Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) - 2045

Tonight's special guest is Matt Paknis from Marion, Massachusetts, a survivor of child abuse when he was 9 and a senior management consultant with six years of college football coaching, ten years of playing football, and five championship seasons, whose focus is on lessening bullying in the workplace. He was a former assistant coach at Penn State under Joe Paterno and has spoken publicly about being abused as a child. When Matt was nine years old, young Matt's mom was diagnosed with a melanoma. She underwent immediate, extensive, hospital stays and surgeries, requiring over 2000 stitches, to remove her infected lymph system. His family's stress and domestic violence skyrocketed, increasing surprise beatings from his massive and powerful father. As is often the case with families in crisis, a predatory neighbor then targeted and sexually molested Matt who, after almost four years of experiencing hell on earth with trauma and related mental health issues, transcended his bad childhood and the death of his young mom with exceptional counseling, growth, faith, teamwork, and leadership. He has dedicated over twenty-five years of consulting to helping global clients embrace healthy management practices to thrive. Bullying has been a major topic for Matt in his  global consulting practice which is all about building thriving cultures with healthy leadership skills. Some of the poignant bullying cases he addresses were released in a book "Successful Leaders Aren't Bullies" last September.