Jeffrey Cufaude is an architect of ideas, working to build communities of ideas and idealists through his writing, facilitation, consulting, and speaking. His work focuses on strategy think tanks; volunteer and staff development workshops and retreats; content design and facilitation of leadership conferences and learning experiences; and major keynote presentations. All of his efforts are custom-designed based on client-supplied learning objectives. Known for being engaging and for reflecting the core principles of adult learning, Cufaude frequently is asked to teach presentation design and facilitation skills.
Cufaude’s past experience as executive director of two national associations and as a student affairs staff member at two large public universities informs much of his work today. He graduated cum laude with a B.A. in English and an M.A. in Communication Theory from Northern Illinois University.
Professionally active, Cufaude has twice served on the Indiana Society of Association Executives Board of Directors (ISAE), and has been honored as the ISAE Meeting Planner of the Year. He also contributes in a variety of capacities with ASAE (American Society of Association Executives), most recently its Innovation Task Force for which he designed the global InnovationTalks campaign. He also designed and facilitated ASAE’s Future Leaders Conference, one of their flagship initiatives, from 1998-2007.
Cufaude regularly contributes feature articles on a variety of leadership and organizational development issues to national association publications. He recently concluded seven years of being a Contributing Columnist writing about enhancing community and learning in workshops and conferences for the Professional Convention Management Association’s (PCMA) Convene magazine. PCMA named him one of its 2006 Thought Leaders.
Cufaude resides in the heart of downtown Indianapolis. He has done his tour of the “I” states, living in Illinois, Iowa and Indiana… and is eagerly anticipating his retirement in Idaho … or maybe Ireland or Italy. In his free time he enjoys running, tennis, supporting Indy sports teams and arts organizations, and traveling in Europe.
Big Idea: “Life’s a Great Teacher. Are You a Great Student?”
Parents ask their kids “what did you learn at school today?” — but adults rarely stop and reflect on what they learn from life each day. Our world requires us to move beyond talking about lifelong learning to becoming intentional designers of our own individual curriculum for life. In a sense we are all home-schooled now and have to create our own individualized lesson plan for the classroom of life. What becomes possible?