We invite you to explore the significant achievements, milestones, and trends that defined our journey this past year. Click "Learn More" to see highlights of our collective efforts and the innovative solutions that set us apart.
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Meet the Event Garde Team! Our clients think of us as a strategic partner who doesn’t just work for them—but works with them, as an extension of their team.
Aaron Wolowiec is a nationally recognized meeting strategist, facilitator, and learning designer with more than two decades of association experience. As the founder and president of Event Garde, he specializes in creating engaging, multisensory learning and networking experiences. A certified Technology of Participation (ToP) facilitator and mentor trainer, Aaron prioritizes participatory and equitable approaches to consensus building and strategic planning. His work with boards, learners, staff, and volunteers fosters meaningful connections, skill development, and practical application in the workplace. Beyond the boardroom, Aaron finds joy in celebrity autobiographies, true crime podcasts, traveling with his husband, Trevor, and walking their Mini Goldendoodle, Luca.
> Download Aaron’s curriculum vitae.
> Download Aaron’s volunteer and leadership experience.
Dilhara is a seasoned public health and healthcare professional with over a decade of experience in non-profit and government sectors. Specializing in quality improvement, diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB), and evaluation, she brings a strategic and facilitative approach to fostering long-term, systemic change.
An expert in meeting facilitation, Dilhara designs and leads dynamic discussions, workshops, and strategic planning sessions that promote dialogue, critical thinking, and action. Trained in the Technology of Participation (ToP) methodology, she has successfully guided over 80 stakeholders in collaborative planning efforts and spearheaded initiatives addressing health disparities, DEIB integration, and policy development.
With a commitment to creating inclusive environments, Dilhara partners with corporate clients, as well as leaders in non-profit, government, and academia, to drive meaningful change. Beyond her professional work, she serves on their local library board of trustees and volunteers as a coach at a tennis non-profit.
Kara has a passion for helping organizations identify innovative ways to collaborate with corporate partners and individual donors. With more than 20 years of leadership experience in the nonprofit and association sectors, Kara has built a reputation for her expertise in event management, alongside management, operations, sales, and marketing. She has successfully planned and executed a wide range of events, from large-scale conferences and annual meetings to intimate donor gatherings, ensuring that each event meets her clients' objectives and exceeds expectations.
Her extensive event management background includes everything from conceptualizing event themes to managing logistics, vendor relations, attendee engagement strategies, and post-event analysis. Kara is skilled in creating seamless, impactful experiences that enhance networking opportunities, foster learning, and drive attendee satisfaction. Whether overseeing corporate sponsorship integration or ensuring accessibility and inclusion at events, she has a keen eye for detail and a strategic approach that maximizes event impact.
Kara’s expertise in working closely with board members, corporate partners, and donor audiences, combined with her consultative selling approach, allows her to uncover client needs and craft tailored solutions that align with organizational goals. She has a diverse background in marketing, sales, sponsorship management, and fund development, along with a knack for building lasting relationships.
Kara holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from the University of Detroit Mercy, with a focus on Public Relations, Marketing, and Organizational Development. She has also received specialized training in sponsorship development/management from IEG, a leader in partnership strategy, development, and fulfillment.
In her free time, Kara and her husband Steve stay busy with their three daughters, Emily, Jenna, and Avery. When not juggling car pools and sports activities, they enjoy relaxing at the pool or spending time at the lake with friends and family during Michigan's few warm months.
Kate has over 20 years of association experience combined with extensive technology work. She prides herself on being able to help clients find more efficient and effective ways to manage their meetings, information, data and communications. In addition to overseeing client events and technology needs, her background in leadership and experiential learning carry over to support our facilitation team. When she’s not working, you'll find her running, reading, or enjoying time with her husband and their four kids.
