About Us
Dr. Paul “Paulie” Gavoni is a behavior scientist specializing in human performance, coaching, and organizational leadership who has worked across education, human services, and sports for over two decades. In this capacity, he served the needs of children and adults in various positions including COO, Vice President, Director of School Improvement, Leadership Director, Professor, Assistant Principal, School Turnaround Manager, Clinical Coordinator, Lead Therapist, Trainer, Coach, and Behavior Analyst. Dr. Gavoni is passionate about applying Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) strategies to lead and help other leaders establish positive and engaging environments across industries that bring out the best in people. He is a Board Member of the Opioid Awareness Foundation and The World Behavior Analysis Day Alliance.
Known for his authenticity and practical approaches, Dr. Gavoni hosts the Thoughts & Rants of a Behavior Scientist and the Crisis in Education Podcasts. He is also a sought-out speaker at a variety of Educational, Sports, and Behavior Analytic Conferences and co-author of Wall Street Journal and USA Today’s Best-Selling The 5 Scientific Laws of Life & Leadership: Behavioral Karma; Quick Wins! Accelerating School Transformation through Science, Engagement, and Leadership; Deliberate Coaching: A Toolbox for Accelerating Teacher Performance (#1 Amazon Best Seller); MMA Science: A Training, Coaching, & Belt Ranking Guide (#1 Amazon New Release), and QUICK Responses to Misbehavior for Reducing Misbehavior and Suspensions (#1 Amazon Best Seller). In addition, he is currently preparing How to Determine if Your Leadership is $hitty. Dr. Gavoni is proud to introduce ABA & OBM to a massive audience through his numerous publications.
Beyond his work in education and human services, Dr. Gavoni is a former Golden Gloves Champion and highly respected striking coach in combat sports. Coach “Paulie Gloves,” as he is known in the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) community, has trained world champions and UFC vets using technologies rooted in the behavioral sciences. Coach Paulie has been featured in the books Beast: Blood, Struggle, and Dreams at the Heart of Mixed Martial Arts, A Fighter’s Way, the feature article Ring to Cage: How four former boxers help mold MMA’s finest, FX’s The Toughman, and was recently featured in the Lifetime reality series Leave it to Geege. He is also an author who has written extensively for online magazines such as Bloody Elbow, Scifighting, Last Word on Sports, and Bloody Elbow, where his Fight Science series continues to bring behavioral science to MMA.
Matt Cicoria
MS, BCBA, LBA
Matt Cicoria is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst in private practice, and has spent the better part of his 25+ year career consulting to public schools and human services agencies. His areas of expertise include conducting Functional Behavioral Assessments, creating practical Function-Based Behavioral Intervention Plans, developing and implementing classroom management strategies, and of course, staff training on all these topics.
Matt earned his BA in Psychology from the University of New Hampshire, and his MS in Psychology from Auburn University. He has also taken doctoral-level courses in Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods, Cultural Competency, Leadership in Special Education, Neuroscience, and more. In 2002, Matt sat for and passed the Behavior Analysis Certification Board exam and became the 755th BCBA to earn this credential.
With the growth of interest in Behavior Analytic concepts and principles, Matt decided to embark on a dissemination project that culminated in what is now known as The Behavioral Observations Podcast. The podcast, which publishes long-form interviews with leading behavior analysts, was launched in February of 2016, and has since published over 200 episodes. Since that launch, Behavioral Observations has become the largest media entity in the field of Behavior Analysis. The show has been downloaded nearly four million times and reaches audiences in well over 100 countries.
Matt has been invited to present at regional and international conferences, and co-authored Remote Fieldwork Supervision for BCBA© Trainees with Dr. Lisa Britton. He lives in New Hampshire with his wife and three children.
Anika Costa
M.S. Ed, BCBA
Analytical and hard-working, Anika is known for her practical yet detailed oriented approaches to organizing and seeing projects successfully through to the end. Passionate about instructional design and teaching, her meticulous approach to developing and delivering training using behavior-analytic technologies increases engagement and learning at an accelerated rate.
As a Behavior Analyst, Professor, and former teacher in New York City Public Schools, Anika has a specialized skill set has allowed her to effectively work with teachers and school leaders in nationwide classroom and school improvement efforts. A seasoned consultant and mentor, she is also passionate about applying principles of Organizational Behavior Management during assessment, training, and coaching initiatives to support measurable performance improvement within the natural environment.
She is laser-focused on process improvement, instructional design in professional development, and behavioral coaching aimed at bringing out the best in behavior technicians, behavior analysts, teachers, and school leaders so they can bring out the best in the learners they support. Anika is pursuing her Instructional Design and Performance Technology doctorate at Florida State University.
Her latest achievements include designing and instructing in the highly engaging and successful online 40-hour Registered Behavior Technician® course. She is also the proud co-author of the best-selling book QUICK Responses for Reducing Misbehavior and Suspensions: A Behavioral Toolbox for Classroom and School Leaders and Quick Wins: Using Behavior Science to Accelerate and Sustain School Improvement.
