Our Senior Executive L&D editorial team is always on the lookout for learning and development champions in the news. Discover chief learning officers taking on new roles at major corporations and organizations, L&D leaders earning mainstream news coverage, and executives publishing their insights about L&D initiatives on their own blogs.
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- L&D Leaders on the Move
- L&D Leaders Making News
- L&D Leaders Sharing News and Insights
- L&D Leaders Being Recognized
Have some learning and development (L&D) news we should add here? Please share with Senior Executive L&D editors.
L&D Leaders on the Move
Multiverse Welcomes New Chief Learning Officer
August 29, 2023 ‒ Multiverse, an apprenticeships provider, expands its leadership team with the appointment of Gary Eimerman, chief learning officer. The company is growing its executive roster two years after opening its first U.S. location in New York.
Source: PR Newswire
The FDIC Welcomes Felita Boldin as CLO
August 17, 2023 ‒ Felita Boldin will start her position as the FDIC’s new chief learning officer and director of Corporate University on September 11. Previously, she served as the deputy director of training and development, mission support division, with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration (TSA). She will oversee training in the FDIC’s key program areas of compliance, supervision, insurance, and resolutions.
Source: FDIC Newsroom
Lee Rubenstein Named Chief Training and Education Officer at Krach Institute
August 20, 2023 – Lee Rubenstein will bring his decades of experience along as he settles into his new role at the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue. Rubenstein will be instrumental in the nonprofit’s tech diplomacy training initiatives for U.S. and allied diplomats and leading business executives and decision-makers.
Source: Krach Institute pressroom
Abby Stover Leads L&D at Honigman LLP
August 7, 2023 – Abby Stover has been named chief talent officer at general business law firm Honigman LLP. Based in Detroit, she is leading the firm’s attorney talent management, learning and development, and legal recruiting functions.
Source: Honigman LLP newsroom
CLO Spencer Holt Joins Merlin Entertainments
August 4, 2023 – Spencer Holt, co-founder and current chief learning officer at leadership consultancy Global Leader Group, has been named the first chief experience and people officer at Merlin Entertainments. The firm owns 140 global attractions, theme parks, hotels, and resorts and has a workforce of 30,000 people across 24 countries.
Source: Personnel Today
Kathryn Marquez Named Global Director of L&D at International Law Firm
August 3, 2023 – Kathryn Marquez has been promoted to the role of global director of learning and development at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, an international law firm based in Washington, D.C.
Source: ICLG.com
Nikole Hill Named Chief Learning Officer at Discovery Place Museums
July 11, 2023 – Discovery Place, a STEM education nonprofit with four museums in the Carolinas, selected Nikole Hill to be its CLO, starting July 24. Hill is an award-winning leader with more than 20 years of experience in children’s museums.
Source: Discovery Place newsroom
Deloitte Names New CLO
June 23, 2023 – Anthony Stephan has been named CLO at Deloitte US. In a LinkedIn post, he shared his excitement about the promotion, as well as about his work leading Project 120, a $1.4 billion initiative, investing in the future of L&D.
Source: Accounting Today
BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Names New CLO
May 12, 2023 – Michelle Sermon-Davis has been named managing director and chief learning officer at BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee. Her previous roles include serving as global vice president of organizational development; diversity, equity and inclusion; and corporate communications for CKE Restaurants Holdings, as well as L&D roles at Bath & Body Works and Estée Lauder.
Source: Chattanoogan.com
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Join the WaitlistL&D Leaders Making News
Wendy Walsh, CLO of the Air Force, Hosts AETC Symposium
September 8, 2023 – The Air Education and Training Command (AETC) Learning Symposium’s theme this year was “The Learning Story—Past, Present, Future—Writing, Telling, Understanding,” bringing together Air Force educators and professionals to exchange stories of their development journeys. Wendy Walsh, the Air Force’s CLO, said the event brings together personnel who are invested in learning and ultimately strengthens pathways to career growth.
Source: Montgomery Advertiser
Corey Smith, Five Guys’ Instructional Designer, Introduces New Training Methods
September 6, 2023 – Instructional designer at Five Guys, Corey Smith, welcomes updated training materials that encourage more interactive and functional learning. The new advancements, such as extended reality training, virtually places employees in stores, supports quick and sharp learning, and helps boost company retention rates. Five Guys’ L&D efforts are led by Laura Weathers, director of global learning and development.
Source: XR Today
Louisa Yin, Senior Manager of L&D at Future Electronics, Oversees Launch of New ‘Power Hour’ Development Series
September 8, 2023 – Future Electronics, a Canadian electronics company, introduces a new learning series for employees to gain insight into how executives achieved success in their personal and professional lives. Led by senior manager of L&D, Louisa Yin, the monthly, hour-long workshops will support continual development and will touch on topics like cybersecurity, supplier management, and more.
Source: PR.com
Chrissie Leibman, SVP of L&D at The Aspen Group, Introduces TAG University
August 31, 2023 – The Aspen Group’s new Tag University initiative is one that Chrissie Leibman, the company’s senior VP of L&D, says encourages learning after obtaining a college degree. Employees and clinicians will learn through four schools of excellence – clinical, leadership, business and operations, and service and support – to expand on their current skills.
Source: PR Newswire:
Landdai Introduces New Generative AI Apps to Make Training More Efficient
August 22, 2023 – Landdai has released three new apps — a slide deck presentation generator, training program creator, and Landdai GPT — for companies to customize their talent development resources. Landdai’s founder, organizational development consultant Josh Irmler, says the advancements were created with help from L&D and HR leaders, as well as instructional designers that trained the company to create and deliver high-quality content.
