President of WAGET

Jeff Smoller is a retired Wisconsin state government senior career executive.  He took on traditional and non-traditional tasks in governors’ offices, agencies and the University of Wisconsin.  His base was the Department of Natural Resources where he was a trends analyst, policy innovator, communicator and risk manager.  Public service entrepreneurship focused on economic growth, higher education, governance, citizenship, policy innovation, structural reform and international relationships.  His state service supported the Departments of Administration; Health and Social Services; Commerce; Workforce Development; Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection; Revenue and UW.  He worked with businesses, other states, other nations, think tanks, universities and the federal government’s executive and legislative branches.  He directed two state study commissions for two governors.  He was a leader in a multi-sector, multi-state and multi-national network of environmental policy innovators.

Vice President of WAGET Global Education

Christine has over three decades of experience at higher education institutions in the fields of international education.  She has rich experience in Sino-US exchange and study abroad programs, as well as overseas campus operations in the Asia Pacific region. She is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.  Christine has hosted and assisted many global educational and cultural events in Wisconsin.  Christine has  lived in Wisconsin since 1986, originally from Taiwan.

President of Guidant Business Solutions, LLC. Director of WAGET

Gary is founder of Guident Business Solution LLC. His business management consulting is in the areas of Company Culture, Operations/Management, Human Resources, Marketing Strategies, Financial Management, and Strategic Planning. Gary is excellent in business strategies, analyzing financials, and QuickBooks processing. Currently he teaches Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Lawrence University, also various business courses at Concordia University Wisconsin. Gary is active as Board of Advisor member in many organizations: College of Business and Legal Studies, Concordia University of Wisconsin; Self Employment in the Arts (SEA) Organization; Fox Wisconsin Heritage Parkway (FWHP) Organization.

Director of Outreach Education of WAGET

Michael Dietz served as a school administrator for 27 years, and he began his career as a high school teacher in Chicago, Illinois. He served as an administrator of a grades 7-12 school in rural Wisconsin, and later as principal of a middle school in a suburban district near Milwaukee. Recognition includes the following: Wisconsin State Principal of the Year in 1991-91; Publications Award, Wisconsin Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1993; Board of Directors and Executive Council - National Middle School Association, 1999-2007; National Association of Secondary School Principals, Distinguished Dissertation of the Year, 1994. Dietz has a strong interest in international programs. He established an exchange program with a community in Japan, and has worked with colleagues to establish partnerships with universities in China, Taiwan and Japan. He conducted original research in the area of Japanese- American diplomacy, and has a strong interest in U.S.-Asia relations and partnerships.

Director of WAGET Education Development and Business Operation

Since 2016 Linda has been working with WAGET in several capacities and on many of their projects.  Linda is an ESL instructor for WAGET Japanese and Chinese programs.  She has been teaching English language skills for five years.  In College, Ms. Wolk majored in International Business and studied intercultural communication.  Her goal was to study cultures and prevent cultural misunderstandings and miscommunications.  Together with her International Business focus, she strived to develop and understand cross-cultural strategies in today’s global world.  Linda understands the difficulty of language immersion.  In 2009, she attended Peking University for Chinese Language Immersion for a semester.  She also studied abroad in Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil as well as interned a summer at a law firm in Asuncion, Paraguay.  As a master’s degree student, Linda assisted planning several Paraguayan Economic Forum’s and was a teaching assistant for international business. 

Director of WAGET Japanese Education Development

Chie Kakigi is an Interpreter and planning coordinator for this visit. Originally from Japan, she has been in Wisconsin since 1996. Chie earned a Bachelor of Arts in Japanese Language and Literature with Teaching Japanese as a Foreign Language minor from Chikushi Jogakuen University, Japan, in 1996, and her Master of Science in Education with an emphasis in Curriculum and Instruction degree from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh in 2001. In addition, Chie has English as a Second Language License from the state of Wisconsin. She has 13 years of teaching experience at both the college and high school levels (UW Oshkosh and Menasha High School). During her teaching career, she has organized multiple international exchange programs and cultural events as well as advising and giving support to students.

Advisor to WAGET

Michael Kelly is Executive Vice President of Blue Ribbon Management, LLC. In this role he directs Blue Ribbon’s US operation, including all real estate development and capital financing. To date, Michael has led development and financing projects totaling more than $275 million. Prior to joining Blue Ribbon, Michael worked as a Senior Advancement Officer at Marquette University for more than six years. Although he is not in the education industry anymore, Michael still has his passion for bringing better learning experience to the students from all over the world. Michael holds a Juris Doctorate from Marquette University, and Bachelor of Science in real estate and finance from Marquette University. Michael is licensed to practice law in Wisconsin.