Meet Our Success Coaches
Leader of Lifelong Learning
William Summey brings over thirty years of experience to his role at Aspire to Give® Academy, where he leads lifelong learning and serves as a Success & Legacy Coach. His career spans two decades of teaching at middle school and college levels and twenty-one years in educational publishing, where he developed skills in making education relevant and practical .
He holds a B.A. in History and Social Studies Teaching Certification from Furman University, a Master of Divinity from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. in Religion & Personality from Vanderbilt University. William has also spent twenty years teaching at the Belmont University School of Theology and Christian Ministry.
Outside of work, William is dedicated to his family, enjoys sports, reading, and contributes to his community by teaching Sunday School and serving as a Deacon at his church.
His work with Aspire to Give® Academy is driven by his passion for lifespan development and helping others create lasting legacies. William sums up his role at the Academy simply, "I'm here to help people at life's crossroads, using my belief in the importance of legacy. Coaching is more than guidance; it’s about empowering people to reach their highest potential and make a significant impact."
Leader of Success Coaching
Valerie Doebler, with over three decades in public school education, leads the Academy’s Success Coaching. With a background ranging from classroom teaching to Assistant Director of Exceptional Education, Valerie brings rich experience guiding both students and adults through educational challenges.
Valerie holds a B.S. in Special Education from James Madison University and a Master’s in Public School Administration and Supervision from Virginia Commonwealth University. Additionally, she is certified as a Mentor for Education for Ministry (EFM) from Sewanee, The University of the South, and as a Master Gardener from the Virginia Tech Extension Program.
Beyond her professional accolades, Valerie is a dedicated mother and grandmother, splitting her time between Virginia and Maine. Her passions include gardening, spiritual exploration, and giving back to her community.
Her connection to the Academy is deeply personal. As she says, “I didn’t get through these transitions on my own, there were many helpers along the way. Each provided support, guidance, and love. I want, I can, and I am called to give back. What better way to do that than through Aspire to Give® Academy.”
Leader of Military & Veteran Services
Charles Livings, a seasoned professional with over four decades of experience in communication and professional development training, leads the Academy’s Military & Veteran Services. With expertise in guiding individuals through professional development challenges in academic and corporate environments, Charles has fostered opportunities for personal growth for workforce development.
Holding a B.A. in Speech from Auburn University Montgomery (AUM) and a Master of Arts in Communication from The University of Alabama, Charles is a certified Resiliency Building Leadership Professional Trainer. He was honored as AUM’s Outstanding Adjunct Instructor in 2019 and has been inducted into prestigious orders such as the Order of Saint John Baptist de la Salle and the Order of Saint Maurice – Civis for his contributions to leadership training and service to transitioning military service members. Charles finds purpose in giving back to those around him.
His commitment to Aspire to Give ® Academy is rooted in his personal journey and two decades of supporting service members in transition. Charles believes that "Transition is a team sport," emphasizing the importance of paying forward the support he received to empower others in reaching their goals.
Our Purpose
Aspire to Give® Academy empowers adults to make wise choices at life's crossroads, enabling them to build their best lives and foster a better tomorrow.
Documents
Cohort (Group) Learning
(8-15 Learners)
Community Learning Groups
Peer learners, united by a common life transition, learn and support each other through shared experiences, empathetic engagement, and collective problem-solving. Community groups include veterans, young adults, recovering singles, and other common interest groups.
Lesson Exercises
Every course lesson includes a learning activity tailored to spark questions, foster reflection, and stimulate personal growth.
Success Coaches
Each cohort (group) of 8-15 learners is guided by an experienced, highly qualified Success Coach who serves as a mentor and resource. The Success Coach meets virtually with the group multiple times to enhance learning, guide learners, and answer learner questions.
Veterans Transition Empowerment Program (V-TEP)
The V-TEP program of two bundled courses empowers veterans to chart their own unique path as they transition to civilian life. Join a supportive cohort led by an experienced coach, where veterans learn, share, and navigate the road to successful transition.
Four Pillars of Learning
The Academy's state-of-the-art inquiry-based, transformative curriculum is based on four pillars of learning:
1. Personal - tailored to your situation.
2. Positive - uplifting & appreciative.
3. Probing - questions spark learning.
4. Practical - applicable to real-life.
Five Beliefs
1. Appreciate individuality
2. Give sincerely
3. Practice reciprocal generosity
4. Live with purpose
5. Choose wisely at life's junctures
Coming Soon
Course #3
The Art & Science of Financial Generosity
Engage both your loving heart and your thinking head as you learn to give genorously to loved ones and special causes. You will learn over a dozen strategic tools and strategies to give wisely to create a lasting legacy of signficance and impact.
Coming Soon
Course #4
Compose a
Legacy of Love
Compose a Legacy of Love invites you to construct an enduring testament of your life's journey, aspirations, and wishes, carefully framed in love, generosity, and consideration. In this course you compose and convey your legacies, align your resources, organize your estate affairs, and offer treasured guidance to loved ones to reduce stress, save money, and ease administrative hassle upon death.
