Dr. Michael Asken, Senior Psychologist

Dr. Michael J. Asken has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and specializes in training peak performance in high stress situations. He has trained firefighters, athletes, physicians and nurses. He now focuses on psychological performance enhancement for police and military.

Mike is a certified police instructor and has presented training for the National Tactical Officers Association, the International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors, Eastern States Vice Investigators Association, the New England Crisis Negotiator’s Association, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the FBI, Naval Special Warfare Group and the U.S. Army War College.

Mike is on the Editorial Board of the FireArms Instructor. He has published articles in The Crisis Negotiator, The Tactical Edge, The Firearms Instructor, PoliceOne.com, Swat Digest, Law Officer, and the Bulletin of the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association.

Mr. Jeff George, Senior Business Analyst

Over the past 26 years, Mr. George has held several executive level positions leading organizations that have generated billions of dollars of revenue around the world.  Jeff is a proven Business Development Specialist who was responsible for the overall Sales, Financial, Operational and Technology Management for several Fortune 100 companies in both business and consumer markets.  

Mr. George has the ability to identify market opportunities and then proactively channel the resources and talent required to drive significant growth and revenue generation.  Jeff is a quintessential professional, proactive leader, communicator and facilitator who continuously acquires consensus among multiple decision-makers. 

Mr. George’s greatest strengths are in utilizing and integrating diverse resources to achieve business objectives.  He maintains a substantial business network, strong reputation for integrity in business deals with loyalty to both customer and corporate needs.  A highly regarded Turnaround Expert, who delivers results by motivating a team to exceed targets through high performance strategies.

Mr. George is a Past Executive Committee Member of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), Past Committee TI Telecommunications Representative of the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS), graduated from the Leadership Development Program at MIT, Cambridge, MA and a graduate of Rider University.

Mr. Danny McKnight, Senior Military Advisor

Colonel Danny R. McKnight, U.S. Army, Retired, was born in Columbus, Georgia…moved to Rockledge, Florida in 1959…graduated from Cocoa High School in 1969 and Brevard Community College in 1971.  He was a Distinguished Military Graduate from Florida State University in 1973, where he earned a BS Degree in Management.  In 1985, Danny earned his Masters Degree in Higher Education from the University of Florida while assigned as an Assistant Professor of Military Science in the ROTC Department.  Among his numerous military assignments were the following:

Executive Officer, 3^rd Ranger Battalion, Fort Benning, GA

Executive Officer, 75^th Ranger Regiment, Fort Benning, GA

Battalion Commander, 4^th Battalion 27^th Infantry, Schofield Barracks, HI

Battalion Commander, 3^rd Ranger Battalion, Fort Benning, GA

Student, U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, PA

Chief of Staff, First U.S. Army, Fort Gillem, GA

His military career also included combat duty on two occasions – Panama 1989 and Somalia 1993 (basis for the Book and Movie “Black Hawk Down”).  Colonel McKnight’s awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit (2 awards), the Bronze Star Medal for Valor, the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, the Ranger Tab, the Master Parachutist Badge with Combat Star, and the Pathfinder Badge.  After completing 28 and one-half years of service to our country, Colonel McKnight returned to his hometown in Florida.  He has served in two Homeland Security related positions in Brevard County…as the Homeland Security Coordinator for the County’s Emergency Management Office, then as the Homeland Security Training Coordinator in the Criminal Justice Center at Brevard Community College.  Colonel McKnight now focuses all his efforts on being a nationwide motivational speaker.  He and his wife, Linda, reside in Rockledge, Florida.  

Colonel McKnight brings his experience to others through his presentation that provides a better understanding of the unparalleled commitment and leadership required to be successful when executing operations in the most difficult and severe situations.  Many key values associated with successful leadership will be highlighted and referenced throughout the presentation.  The real world experiences associated with his involvement in the event of October 1993 in Mogadishu, Somalia, will be expounded on to relate the commitment and leadership necessary to achieve mission success.

Mr. Tom Aveni, Research Specialist

Tom Aveni has been a career law enforcement officer, having served on the local and state levels in three states (NJ, UT, NH). His police career began in 1978, and he has served as a police trainer since 1983. From 1990 to 2001 Tom served as a police "Training Coordinator" with the once prestigious Smith & Wesson Academy. There he was instrumental in training over 12,000 police and military personnel from across the United States and 23 other countries.

Mr. Aveni achieved his undergraduate degrees in Criminal Justice while minoring in psychology. At the graduate level Tom migrated toward Clinical Psychology when he began looking more closely at the perceptual and cognitive issues salient to police applications of deadly force. He received his Master’s Degree in Forensic Psychology from American International College, Springfield, MA.

Since 1995, Mr. Aveni's police training focus became oriented toward researching so-called “questionable” police shootings. These shootings routinely involve suspects who were unarmed and non-assaultive when shot by police. Previous studies had suggested that 25-43% of police shootings are of unarmed suspects. In this pursuit, Tom also examined the influence of behavioral and contextual cues that heavily influence an officer's inclination to use deadly force. His acclaimed and ground-breaking empirical research within this realm ("A Critical Analysis of the Police Use of Deadly Force Under Ambiguous Circumstances.") has just been published and can be freely accessed as a PDF file.

Mr. Aveni has been credited with being the first deadly force researcher to elucidate the strong correlation between so-called "contagious fire" incidents and adverse light conditions. Tom's research into "questionable" police shootings has also contributed to the creation and advancement of the first (1995) and most comprehensive low light instructor training program ever offered. By 1998, Tom's low light instructor training was being taught internationally.

