Bridget Markwood is currently the CEO of Leader N U, LLC, a consulting agency specializing in leadership and communication development for youth, young adults and professionals as well as training for educators in active learning, brain-based instruction, and teaching power skills (aka soft skills).
Bridget has developed and led workshops and conferences for over 22 years for private industry, as well as non-profit organizations, to help employees develop power skills in the workplace. She has been the director of the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (Camp RYLA) in Oklahoma D5750 for the same amount of years and has worked on the program committee to help develop the curriculum for the RYLA program in South Texas, D5930. In response to the pandemic, in 2020 she led the RYLA alumni (from both districts) in the creation of eRYLA. eRYLA is a transformative, multidimensional, fully synchronous leadership retreat for high school students. With the success of eRYLA in D5750 (2020), the team was able to partner with other districts across the United States to host five successful eRYLAs in 2021.
Before moving to Wisconsin in 2006, Bridget was the Assistant Director (and Interim Director) of Campus Life at the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO), where she created a four-semester leadership program, oversaw campus activities, Greek life, volunteerism and service learning and the Multicultural Student Center. Prior to her work at UCO, she was the Student Union Program Coordinator at Oklahoma State University (OSU), working with students to program the largest student union in the world. Her work at OSU includes both teaching communication and her work in student affairs. At both schools, she oversaw an average of 200 events per year. During her time in Wisconsin, she continued to develop a number of leadership activities, facilitated workshops and directed other local leadership camps.
Bridget earned her BA in Communication from the University of Central Oklahoma. Her MA in Communication Consultancy from Oklahoma State University and has doctoral work at Capella University in Industrial and Organizational Psychology. She has taught courses in Communication at Oklahoma State University and Texas A&M University Corpus Christi as well as Leadership courses at the University of Central Oklahoma.
In 2015, the Markwoods moved to Columbus, Georgia, where Bridget developed a model for teaching power skills (the skills most sought by employers). She further developed the curriculum to teach educators how to teach these skills to students, using brain-based, active-learning methods. She has co-chaired the training of over 700 educators in her current community of Columbus and helped build a pre-college retreat to help students use power skills to be successful in college. This program has had a large and positive affect on student retention.
While in Wisconsin, she served as the President of the Superior Sunrise Centennial Rotary Club, was on the Minnesota State Leadership Council for the American Cancer Society and served as the Chair for the Pink Ribbon Gala in the Twin Ports region for two years. While in Corpus Christi, TX, she served as the Lt. Governor for Youth Services for the South Texas Rotary District of 5930, the District Rotaract/Interact Chair, as well as assisting with the district’s RYLA and Chairing a number of youth programs in her own club, Rotary Club of Southside Corpus Christi.
She is the author of Rock Ur World: A Life and Leadership Handbook for College-Bound Students and the creator of numerous leadership games and activities.
In addition to her professional ventures, Bridget is currently the First Lady of Columbus State University, a member of the Board of Directors for the State Theatre of Georgia Springer Opera House and the Muscogee Educational Excellence Foundation, a St. Luke School Board Member, on the Advisory Committee for the Communication Department at Columbus State University and a member of the Rotary Club of Columbus.
As a family, the Markwoods love to serve, cook and travel.