As a certified facilitator and apprentice trainer in Technology of Participation (ToP) methods, Krista brings over a decade of experience working with groups to co-create more equitable institutions. A dedicated systems thinker, she views Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) as relational work grounded in community organizing, anti-oppression, and anti-racism frameworks. Drawing from her identity as a queer, fat, woman, she is passionately committed to her own personal growth and recognizes the indispensability of her colleagues of color in effectively advancing this work. Krista emphasizes the importance of designing interventions and strategies that fit the unique context and needs of each organization she collaborates with. As a facilitator, Krista values humility, humor, collective accountability, constructive disruption, empathy, and relationship building.
Tim’s accounting career spans 35 years and includes employment at large and small non-profits in his home town of Grand Rapids. He earned his undergrad business administration and accounting degrees at Calvin College in the 1980s and completed his graduate studies at Grand Valley State University where he earned his Masters in Business Administration in 2007. In 2014 Tim left his job to become his own boss at Tim Berghuis, Accountant LLC and has had no regrets whatsoever! He enjoys traveling with his spouse, Jill, and in 2020 celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary with the support of their two daughters and four grandchildren.
I preach best practices when it comes to QuickBooks and accounting work, so it’s important to me to stay informed on the latest in regulations and technology. I’ve always been interested in researching my clients’ questions and I am drawn (Go Math Club!) to the numbers side of business operations.
I enjoy leveraging both Facebook and LinkedIn to network.
With QuickBooks tutoring, I show people how to accomplish the tasks necessary to run their operations. So my ability to support client transfer is usually face-to-face and one-on-one. I move from the general (e.g., always balance your business checkbook because that is the key task to running a business) to the specific (e.g., here are the 10 steps from start to finish on how you should balance your checkbook).
Born in Grand Rapids and raised in South Windsor, Connecticut. Returned to the nest to attend college and never left.
Jenny supports Event Garde with managing the Gardian Blog, curating the monthly Gardian eNews and ensuring the website stays up to date. When not supporting Event Garde clients, Jenny spends her time with her husband Richard and loving on her fur kids, Lillie and Linus.
Shannon Lockwood is a collaborative leader with over 12 years of experience in the meetings and events industry. As an independent meeting planner, Shannon’s passion for project management allows her to support the organizational mission of her clients with exceptionally executed trade shows, conferences, meetings, and events. Her experience with hybrid and virtual events allows her to contribute to the strategic vision of the organization and deliver events with impact. Her professional experience includes work in non-profit associations, official service contractors, and convention center sales and operations.
Lindsay is an enthusiastic business leader with a proven track record of driving incremental growth and exceeding goals. With more than 20 years of leadership experience, she is adept at multitasking and navigating complex challenges in ever-changing business environments. Lindsay’s commitment to strategic planning, long-term investment, and fostering internal and external relationships positions her as a top contributor across all facets of her expertise. When she’s not busy working, you’ll find Lindsay at home with her husband and their three children. Whether it’s chauffeuring her kids to their activities, a cozy family movie night, or a friendly game of cards, she’s happiest spending quality time with her friends and family.
Danielle has extensive experience coordinating projects relating to child welfare, maternal health, public health, birth equity and reproductive justice work, and military research. This experience has a profound influence on her work as a facilitator, project coordinator, and doula. Her intent is to help facilitate an inclusive, safe, productive, and fun space for clients as they do challenging work. Danielle has been working with Event Garde since 2020 and is a moderator for the FACILIT8me community of practice and coordinates Voices and Views.
Danielle enjoys spending time with her two kiddos, husband and large family, playing basketball, reading, planning vacations and working with her birth and postpartum doula clients.
Trevor Mitchell, MBA, FASAE, CAE, CDP is the President and CEO of the International Association of Venue Managers (IAVM) and the IAVM Foundation. His focus is on helping leaders and associations create a strategic vision for the future and working to achieve it. Trevor has been involved in association management for over 15 years and has contributed to the profession through speaking, writing, and volunteering. He is currently the past chair for the Texas Society of Association Executives (TSAE). Trevor most frequently consults on strategic planning, strategic implementation, board governance, and diversity, equity and inclusion (including everything from a DEI overview to inclusive leadership).
