Category: Past Speakers

Chresal D. Threadgill is a native of Mobile, AL, and is a graduate of John L. LeFlore High School. Chresal attended Alabama State University where he received a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership. He began his educational journey at Greenville Middle School in Butler County where he served as a middle school P.E. Teacher/Coach. After only two years, the administration took note of Mr. Threadgill’s excellent leadership ability and he was encouraged to become a part of the administrative team at Greenville Middle School. After only two years of teaching, Chresal became the Vice-Principal. Mr. Threadgill later relocated to Troy Alabama, where he worked as Assistant Principal of Charles Henderson Middle School and later became the Principal. After his work was completed at the building level, Mr. Threadgill then moved to the district office to serve as Assistant Superintendent. As the Assistant Superintendent of Troy City Schools, his responsibilities included being Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Director of Special Education, and Director of Federal Programs, as well as additional supervisory responsibilities. Chresal’s tenure as Assistant Superintendent prepared him for his next appointment as Superintendent of Elba City Schools. Mr. Threadgill served as the leader of Elba City Schools for five years and during his leadership, the system was able to grow to heights some viewed as impossible. Recently, Mr. Threadgill returned home as the Chief of Staff for Mobile County Public Schools where he worked in close conjunction with the Superintendent in overseeing 7,500 employees and approximately 55,000 students. Currently, Mr. Threadgill serves as the Superintendent of Mobile County Public Schools, which is the largest and oldest school system in the State of Alabama.
Throughout many of Mr. Threadgill’s leadership positions, he has received numerous accolades and recognitions for his dedication and commitment in the field of education. Mr. Threadgill was recently selected as the sole representative from the State of Alabama to participate in the Texas Superintendent’s Academy, at Lamar University. In addition, he served as the District III President in the Alabama School Superintendents Association. While serving as the District III representative Chresal was named Superintendent of the Year for District III. Chresal was also appointed as the Chairman of the Advisory Council for the College of Education at Troy University. His most recent accolade includes being featured in The School Superintendents Association (AASA) publication based on his proven record of leadership within the field of education.
Throughout his journey, Mr. Threadgill’s priority has remained with his ultimate support system; his family. Chresal is married to LaTanya Threadgill, and together they have three beautiful children, Sydni, Alex and Coleman.
Mr. Chresal D. Threadgill has a passion for doing what is best for ALL children and this philosophy is deeply engrained in the work he does each day to serve the students of Alabama.

Jeff Tapley is a Senior Project Manager with Hargrove Engineers + Constructors. He grew up in Mobile and graduated from John S. Shaw High school, then went on to earn bachelor’s degrees in Chemistry and in Chemical Engineering from the University of South Alabama. Jeff has been with Hargrove for 15 years. Prior to joining Hargrove, he worked in the chemical manufacturing sector for 24 years on both domestic and international assignments. Jeff also served in United States Navy in the Engineering Duty community and is the President of the Board of Directors for harGIVES, Hargrove’s volunteer organization. Jeff and his wife Susie have been married for 35 years, and together they have two children, Jeremy and Mallory. Jeff is licensed as a Professional Engineer in Alabama, Louisiana and the US Virgin Islands.

Lt Col Dave Glassman, USMC (Ret.), is a graduate of the State University of New York and commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 1988. He served in a variety assignments as a Naval Aviator, to include unit deployments to Okinawa, Japan; the Mediterranean Sea, and combat support operations in the Kosovo Area of Operations. He retired for Active Duty in February, 2010, and served as Director of Operations for the Center for Strategic Military Excellence (Pensacola, FL) to provide leadership and programmatic development designed to address gaps in veteran services provided by the Veterans Administration. In 2013 he Co-Founded DigiPro Media, LLC and he continues to serve the community by developing digital networks that serve small business and non-profit organizations.
Since 2009 he has served as Vice President for America’s Heroes Enjoying Recreation Outdoors (AHERO: AHEROusa.org), a non-profit organization that strives to reduce military and veteran suicide. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Veterans Memorial Park Foundation of Pensacola, a non-profit organization that is charged with the custodial care of the Park and its memorials to the men and women who have sacrificed their lives in the defense of this great nation.

“Establishing a New Catholic High School in Baldwin County.”
St. Michael Catholic High School opened in 2016 with 99 freshman and sophomores, and has added a class each year. Now a 9-12 school with 323 students, it offers students classes at the “Collegiate Studies” and “Honors/A.P.” level. Students earn 32 credits for graduation, with four years of History, Theology, Science, Math and English and a minimum of 2 years of foreign language and the Arts. The school hosts 11 varsity athletic programs competing at the 3A level, a 70-member Band program, a 150-member choral program, a Scholar’s Bowl team, a Model U.N. team, and a foreign language program that earned 56 medals on national language exams in 2019.
This is the story of St. Michael’s origins and its future plans, as told by its founding principal, Faustin Weber.
31 years as Principal, President or Headmaster of three Catholic high schools, married to Diane Weber for 33 years, with four kids and five grandchildren. Undergrad and graduate degrees from University of Notre Dame, worships at Christ the King in Daphne.

As President and lead consultant at The Net Effect, Glenda R. Snodgrass is primarily engaged in cyber security training, threat analysis and mitigation for commercial, non­profit and governmental organizations. A frequent contributor to multiple online publications, she also provides expert witness testimony in technology ­related court cases.
Currently President of Gulf Coast Industrial Security Awareness Council, Vice Chair of Mobile Chapter 117 of the American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS International), member of the steering committee for Gulf Coast Technology Council, and serving on the Board of Directors of the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce, Ms.
Snodgrass is also an active member of InfraGard and recently graduated from the FBI Citizens’ Academy. She holds a B.A. from the University of South Alabama (1986) and a maîtrise from Université de Paris I ­ Panthéon­Sorbonne in Paris, France (1989).

Scott Speck joined the Mobile Symphony in 2000 as its first full-time music director and is now in his 19th season. Under his leadership, the orchestra has grown to become one of the central Gulf Coast’s most outstanding performing arts organizations.
A masterful conductor with a wide-ranging knowledge of repertoire, deep experience in programming, and a terrific sense of what will engage audiences – old and new. His gala performances with Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell and most recently with Renee Fleming are highlights of his years as music director of the MSO. This season’s exciting lineup of concerts further illustrates the depth and breadth of his knowledge and experience.
Speck also holds positions as Music Director of the Joffrey Ballet, Chicago Philharmonic and West Michigan Symphony. He is co-author of the world’s best-selling books on classical music for a popular audience: Classical Music for Dummies, Opera for Dummies and Ballet for Dummies. He has been a regular commentator on National Public Radio, the BBC, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Voice of Russia, broadcast throughout the world.
Born in Boston, Scott Speck graduated summa cum laude from Yale University. He was a Fulbright Scholar in Berlin, where he founded Concerto Grosso Berlin, an orchestra dedicated to the performances of Baroque and Classical music in a historically informed style. He received his Master’s Degree with highest honors from the University of Southern California, served as a Conducting Fellow at the Aspen School of Music, and studied at the Tanglewood Music Center. He is fluent in English, German and French, has a diploma in Italian, speaks Spanish and has a reading knowledge of Russian.