Cyndi, with over 20 years in Learning and Development, has significantly impacted operating disciplines and emphasizes top-tier customer service. She expertly bridges the gap between corporate goals and customer needs, leveraging her understanding of brand differentiation and earning prestigious awards for her organizations.
Daphne, with a decade of experience teaching Spanish at various school levels, has an extensive background in Spanish language and culture, including a BA from Lawrence University and a Masters from Lehman College. Her passion has taken her on adventures across Central and South America, where she has engaged in teaching, volunteering, and immersing herself in local cultures.
Dawn Metcalf, a seasoned presenter and designer, specializes in creating relatable educational content with an emphasis on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB). As a multi-published author and Harvard graduate, she leverages stories and her expertise in hermeneutics to foster meaningful change and promote inclusivity.
Jessica Michaels is an award-winning speaker, former stand-up comic, and management training expert. Despite her success, every victory she had for years was inexplicably followed by a bigger failure. In her 30s, she discovered she was autistic and ADHD. After working to find her own path as a neurodivergent professional, Jessica began using her experience to educate, advocate, and advise on neurodiversity in business. With humor and directness, she shows her audiences how every employee benefits from a neuroinclusive environment. She also works with neurodivergent professionals or those with non-traditional leadership characteristics to enable them to thrive in leadership positions.
Dustin Giannelli is the CEO & Founder of HearsDustin LLC based in Boston, MA. As a DEIA public speaker who happens to be profoundly deaf, Dustin shares his lived experiences to help bring more awareness to the importance of DEI best practices, accessibility and communication.
Mary Fashik (she/her) is a transnational, transracial adoptee, born in Lebanon. She is the founder of the Disability Justice movement, Upgrade Accessibility. She is also a Susan M. Daniels Disability Mentoring Hall of Fame Inductee and award-winning podcaster.
My name is Puneet Singh Singhal from New Delhi, India. I am a person with an undiagnosed learning disability and stammering. I see my life as the intersection of poverty, domestic violence, and multiple non-visible disabilities. I am a disability activist advocating for a more inclusive and accessible society for people with visible, and non-visible disabilities. I founded a non-profit called ssstart, working towards normalizing stuttering and other speech disabilities. I am associated with NASA, Billion Strong, Diversability Leadership Collected and Global Network of Young Persons with Disabilities (GNYPWD)
Elizabeth Beales serves as Chief Executive Officer of Elsie, a virtual learning solutions company that provides best-in-class production and facilitation delivery experiences for global organizations. Since 2015, Elsie has reached more than 680,000 learners through 45,000+ programs in 27 different languages. She fiercely believes that varied life experiences and perspectives contribute to better ideas and a healthier work environment.
Staci Stroeing is an expert in the learning and development field with a robust background in customer service, computer programming, and all aspects of learning and development. With a passion for learning and a natural talent for technology, Staci has continuously pushed the boundaries of what virtual delivery can accomplish.
Cynthia is a seasoned, results-oriented leader with over 15 years of experience in diverse HR roles, specializing in equity, diversity, inclusion, and organizational transformation, currently serving as Director, Inclusion and Equity at Laurentian Bank. Actively contributing to her community, she has advanced degrees in Industrial Relations, a strong commitment to continued education, and a history of volunteer work, notably serving on the board of a youth-focused organization in Montreal.
Yvonne Urra-Bazain is an E-Learning specialist, utilizing her expansive inclusive design expertise, experience in medical and sales sectors, a decade of K-6 teaching, and a blend of heutagogy, marketing, and visual design to foster professional advancement.
Deborah (pronounced Duh-BOR-uh) is a 15-year L&D professional with expertise in learning strategy, design, and delivery. She serves as the Founder and Chief Learning Strategist for iCU Learning; a learning, education, and development (LEAD) consultant agency. Her training catalog includes (but is not limited to): Situational Leadership®, Imposter Syndrome, DEI, and Receiving Feedback. Deborah is very dedicated to advocating and creating learning content for historically underrepresented groups.
Rebecca Prejean is a seasoned Learning Experience Designer with extensive expertise in instructional design, content management, and learning program development across diverse industries. She is known for her ability to lead teams, manage LMS implementation, and create engaging, visually compelling learning experiences, using a learner-centric approach.
Leah has been a professional educator since 2003, when she started as a French Immersion teacher. Her professional experience includes working with non-profit and corporate organizations, developing online and classroom learning. She has been a successful consultant since 2015. She founded Leah Chang Learning Inc in 2019 and is our Lead Instructional Designer and Learning Technologist.
Susi Miller is an industry-leading expert on accessible learning design and the founder and director of eLaHub. The author of Designing Accessible Learning Content (Kogan Page, 2021), Susi has over 30 years Learning & Development experience in Higher Education and the public, private and third sectors. She is a skilled instructional designer and online course developer and a passionate advocate for digital accessibility. Her accessible learning content has been shortlisted for the Learning Technologies Awards.
Gwen Navarrete Klapperich, M.Ed., CPTD® is Chief Learning Consultant of Klapperich International Training Associates (KITA) LLC, a talent development consulting firm that specializes in employee training & development, diversity & inclusion initiatives, performance consulting, and health & safety training.
Bela, a neurodivergent, queer, visually and physically disabled Latine woman, is a trailblazing DEIA leader and the founder of IntuiBel, advocating tirelessly for underrepresented groups. As an instructional designer, inclusive solution specialist, and DEIA practitioner, she influences the Learning and Development space by providing consultative services, teaching courses, and building community support systems.
Alan Natachu is a Learning Technology Partner at Exact Sciences. He spent a decade in the higher education space before making the switch to corporate L&D in 2019. He is a presentation geek who loves emerging L&D technologies and is passionate for making all his content accessible.
Chris Paxton McMillin, President of D3 Training Solutions, has over 30 years’ experience in training & development. For the last 20 years, her focus has been on distance learning, designing, developing and delivering courses, “the 3 D’s of” D3 Training Solutions.
Kayleen Holt is an instructional design consultant who’s been designing learning experience for more than 25 years. She is the owner of Scissortail Creative Services, a small company that helps mission-driven organizations achieve their goals through custom learning experiences that make a difference.
Amy Morrisey is the president of Artisan E-Learning, a custom e-learning development company. As president, she stays focused on maintaining the high standards their clients have grown to expect.
@ The Training, Learning and Development Community 2023
