OUR TEAM

BARBARA A. GRIMM

Barbara Grimm has dedicated 15 years to the field of education, holding a degree in Organizational Behavior and Applied Psychology. Her extensive experience primarily focuses on special education, especially within the multidisciplinary education framework. Ms. Grimm’s distinctive blend of knowledge in health, wellness, 911 dispatching, and emergency services fuels her commitment to assisting students in crises. Her enthusiasm for fostering relationships between students and staff during critical moments resulted in the creation of the School Responder app.

Barbara is a member of Psi Chi, the international honor society in psychology, a member of Alpha Sigma Lambda having graduated Summa Cum Laude, and Mental Health First Aid and CPI certifications.

Barbara’s mission is to create a way to connect students and staff in times of need.

DAVID B. COOPER

David Cooper is a cross between business process architect and industry subject matter expert. He is often described as an accountant with a computer software addiction, in the entertainment market. He describes himself as a disrupter of the status quo. Using technologies in new business models. The first app he created was for admission control for Sprint and NASCAR on blackberry devices, 5 years before the apple store existed.

He has been a thought leader in the entertainment industry on the importance of the relationship between entertainers, ticketing systems and fans. Within the industry, he also created systems for royalties, publishing, licensing, merchandising and fan clubs. As an expert in fan club and ambassador mentality he is a pioneer in the DIRECTtoFAN business model. He is focused on the fan-first mentality, because he is one. It is in his DNA. His father is a conductor/composer and his mother an accountant. Through his upbringing he learned quickly the fan IS the boss. They are the consumer who pays the bills and, therefore, should be treated as "the boss". As an entrepreneur his three favorite words - auditable, repeatable, scalable - represent his business model.

David's success can be measured by his results, which includes two world records for the biggest and fastest ticket sell outs in history - NASCAR's Daytona 500 and Pearl Jam.

His client list is a who's who of artists, promoters, venues and special events including U2, Prince, the Who, David Bowie, Whitney Houston and Madonna.

DR. C.J. HUFF

Dr. Huff is an educator with over 20 years of experience as a classroom teacher, building principal and superintendent of schools. During his tenure as the Superintendent of Schools in Joplin, MO an EF-5 tornado with winds exceeding 200 mph devastated his city on May 22, 2011. In just 32 minutes this monstrous storm killed 161 community members including 7 of his students and a staff member. As a school system 10 of the 19 schools in his district were damaged or destroyed. In the days, months and years that followed, Dr. Huff was responsible for successfully leading his district of 1,200 employees and 7,747 students through the many challenges of that came with recovery effort that followed.

Retiring from Joplin Schools in July 2015, Dr. Huff currently serves as the Director of Strategy and Development for Safe and Sound Schools and as a subject matter expert to the US Department of Health and Human Services and Louisiana State University supporting schools and communities in preparedness, response and recovery efforts related to natural and manmade disasters. In addition, he is the founder of the national not-for-profit BrightFuturesUSA.Org working with over 70 communities across the nation to build local capacity to address the myriad of challenges facing today’s children and youth.

C.J. has received numerous awards and recognition for his leadership and vision. This includes being recognized by People magazine as one of their “2011 Heroes Among Us”, 2012 Missouri Superintendent of the Year award, one of four finalists for the 2013 National Superintendent of the Year award, the 2012 Missouri National Education Association Horace Mann Award, National School Public Relations Association’s Bob Grossman Leadership in School Communications Award, eSchool News 2012 Tech-Savvy Superintendent Award, Missouri Association of School Administrators 2012 Pearce Award, Missouri School Public Relations Association 2012 Administrator of the Year and the 2011 American School Board Journal Magna Award and the US Department of Education’s “Together for Tomorrow” recognition for Joplin’s local Bright Futures initiative focusing on community engagement and drop-out prevention. In 2015 his district was recognized as 1 of only 9 school districts in the nation as a “Future Ready School” by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Education Technology.