CODA Partners Biographies

CODA Partners, Inc. is a consulting and professional development practice founded by two principal partners, Kathryn Davanzo and James Sartain, who have collaborated together for over twenty years in providing leadership and organizational development solutions for a wide range of corporations, industries, and clients. CODA leverages their experience in employing a wide range of adult learning strategies, understanding of cutting edge leadership concepts and techniques, and knowledge of best practices to create customized and highly interactive solution for your leadership, team and organizational needs.

CODA (ko-da) n. 1. A section added at the end of a movement to round it off; 2. Something that serves to round out, conclude, or summarize yet has its own interest; 3. A symbol indicating advancement in a work.

Kathryn W. Davanzo, SPHR

Kathryn (Kathy) Davanzo is a nationally known speaker and trainer with over thirty years of public speaking, training, human resource management and leadership experiences having worked in university, corporate and nonprofit environments and having served a broad spectrum of clients. 

Kathy holds a bachelor’s degree in English and Communications Education from Miami University and a master’s degree in Education from the University of Miami.  Kathy is also the President of Pelorus Leadership Group, Inc. that focuses on workforce readiness issues from the employer perspective. She has a special interest in the role generational experiences and demographics play in the way organizations do, and should, operate, work and lead. (Pelorus Leadership Group Website).

Kathy is an avid sailor, and when not sailing, she resides in Gulfport, Florida with her husband, Charlie

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James P. Sartain

James (Jim) Sartain is a national speaker, trainer, and writer with over twenty-five years of leadership experience with a background in program design, research and evaluation, technical writing, and organizational development.

Jim holds a bachelor's degree in Psychology from Bowling Green State University and an MBA from Nova Southeastern University. He has provided workshops and presentations at the local, state and national levels on a variety of topics including strategic thinking and problem-solving, effective communications, and developing high performance teams. Jim is also the President of JSA, Inc., a technical writing, research & evaluation firm located in the Tampa Bay area. Jim has served for several years at the executive leadership level of a variety of not-for-profit, for-profit and faith-based organizations. (JSA Website)

Jim lives in Dade City Florida with his wife, Lynda, and daughter, Katy, where he spends as much time as he can writing, traveling and serving in his local church.

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Elizabeth Stepp

Elizabeth (Liz) Stepp. provides comprehensive assessments to agencies, organizations, and service providers concerning leadership and staff development. She designs and develops curricula and supplemental training materials encompassing an array of learning deliverables. She facilitates training modules to targeted groups and populations and provides leadership/executive coaching.

Liz holds a Master’s Degree in Education from Clemson University and a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Michigan State University. She is co-owner of Stepp by Stepp Consulting and is a faculty member of the University of Phoenix, teaching courses in Psychology and Behavioral Science.

Liz lives in Tampa, Florida with her husband, Brian, and her two children, Noah and Emmy.

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