Changepoint
Consulting & Training


Charlene & Jim receiving Professional
Persons of the Year Award.

What is Changepoint?

Changepoint Consulting uses a specific model, detailed in its... Leaders Playbook, to increase organizational effectiveness. Fundamentals include: Assessment, consultation, mediation, planning, and training. The group's major focus centers on collaboration and initiation or improvement of team approaches to operation. A primary belief is that a specific model can be developed to promote conscious implementation of elements that increase the probability of success. Typical dimensions of focus include:

Changepoint's clients have included: Public Schools, Hospitals, Banks, Counseling Agencies, Nursing Homes, Medical Practices, Private Businesses, Government Entities, Human Service Organizations, Police Departments, Training Groups, Private Unions, Churches, and Universities.

Who owns Changepoint?

Changepoint Consulting is owned by Drs. James and Charlene Akenhead. Charlene and Jim's combined experience in public and private sector organizations cover seventy years.

Jim Akenhead has five degrees including a Doctorate in Education from the University of Akron. In addition to his involvement as an organizational consultant for twenty years, Jim served as a school superintendent in city, county and local school districts for almost a quarter century. During his last superintendent assignment, the school district was listed in a Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper article as being among the top in Ohio when comparing financial resources and achievement scores. As director and consultant for the Ohio Network; Training and Assistance for Schools and Communities, Jim oversaw the award of grants and delivery of training to schools and organizations interested in developing a team approach to operation. In 1995, Jim was honored at Bowling Green State University as a Distinguished Graduate of the College of Technology.

In 2004, Jim's book A School Leaders Playbook: Proven Methods for Leadership, Team Building, and Problem Solving in any Organization was published in response to requests from clients for a written model representing his ideas for organizational operations. The contents of this book represent 40 years of experience and include generic skills and concepts that are applicable to any type of organization.

Jim has published articles on personality style, thinking systems, team management, board & administrator relations, and collegial management, in such publications as The Executive Educator, The American School Board Journal, the Hemi-Sync Journal, and others. His article titled: "Breath Reality into the Nice Idea of Administrative Team" was selected by the National School Boards Association to be included in a special digest titled: Design Your Success, A Career Blueprint for the Executive Educator.

Jim has been a graduate school program coordinator and has taught graduate courses in administration and counseling for several universities. He has been a presenter at state and national conferences and has been recognized in editorials for financial management, conflict resolution, and creative negotiations.

He has been the recipient of county commissioner and state senate resolutions for his leadership in county, city, and local school districts. And, he has been selected for inclusion in seven Who's-Who anthologies as well as Eye on Education Digest of Innovators.

Dr. Charlene Akenhead has served as a Special Services Director and Assistant School Superintendent for local school districts and as a Management Consultant in a major county school district in Ohio. She has also been a Licensed Professional Counselor.

Charlene has been a graduate school instructor in counseling, administration, and classroom instruction. Her doctoral research included a study of personality style as related to successful female administrators. She was a moving force in establishing a quality circle group composed of school bus drivers. The group has been in operation for over ten years and as a result of its success record for solving hard problems, has been written about in state and national transportation journals. Charlene has presented at state and national conferences on topics including administration, counseling and development of problem solving and planning groups. She and Jim have been jointly honored by their area Ruritan Club as Business Professionals of the Year.

For a through discussion of the Changepoint Model for developing a team approach for organizational development, see A School Leaders Playbook: Proven Methods for Leadership, Team Building & Problem Solving in any Organization. Contents and introduction material are found by cueing the Leaders Playbook tab at this web site.

To contact Changepoint by E-mail use: changepoint@neo.rr.com. Contact may be made by telephone at 330-935-0186 or by mail at 14143 Ravenna Ave NE, Alliance, Ohio 44601.