Conference Co-Chairs
Paul Danczyk
ASPA Vice President Paul Danczyk is the director of executive education in Sacramento for the University of Southern California Sol Price School of Public Policy.
In his current capacity, Danczyk designs and presents in leadership and management programs—impacting national, state and local governmental and nonprofit organizations—teaches Master's-level classes, and is an executive coach. He cofounded and is the lead architect of
www.LeadershipEnergizes.com.
A returned Peace Corps Volunteer, Danczyk earned his Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh, focusing on public and international affairs; his Master's in public administration from the University of Southern California; and his BS from the Pennsylvania State University. He became a certified executive coach through the International Coaching Federation and was trained at the Hudson Institute for Coaching, and holds Harvard University’s Mediating Disputes certification.
He and his wife are raising two sons. Danczyk enjoys landscaping, creating sculptures, painting and bee keeping. He can be reached at
[email protected].
Tonya Neaves
Tonya Neaves is the interim director for the Centers on the Public Service with George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government. In this role, she maintains oversight of its day-to-day administrative operations as well as secures new research and development contracts and established a series of executive education programs. Other major activities include serving as a faculty member in the Masters of Public Administration program and coordinator for its Emergency Management and Homeland Security certificate. She also serves as the director of the Virginia Certified Public Manager® Program. Prior to joining Mason, Neaves was the director for the Mississippi Public Safety Data Laboratory at the Social Science Research Center of Mississippi State University, where she is still a research Fellow.
As a scholar, Neaves’ research portfolio has included securing contracts from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, National Highway Safety Transportation Administration, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Transportation Security Administration and Federal Emergency Management Agency. To date, her total research funding approximates $6 million. She has also published her efforts in the
Review of Policy Research,
Journal of Emergency Management,
Review of Public Personnel Management and the
American Journal of Public Health. She has also co-authored book chapters in
The Future of Disaster Management in the U.S.: Rethinking Legislation, Policy, and Finance, and
New Voices in the Old South: How Women and Minorities Influence Southern Politics. She was also an editor for the National Academy of Public Administration and ASPA’s Memos to National Leaders.
Neaves holds a Ph.D. in public policy and administration from Mississippi State, where she also earned her Master’s in public policy and administration. She has also participated in the University of Michigan's Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research Summer Program in Quantitative Methods of Social Research, Duke University’s Dynamic Management and Leadership Programs and Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Management and Innovation Program.
As an active ASPA member, Neaves recently served as the District II Representative to its National Council and was the conference coordinator for the Northeast Conference on Public Administration (NECoPA). She is also the treasurer for its Section on Emergency and Crisis Management. Neaves is also an associate editor for the
Journal of Urban Management and is a board member for Public Personnel Management.