 Entrepreneur of the Year Award from Cornell University. She is co-author of The One Minute Manager Gets Fit and Working Well: Managing for Health and High Performance. Margie is well-versed on a variety of topics and often speaks on leadership, empowerment, team building, customer service, managing change, and life planning.

As cofounder of The Ken Blanchard Companies, Margie works with her husband to develop their organization into one of the premier management consulting and training companies in the world. She heads up the Office of the Future, the research and development arena of The Ken Blanchard Companies.

Margie received her bachelor's and master's degrees from Cornell University and her doctorate from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Barry E. Davis is president and chief executive officer of the Crosstex Energy companies, Crosstex Energy, Inc. (XTXI) and Crosstex Energy L.P. (XTEX). Barry led the founding of Crosstex in 1996 by accomplishing a management buyout of his previous company, Comstock Natural Gas, Inc. Under Barry's leadership, Crosstex has grown to be a significant midstream service provider with throughput of more than one billion cf/day of natural gas. Barry has more than 20 years of experience in the natural gas industry. In 1992, he founded Ventana Natural Gas Company, a predecessor of Crosstex. Prior to Ventana, he served as vice president of marketing and project development for Endevco, Inc. and worked in the marketing group at Enserch Exploration. He currently serves on the board of the Dallas Hardhatter Association, Dallas Petroleum Club and is on the board of trustees for the Kidlinks Foundation. Barry is a member and former president of the Natural Gas & Electric Power Society and he is also a member of the Natural Gas Society of East Texas and the Young Presidents' Organization.

He earned his bachelor of business administration degree in finance from Texas Christian University.

During his business career, Dale Dawson (a University of Texas graduate) has been a CPA, an investment banker and an entrepreneur. He was a partner and National Director at the global accounting firm, KPMG; head of investment banking at Stephens Inc (twice); and Chairman/CEO of TruckPro, the largest US distributor of heavy-duty truck parts, which he sold to AutoZone in 1998.

Dale chairs the President’s Council of Opportunity International and serves on the board of the Opportunity Bank of Rwanda. Dale also serves on the boards of Leadership Network and Mustard Seed Project, a US nonprofit that supports the ministries of Bishop John Rucyahana, including the Sonrise School, a top academic boarding school in Rwanda where the majority of students are orphans.

Dale, Judi and their children, Katherine (17) and Jack (15) live in Little Rock, AR. They are active members of Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church, where Dale serves as an adult Sunday school teacher.

John Findley spent the last 21 years of his working career at Findley Adhesives, Inc. where his last position was Chairman, President, and CEO, prior to the sale of the business in January of 1996. Two Christian foundations were established with the funds from the sale of the business. The first, Pastors Retreat Network, supports a group of pastors' retreat centers and helps strengthen and provide re-connecting rest for Christian pastors and their wives. The second foundation, Vine and Branches Foundation, Inc., was established for the purpose of helping people affect change in their own lives and the lives of others. The foundation accomplishes this goal by making grants to not-for-profit Christian organizations that focus on healthy marriages, child and teen evangelism and pastoral care. Findley resides in Bonita Springs, Florida.

Deborah Harris has a long history of civic involvement and leadership in her hometown of Charlotte and the state of North Carolina, and now serves on national Boards that perform work internationally. Her work has earned her the title “Charlotte Woman of the Year” in 1987 and she recently completed a two year term as President of that organization. She also serves on the Boards of World Vision U.S., Charlotte Women of Vision, Fistula Foundation, which supports childbirth injuries at the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and the Arnold Palmer Hospital National Advisory Board. She teaches “Becoming A Woman Of Purpose.” She is an Elder and active member at her home church, Myers Park Presbyterian Church.

She developed and edited the “ I’m Special” educational material, a third or fourth grade primary prevention program whose goals are to promote self-worth, healthy living skills and effective group cooperation. It is now used in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System and in school systems in 38 states. It is being published and marketed nationally through Substance Abuse Prevention Services. It was granted the Outstanding Program award by the Addiction Professionals of North
Carolina in 1990.

She received her Bachelors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, invited to and attends Harvard Divinity School’s Women’s Studies in Religion Program National Leadership Conference and Directors Council, attended Gordon Cornwell Theological Seminary, and The Wharton School, in addition to other graduate courses at both the Universities of North Carolina at Charlotte and Chapel Hill.

She currently resides in Charlotte, NC with her husband and is the parent of three grown children and a baby granddaughter.

Wallace (Wally) Hawley is a co-founder of InterWest Partners (1979), one of the larger venture capital partnerships in the United States formed to make equity investments in diversified U.S. growth companies which range in size from seed-stage to later-stage investments. Mr. Hawley’s prior experience includes McKinsey & Co; President of SVH North American Holding Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Netherlands corporation, and InterWest Partners.

He has a long track record of profit and non-profit board activity. Currently he is an advisory Board Member of five organizations. He is also a National Trustee of Young Life, Chairman Emeritus of the Advisory Board of Stanford Institute of Economic Policy Research, and Founder of the Faith Works Silicon Valley among other current and past organizations.

Mr. Hawley has a B.A. from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from Harvard University. He lives with his wife of 44 years in Atherton, CA and they have two daughters and three grandchildren.

Between the years of 1969 and 1979, Terry Knutson, along with his father, grew their bakery business into a modern retail bakery and added two other businesses – a china, glass and housewares store and a ladies dress store and bridal salon. In 1980, Terry bought out his father’s half of the business and expanded into Lodi, Sacramento, Modesto, Stockton and Sonora, California. By 2005, Cottage Bakery was the largest single bakery plant in the western United States serving customers in all states as well as Canada, Japan, Korea, New Zealand and Singapore.

