Presenters: Cathy Schulz (1538) and Elise Cronin-Hurley (1902)
Thank you for joining us at the 2026 FIRST Mentor Conference CA workshop, Using Team-Awareness to Strengthen Culture, Leadership, Brand & Awards.
Key Takeaway: Team-awareness is your most powerful strategy. Build an innate practice of team culture and impact.
Before you can build a compelling brand, develop strong leaders, or write a standout award submission — knowing your team’s true identity is everything. Teams 1902 and 1538, both 20+ year programs, have intentionally cultivated strong team cultures. They’ll share real experience and best practices for building team identity, developing authentic leaders, and a celebrated culture to create a cohesive strategy that resonates from the build space to the judges’ room.
Tip
Celebrate the values of the team you want to be!
About the Presenters:
Cathy Schulz (Team 1538 The Holy Cows) and Elise Cronin-Hurley (Team 1902 Exploding Bacon), FIRST Hall of Fame teams
Cathy has mentored Team 1538 since 2009, guiding Chairman’s (FIA) and Business efforts. A dedicated FIRST volunteer, she’s served as a FIRST Impact Judge, Judge Advisor, Event Director, FLL Program Delivery Partner, and host of the 3 Day Open for FIRST LEGO League. Cathy’s presenting experience has included, 8 FIRST Impact Chats at Champs, 5 Helping Creates an Effective Chairman’s (FIA) Submission, presentations at San Diego Mentor Workshops, Countless FLL Project Presentation workshops, How to Inspire Your Team to Effectively Present in Front of Judges.
Elise, 1902 mentor since 2011: business teams & past team lead. FIRST Volunteer: Judge, Judge Advisor, & Champs Inspection Manager. Board Member for Orlando & Tallahassee Florida Regional Planning Committees. 40 years professional communications experience. Elise’s presenting experience has includes, 8 FIRST Champs Sessions since 2013, 5 FIRST Impact Chats at Champs, FMC 2023, 2024, 2025 & 2026, 7 Florida mentor training workshops in 2 yrs, numerous workshops on Team Sustainability, Awards, & Imagery. Several professionally on imagery and branding.
About the Author
Serving as a mentor since 2011, Elise Cronin-Hurley also served as a Team Lead of 4-H Exploding Bacon Robotics Team 1902 for the 2016 - 2019 seasons. She volunteers at numerous FIRST events, on regional planning committees, mentor conferences and currently serves as the chair of the FIRST Hall of Fame. She has conducted numerous workshops on imagery, chairman's and team organization. By day she is a freelance web and graphic designer. Read More about Elise