Smart Goal Setting
Establishing specific, realistic, measurable goals in personal, family, career, and financial areas is crucial for navigating life transitions effectively. It creates clear guidelines for success during periods of change to craft your best life.
Coming Soon!
Digital Downloads
Each of the four courses of the series includes digital downloads of articles, research, references, and checklists that supplement the course video, workbook exercises, and cohort peer learning.
Crossword Puzzles
In addition to lesson exercises, each course includes 4 crossword puzzles as a fun way to learn the terminology. Being fluent in conversation with peers, coaches, mentors, and professional advisors is essential for successfully navigating life transitions.
Coming Soon!
Blog
Previous and new blog posts will enhance course and workbook content, equipping learners with extra references and resources on cutting-edge topics like the philanthropic frontier, effective financial generosity tools and strategies, and mastering life transitions throughout the lifespan.
Bundle #3
Legacy by Design
The Legacy by Design Program helps you give intentionally and generously to loved ones and special causes. Learn over a dozen financial giving strategies and how to avoid unintended consequences of financial generosity, evaluate nonprofit beneficiaries, and compose a legacy of love through letters capturing your aspirations, life-lessons, and values. Organize your personal affairs with this bundle, ideal for those with financial resources to share and in the sunset years of life. Legacy by Design is bundled courses #3 & #4.
Pivot to Purpose
Transition Program
Embark on a transformative journey with the two-course Pivot to Purpose Transition Program. Guided by a seasoned coach, adults navigating life transitions develop self-awareness, leadership, and renewed purpose and gain vital life skills to master life transitions.
Coming Soon
Course #1
Pivot Points: Mastering Life's Transitions
Pivot Points: Mastering Life's Transitions is an engaging, interactive course designed for adults at critical life crossroads. It offers ten comprehensive lessons and an insightful workbook, equipping learners with practical strategies and reflective exercises to gracefully understand their own life journey, navigate life's changes, and foster self-awareness and resilience for life's future crossroads.
Coming Soon
Course #2
Pathway to Purpose: Stories & Questions
for Clarity
Pathway to Purpose aligns your passions and strengths with your refreshed purpose and transition goals, offering workbook exercises, storytelling, and reflective questions for deep learning and decision-making. Learn seven practical thinking tools for clear, confident choices. Includes references for further reading. This courses is the second course of the V-TEP and Pivot to Purpose Transition Bundle.
7 Thinking Tools
In the Pathway to Purpose course, learners will enhance their decision-making skills with seven easy-to-use critical thinking tools. These tools will empower individuals to make more well-informed choices, allowing them to navigate life's challenges with greater confidence, comfort, and clarity.
Contact Us
Success Coaching
Our Success Coaches nurture and mentor a cohort of 8-15 learners, providing vital guidance, support, and resources. Through periodic virtual meetings and email support, they cultivate essential life skills, ensuring every learner feels empowered and connected.
Meet Our Coaches
Highly trained and experienced coaches will lead the various life transition cohort groups, including military veterans transitioning to civilian life. Coaching profiles will be available on the Academy's website.
Seek, Ask, Give, & Do
We embrace an educational philosophy anchored in Reciprocal Benevolence, where learning flourishes as a natural outcome of mutual kindness and support:
- Seek with an open heart, and you shall discover knowledge.
- Ask with caring curiosity, and wisdom will be imparted to you.
- Give generously, and in return, gain deeper insights.
- Do share the kindness, empathy, and respect you desire.
We nurture wisdom through caring questions, deliberate generosity, and thoughtful kindness.
Study Groups
Cohorts of 8-15 members from the same group are usually in the same class, promoting sharing and support among learners.
Pivot Points, Lesson 1
Learn the Lingo Answers
Crossroads of Life
During life, we encounter pivotal moments of choices, challenges, and changes that shape an unknown future. Examples include:
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Military veterans in transition -
Young adults (ages 18-25)
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Career changers & empty nesters
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Recovering singles (lost relationship) -
Restless spirits seeking more
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Retirees scouting for opportunities
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Those recovering from a setback
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Those at the sunset of life
Mutual Benevolence
Aligned with a shared purpose and guided by the principles of Reciprocal Benevolence, each contributing organization benefits both individually and collectively. This harmonious philosophy encourages mutual support, understanding, innovation, and growth for the greater good.
Strengths-based Resourcing
Srengths-based resourcing unites each organization's distinct strengths for the common purpose of maximizing the impact of life-skill education. Resourcing may include access to:
- Audiences with Life-skills
Educational Need - Expertise & Knowledge
- Financial Funding
- Additional Resources
- Policy Influence & Advocacy
- Best Practices
Essential Life Skills
In today's complex world, many adults lack the essential tools needed to build their best lives and foster a brighter future. While formal education provides academic and vocational training, there is a void in the teaching of essential life skills. To bridge this gap and build successful lives, adults need life skills education in:
- Self-leadership
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Emotional Intelligence
- Time Management
- Interpersonal Social Skills
- Critical Thinking
- Adaptability & Resiliency
A: It had too many problems!
