Hosted by Valrie Grant, Amy Horner, and Kelly Burich, DBA Chronicles provides insights, thoughts, and exciting guest interviews designed to give you a well-rounded conversation for this exciting pursuit of education.

Dr. Amy C. Horner, CPA, is a change ambassador, innovation enthusiast, and international speaker
recognized for her thought leadership in embracing change, career growth, and professional
development. With a passion for helping leaders navigate complex challenges, she blends executive
experience with academic rigor to drive meaningful impact.

As a Professor of Practice and the Academic Director of the Executive DBA Program at the
University of Houston’s Bauer College of Business, Amy leverages her extensive C-suite background
to equip DBA scholars with the strategies and insights to successfully navigate their doctoral
journey. A sought-after keynote speaker, Amy is known for her engaging storytelling and for having
a positive, lasting impact on her audiences. She simplifies complex leadership challenges, making
them approachable, and provides attendees with actionable tools for success.

Before transitioning to academia, Amy served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer
for multiple organizations, leading them through transformative periods of innovation and growth.
Her strategic leadership resulted in diversified revenue streams, expanded service offerings,
stronger brand awareness, increased market share, a more engaged workforce, and improved
financial outcomes.

Amy’s own DBA journey was profoundly transformational. What began as a pursuit of advanced
scholarship while she was the Chief Operating Officer of an international professional services firm
based in the DC Metro area became a catalyst for reinvention. Now she stands as an alum and
leader in the international DBA community. She was honored to have been selected as the
Commencement Speaker for the 2025 hooding ceremony.

Amy is a Co-Founder and Chair of DBA Chronicles, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bridging
academia and industry through global community-building, storytelling, and dialogue. Her
influence has been recognized with Ignition’s Top 50 Women in Accounting Award and as a Top
Leadership Voice on LinkedIn.
In addition to her Doctorate in Business Administration from UNC Charlotte, Amy holds an MBA
from Penn State University and a Bachelor’s in Accounting from Indiana University of Pennsylvania,
where she was a student-athlete on the university’s first PSAC Championship Women’s Varsity
Soccer Team. She brings the same team-driven mindset, resilience, and strategic thinking from the
soccer field into her leadership philosophy today.

Research Interest:
Amy’s research explores the relationship between leadership team diversity characteristics and
strategic change and aims to determine the extent to which leadership diversity might impact the
likelihood of strategic change.

Valrie Grant is a serial entrepreneur and geospatial strategy and business development consultant. She is best known for her work in the geospatial community and for her company GeoTechVision, a knowledge services company she built into an internationally reliable and quality provider of a range of customized services and data-driven solutions for governments, NGOs and corporate entities. Valrie is a lifelong learner that is passionate about technology and entrepreneurship. She relishes every opportunity to mentor women entrepreneurs and young people.

Her latest initiative is EduTechAid which seeks to respond to the inequality of access to digital tools in education and empower youths. She has served on several national, regional and international boards and committees such as the World Geospatial Industry Council (WGIC), the United Nations Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM): Americas Private Sector Network and the VM Foundation. Valrie is a 2020 WE Empower UN Sustainability Development Goals Challenge Award recipient. Most recently she authored the book "Every Day is Day One: Maintaining the Startup Culture and Mindset."

She holds a Bachelor of Science in Geology from the University of West Indies, a Master of Science in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and the Environment from the Manchester Metropolitan University and an MBA from Florida Institute of Technology.

Valrie’s interest in entrepreneurship, leadership, organizational effectiveness, and diversity on boards is what sparked her interest in pursuing a Doctorate in Business Administration. Valrie’s research will focus on how to gain a competitive edge with organizational culture and how culture is central to and supports an organization’s strategy. Valrie's research will focus on Geospatial Information Systems as it pertains to Climate Change and the Blue Economy in Small Island Developing States.

Kelly began her career in sports marketing and business consultation services, which included marketing management, strategic planning and public relations planning. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations from the University of Central Oklahoma and her Master of Organizational Leadership from Saint Ambrose University.

Spending the last 20 years in the veterinary industry, Kelly has become an invested learner in marketing, management, leadership, and personal wellness associated with this industry. With her experiences, Kelly's love of education and learning have driven her research interest in emotional labor roles, resilience, burnout, and compassion fatigue. Comparable to other professions where care and empathy go hand-in-hand, stress, burnout, and compassion fatigue are prevalent in the veterinary industry and affect all members of the veterinary healthcare team. Kelly’s area of interest for her dissertation will review the benefits of teaching professional skill sets earlier in academia and throughout a graduate’s career to minimize burnout and compassion fatigue in the veterinary professions.

She has obtained professional designation as a Certified Veterinary Business Leader (CVBL) through NAVC, and earned her Certified Compassion Fatigue Professional (CCFP) designation in 2020. She is also the founder of "Sitch Consulting", her newest endeavor as a veterinary industry consultant.

In her personal life, Kelly believes "a good list is my best friend" and she lives by a moving set of goals. Goal one is to be the best mom to her kids Jack and Jayne, best dog mom to the four-legged kids, Kiki and Butch, and best supporter to her husband, Dan.

Jennifer Adelhardt is the chairperson for the DBA Chronicles Media and Communication Committee.

Jennifer is a seasoned leader with nearly two decades of experience in the financial services industry. As a senior director of experience product management at TIAA, Jen leads a team of product managers in the development of customer-centric, end-to-end solutions focused on creating cohesive, easy and delightful experiences for users. Her leadership style is defined by her “lead with kindness” and “assume positive intent” mantras, which have helped her build strong relationships with people at every level. Jen is committed to promoting diversity, equity and inclusion, and she was formally recognized with the 2020 TIAA Inclusive Leader of the Year award.

Would you like to be a guest blogger for DBA Chronicles? Share you story and ideas with Jennifer! Email Jen at: jadelhar@charlotte.edu.