As a result of his Halftime journey, Terry sold the company in 2006. His mission in life is to bring his drive, resources, and leadership skills alongside a few effective organizations, learning together to more effectively reach people for Christ.

Terry and his wife Rose live in Lodi, have two married sons and have been blessed with 5 wonderful grandchildren.

Dr. Robert M. Lewis is Pastor-at-Large for Fellowship Bible Church, Executive Director of Global Reach, a research and resource organization, and founder of Men’s Fraternity, a worldwide ministry that today helps thousands of men embrace a Christ centered, authentic manhood.

Robert graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1971 where he played linebacker for the then nationally ranked Razorbacks. He went on to earn advanced degrees in Theology from LaMiranda, California. For 23 years he served as the Direction Leader of Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Robert has authored numerous books and films and has been featured on radio programs such as Family Life Today and Focus on the Family, and in a number of magazines such as Leadership Journal, New Man, and Stand Firm. In 2001, Robert was awarded Pastor ofthe Year by the National Coalition of Men’s Ministry headed by Patrick Morley.

Married since 1971, Robert and his wife Sherard reside in Little Rock, Arkansas and have four grown children; Elizabeth, Rebekah, Garrett and Mason.

Howard Manning founded Parkway Bank, NA in 1999 and served as its first President, CEO and Director. Parkway Bank, a Plano, Texas, based privately owned community banking organization, is the culmination of Howard's 34 years of commercial and mortgage banking industry experiences. Howard has held a variety of senior and executive level positions with Citicorp USA, New York, New York, predecessor banks to Bank of America, Charlotte, North Carolina, and community banks in Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and Texas.

Howard was first introduced to Leadership Network through Bob Buford's book Half Time, participation in Camp Improv in 2003, a Halftime summit in Sarasota, Florida, and fundraising and development strategy planning for LN in 2004. Howard has been a member of the Board of Leadership Network since 2005.

In his “Second Half”, Howard is currently involved in providing consulting services -to non-profit entities in the areas of affinity royalty revenue generation, bank services and financial management.

Howard is a former board member of several church and elementary school boards with primary involvement in fundraising and development activities. He was also a board member of Aquinas Investment Advisors, Inc., a registered investment advisory service to The Aquinas Funds, a family of no-load mutual funds that promote Catholic and Christian family values in its policy of socially responsible investing. Howard and his wife, Mary, have three adult children.

Over the past five years Jane Nelson has collaborated with numerous organizations responding to the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa. Her work has taken her to Congo, South Africa, Zambia, Rwanda, Malawi, Uganda and Ethiopia. Organizations she has partnered with are World Vision, Hope International, World Help, Africa Ministries Network, Opportunity International, Bridge 2 Rwanda, Pura Vida Partners and Stanford University Institute of Design.

Jane has extensive experience in finance and marketing. Having worked with a major financial institution during the period of banking deregulation, she gained first hand experience in managing businesses during periods of rapid change. Jane has served at her church as Treasurer, Elder and Campaign Chair for a $20mm capital funds campaign for land acquisition. Jane also serves on the board of Pura Vida Partners.

Jane graduated from San Diego State University with a BS in Marketing. She lives in Newport Beach, California with her husband, Peter, whom she has been married to for 35 years. Together they are experiencing halftime as their children, Beth and Eric, are growing up and venturing into the world.

Steve Reinemund retired as Chairman of the Board of PepsiCo in May, 2007 and as Chief Executive Officer in October, 2006. Steve, a 23-year PepsiCo veteran, led the corporation as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from 2001 to 2006.  Over the years, Steve  has  served as PepsiCo’s President and Chief Operating Officer, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Frito-Lay’s worldwide operations, and he led the company’s North American snack division. Steve started his career with PepsiCo in 1984 at the Pizza Hut division (now part of YUM! Restaurants), serving as Chief Executive Officer from 1986 until 1992.

He is a member of the board of directors of American Express, Exxon, Johnson & Johnson and Marriott.

His current community service includes serving as chairman of the National Minority Supplier Development Council and a trustee on the United States Naval Academy Foundation. Previous community service includes The Salvation Army (1990 to 1999), where he served as chairman of the National Advisory Board (1996 to 1999); and The National Council of La Raza (1992-2001), where he was chairman of its Corporate Board of Advisors (1992-1996).

Steve received a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Virginia (1978). He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy (1970), and served five years as an officer in the United States Marine Corps. Steve and his wife, Gail, have been married for over 30 years and have four children.

John Snyder founded Snyder Oil Corporation in 1977 and served as chairman and CEO until its merger in 1999 to form Santa Fe Snyder Corporation. He served as Chairman of Santa Fe Snyder until its merger in 2000 with Devon Energy Corporation and his retirement from the company. From Humble Oil to independent oil operator to owning his own company, John knows the energy business. John received his BS in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Oklahoma and his MBA from Harvard.

Tom L. Wilson President/CEO Leadership Network and The Buford Foundation, joined our team in July 2001. He brings to this role over 30 years of experience as a senior executive with Young Life, an international Christian-based organization dedicated to providing leadership and spiritual tools to young adults. Tom has a life-long commitment to build and nurture Christian leaders. That passion now translates into Leadership Network's mission of "Connecting Innovators to Multiply," and moving from “Success to Significance," a phrase coined by Bob Buford in his first book, Halftime. "We are living in a vibrant moment in time where the Church is being called to meet the needs of the entire community. What a great calling to help shape this roadmap for Christian leaders as they seek significance in their ministry, both inside and outside the church walls." Tom also serves on the boards of Journey Resources and The Pastor's Retreat Network and is a gifted speaker and teacher.

Tom and his wife, Linda, who is a Marriage and Family therapist, were married in 1967. They have lived in Fort Worth since 1974, have three adult children and five grandchildren. They each own a Harley and spend much of their free time enjoying the view from a bike.