But then it learned that every problem has a solution!
Pivot Point
Self Leadership
Self-leadership is guiding oneself effectively, honing and enhancing life skills for personal growth and success.
Active Listening
Active listening entails spending approximately 70% of the conversation focusing on comprehending, absorbing non-verbal signals, and truly understanding the speaker, with 30% dedicated to responding and interacting.
Generous Conversation
Generous conversation" involves genuine interest and appreciation for the other party, engaging through open-ended questions and practicing active listening 70% of the time.
Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize, understand, and manage one's own emotions, and to empathize with and influence the emotions of others.
Conversational Setting
A conversational setting is the intentional planning of dialogue with consideration to topic, location, timing, duration, and methods, which are crucial for achieving the conversation's objectives.
Appreciative Inquiry
Appreciative Inquiry is primarily used in organizational development, focusing on identifying and building on strengths within groups or organizations.
Socratic Method
The Socratic Method of inquiry involves asking a series of probing questions to challenge assumptions and stimulate critical thinking, leading to greater understanding or insight.
Generous Inquiry
In contrast to the organizational focus of Appreciative Inquiry, Generous Inquiry is more individual-focused, emphasizing empathetic, open-ended questioning, and active listening to foster personal understanding, enhance the relationship, and foster personal growth.
Self Leadership
Life's transitions provide opportunities for growth. Mastering self-leadership, emotional intelligence, and vital soft and life skills is crucial for managing challenges. Cultivating these qualities leads to a fulfilling life and positive relationships. True leadership starts with self-leadership, by looking inward, enhancing self-awareness, and committing to personal development. These practices help navigate transitions with purpose and resilience.
Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence involves the ability to recognize and manage your own emotions, as well as understand the feelings of others. By developing emotional intelligence, you can enhance your capacity to navigate through life's various transitions more effectively. This is achieved through enhanced communication skills, a reduction in stress levels, and the cultivation of resilience to adapt to challenges.
Self Awareness
Self-awareness is understanding your own emotions, strengths, weaknesses, and values. It helps you navigate life's pivot points by allowing you to make informed decisions based on personal insight, adapt to changes smoothly, and align your actions with your renewed purpose and life goals, ensuring you stay true to yourself during critical life transitions.
Prospective Success Coaches
Transition Roadmap
In the Pivot Points Course (C#1), learners are introduced to a proven 5-step transition roadmap to pursue their renewed purpose to the next chapter of their life and foster a better tomorrow.
Aspire to Give® Academy's
Three Unique Benefits
1. Self-Leadership: We nurture a self-leading positive mindset and embed life skills such as communication, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, resilience, and time management in the curriculum.
2. Success Coaching: Recognizing the essential roles of parents, teachers, mentors, and coaches, our core curriculum is delivered in groups (cohorts) led by skilled Success Coaches. This approach provides the vital guidance needed to build your best life.
3. Reciprocal Benevolence: Guided by universal wisdom and the innate human desire to give, we nurture a culture of intentional generosity in the curriculum that fosters meaningful relationships, enriches lives, and creates a brighter future.
The Aspire to Give® Academy's curriculum is most effective when people are actively engaged at the Pivot Points of their lives.
Reciprocal Benevolence
Seek, Ask, Give, & Do
Reciprocal Benevolence is anchored in the ageless, universal wisdom where purpose, meaning, and impact flourishes:
- Seek, and you shall find.
- Ask, and it will be given to you.
- Give, and you shall receive.
- Do onto others, as you would have them do onto you.
Guided by this wisdom and the embedded human desire to give, we nurture a culture of intentional generosity that builds better lives and fosters a better tomorrow.
Thriving Communities
Social Sharing for Societal Solutions™ fosters a thriving community by empowering adults experiencing life transitions to build their best lives and foster a brighter future. Specific benefits for the community include:
- Stronger Families
- Life Skilled Workforce
- Economic Development
- Reduced Inequalities
- Community Enrichment
- Healthier Community
Community Champions
Just as each player on a championship team has unique talents, organizations also have distinct strengths that empower adults to develop essential life skills to build a champion community.
Community Champions include:
- Foundations & nonprofits
- Businesses & Professionals
- Government Agencies
- Colleges & Universities
- Community Groups
Success Coaching
Success Coaching provides compassionate guidance to adults navigating life's transitions, empowering them to overcome challenges, adapt to change, and make wise choices. Throughout our lives, we face numerous crossroads, and coaching during these pivotal moments is vital for success. A success coach is essential for building better lives, fostering thriving communities, and creating a brighter tomorrow for all.
Transitioning Lives on Life's Journey
At the crossroads throughout life, we encounter challenges, choices, and changes as we pivot and transition to an unknown future . Examples of lives in transition include:
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Military veterans in transition
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Young adults (ages 18-25)
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Career changers & empty nesters
-
Recovering singles (lost relationship)
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Retirees looking for a more fulfilling life
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Life rebounders (poor choices, misfortune)
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Those seeking to leave a legacy of love.
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Restless spirits seeking more