Mr. Aveni lectures nationally, presenting “Deadly Force Management™” a seminar focused specifically upon contemporary police deadly force issues and "Surviving the Nightshift™" a seminar focusing directly upon a diverse range of occupational safety issues pertinent to working at night. Tom has also been a frequent contributor to several law enforcement publications, such as Law & Order Magazine, Police & Security News, The Trainer, and others. He is co-author of a soon-to-be published text, “Surviving the Nightshift™.”

In 2001, Mr. Aveni co-founded the Police Policy Studies Council, a multi-disciplinary organization that brings together the diverse talents of clinicians, physicians and police practitioners in an ongoing effort to elucidate complex criminal justice issues.

Mr. Brian Willis, Human Performance Specialist

Brian is an internationally recognized speaker, trainer and writer. His focus is on helping law enforcement officers, trainers and leaders achieve personal excellence by understanding Life's Most Powerful Question - What's Important Now (W.I.N.).

Brian began his law enforcement career with the Calgary Police Service in 1979 and over the next 25 years he worked as a patrol officer, tactical officer, patrol supervisor and trainer. From 1995 to 2004 he was the head use of force trainer for the Calgary Police Service (an agency of 1650 officers). In that role he was responsible for researching, developing, instructing and overseeing the Officer Safety, Subject Control Tactics, Crowd Management, Incident Command and Emergency Vehicle Operations programs. Brian also served on the Crowd Control Unit for 19 years as a constable, supervisor in charge of training and development, Platoon Commander and Deputy Commander. He served in integral roles during the World Petroleum Congress and G8 Summit in Calgary. Since his retirement in November 2004, Brian has served as the President of Winning Mind Training Inc., an innovative training company focused on helping individuals and organizations create a Legacy of Excellence. 

Brian is the editor and contributing writer for the acclaimed book W.I.N.: Critical Issues in Training and Leading Warriors and a contributing writer for Warriors: On Living with Courage, Discipline and Honor. He is the Editor of the ILEETA Review, writes the W.I.N. Column for the ILEETA Use of Force Journal and has had numerous articles published in law enforcement periodicals. Brian has been featured on the Calibre Press Street Survival Newsline and on www.policeone.com for some of his innovative training programs. Brian also operates Warrior Spirit Books (www.warriorspiritbooks.com) .

Brian is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his contribution and commitment to Officer Safety in Canada. He serves as an Advisory Board member for the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association (ILEETA), and served as a member of the National Advisory Board for Police Marksman Magazine from 2000 to 2007. He is also a member of the National Tactical Officers Association, the Illinois Tactical Officers Association, the International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors and Canadian Association of Professional Speakers.

In addition to numerous law enforcement certifications Brian holds a Certificate in Adult Learning from the University of Calgary and Mount Royal College.  He has given presentations on mental preparation and conditioning at numerous international conferences and is sought after as a speaker across North America for his presentations Excellence in Training, The Winning Mind and Warrior Spirit, Dare to Soar and Your Life is Your Legacy.  

Brian has trained law enforcement trainers from the FBI, DEA, RCMP, as well as trainers from state/provincial and municipal agencies from across Canada and the United States in his cutting edge Excellence in Training and Verbal Trauma Control programs.

He has also worked with martial artists, competitive shooters, athletes and coaches from a variety of sports including hockey, volleyball, bull riding, figure skating, running, biathlon, and golf on harnessing the power of the mind and enhancing performance.

Brian worked as a volunteer mental preparation coach with Canadian amateur boxing champions in four weight classes, a 2004 Olympic Boxing Team member and four gold medal winners from the prestigious Ringside Boxing Tournament held in Kansas City. Brian also worked with the 2003/2004 Medicine Hat Tigers following their regular season as well as working with the team at the 2004 Memorial Cup in Kelowna, B.C.

Mr. John Drohan, Financial Advisor

John Drohan founded Main Effort Financial, Inc. as an executive consulting firm in 1998 and the company has evolved to focus solely on financial services and products for both individual and business clients since 2001.  Since then MEF currently has over 300 private and small business clients.  John serves as an Investment Advisor Representative and Financial Planner through broker dealer SagePoint Financial, Inc..  

Prior to entering the private sector, he served as an Assistant Professor of Military Science, instructing leadership and personnel management for 3 years at Boston University before moving to Boston College and Northeastern University for an additional 3 years.  He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY and served in both U.S. Army and the Massachusetts Army National Guard with overseas deployments to Haiti and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba as well as hurricane relief operations in both Dade County, FL and New Orleans, LA. 

John serves as President of the Holliston Business Association, a non-profit entity that provides grant funding to the less fortunate in the local community.  He serves as is the Treasurer of the Holliston Historical Society, a non-profit organization that preserves the town history dating back to the 17th Century.  He is a co-founder in the development of a non-profit venture known as the Blueskin Foundation which will provide emergency grant funding to service members and their families.  He lives with his wife and 3 daughters in Holliston, MA.

Mr. Anton Hopen, Legal Advisor

Anton Hopen is an 1991 honors graduate of the University of South Florida in Interdisciplinary Science and a 1995 graduate of the University of Florida College of Law where he received the Presidential Recognition Award for Outstanding Achievement. 

Mr. Hopen is admitted to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, all U.S. District Courts in Florida, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.    He has been recognized as an expert in intellectual property law by the Wall Street Journal which frequently publishes his opinion on complex intellectual property matters.  

Mr. Hopen regularly lectures at the University of Florida College of Law on patent misuse, estoppel and antitrust law relating to intellectual property. He has also appeared in the Business Journal, Law Review, Money Magazine and Biotechnology Law Report. 

Mr. Hopen is "AV" rated by Martindale-Hubble and is founder of Innovation Express teaching young students about Intellectual Property Law.  He is married with four children.  He is an avid sailor and holds a commercial U.S. Coast Guard Master's License.