Source: Accesswire newsroom
LMS365 to Reinvent the Learning Experience with New AI-Powered Technology
August 23, 2023 – A component of Microsoft 365, LMS365 will offer embedded AI capabilities to enable L&D, HR, and IT teams to deliver personalized workforce training. Robin Daniels, chief business and product officer for LMS365, says the AI-powered solution will revolutionize the learning experience, making it more engaging and aligned with business outcomes. Microsoft’s L&D efforts are led by chief learning officer Joe Whittinghill.
Source: PR Newswire
ShiftMed and Dignity Health Global Education Team Up to Provide Training for Healthcare Professionals
August 22, 2023 – A new partnership between ShiftMed and Dignity Health Global Education aims to upskill more than 350,000 healthcare workers to support career advancement. The initiative will provide RN’s, certified nursing assistants, licensed practical nurses, and medical assistants with access to proven educational content from industry-leading healthcare providers, healthcare experts, acclaimed academic institutions, and more. Dignity Health Global Education’s L&D efforts are led by Kurt Hayes, chief product officer, and Chris Jones serves as the chief people officer at ShiftMed.
Source: Dignity Health newsroom
Air Education and Training Command CLO Tours Goodfellow Air Force Base
August 11, 2023 – Wendy Walsh, Air Education and Training Command chief learning officer, recently visited Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, Texas, for a two-day, inside look at how the intelligence training squadrons operate.
Source: Air Education and Training Command newsroom
University of Phoenix Introduces New Professional Development Course
August 11, 2023 – Mukund Sudarsan, vice president, general manager of professional development at University of Phoenix, announced the launch of the for-profit college’s new course, “Strategies for DEI&B Leadership.” Developed by the University’s Professional Development group, it’s designed to help learners develop important skills for diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging leadership.
Source: University of Phoenix newsroom
Joe Mills Explains Discover’s Success with Upskilling
August 11, 2023 – Joe Mills, director of transformation strategy and automation at financial services firm Discover, told CIO Dive about its apprenticeship program, offered at its Customer Care Center and technology hub in Chicago. The program has four tracks — robotic process automation, ServiceNow, Salesforce, and cybersecurity — and, upon completion, apprentices transition into related full-time positions.
Source: CIO Dive
Berkshire Innovation Center Partners with Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
August 3, 2023 – The Berkshire Innovation Center (BIC) in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, is partnering with Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) in North Adams on an innovation-based MBA program. The BIC, with L&D programs led by chief learning officer Dennis Rebelo, provides regional manufacturers and STEM businesses with advanced research and development equipment, state-of-the-art lab and training facilities, and collaboration opportunities.
Source: The Business Journal of Western Massachusetts
Denny’s Offers New Career Development Program
August 2, 2023 – For its employees and any prospective restaurant industry professionals, Denny’s has launched a career development program that VP of human resources and CLO Fasika Melaku says aims to help prepare future leaders. The GAIN program includes four focus areas: GED accreditation; college credit for learning; life skills, such as personal finance and conflict management; and career pathways for high school students.
Source: Denny’s newsroom
Lexicon Offers New Workforce Development and Training Tool
June 25, 2023 – Little Rock construction company Lexicon has established a personalized program to help employees learn skills and advance their careers. Through Lex U, all employees across levels and teams can take advantage of on-the-job, classroom, and online training for professional, management, or trade skills tracks.
Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Walmart Offers Mental Health Education and Support With Lyra Health
April 10, 2023 – Walmart’s Chief People Officer, Donna Morris, announced that the retail giant has launched a new “Workplace Mental Health course,” facilitated by clinicians from mental health benefits provider Lyra Health, to teach leaders and managers how to support employees.
Source: Forbes
UPS Doubles Down on Driver Training Investment
March 29, 2023 – UPS is investing millions more in safe driving education and training for its more than 100,000 drivers, nearly doubling the number of driving and delivery simulators at its facilities since 2020. The UPS Driving Simulator is showcased at Integrad, the global shipping company’s driver training schools, and lets drivers navigate realistic road hazards such as pedestrians, parked cars, and traffic. On top of the virtual reality experience, drivers also get hands-on driving and instructor-led classroom training.
Source: UPS newsroom
Ramona Arora, Simon Lambert, and Jani Byrne Saliga’s Companies Noted as Prominent Players in the Mobile Learning Market
January 2023 — The mobile learning market is projected to increase by $15.39 billion dollars this year to reach $69.33 billion. With North America being the fastest growing region, U.S.-based companies, Dell Technologies, led by CLO Ramona Arora; Microsoft led by Simon Lambert, CLO; and IBM, led by CLO Jani Byrne Saliga, are all noted as top contenders.
Source: The Business Research Company
L&D Leaders Sharing News and Insights
Degreed’s Chief Transformation Officer Janice Burns Says Learning Improves Employee Morale
August 31, 2023 — More than a quarter of global employees in a Degreed survey said they felt that their manager didn’t fully support their professional growth over the past year. Janice Burns, the company’s chief transformation officer, says that upskilling workers is a key to sustaining retention.
Source: HRD
Coursera’s Chief Enterprise Officer Shares How One Bold Move Changed Company’s Trajectory
August 22, 2023 – Leah Belsky, chief enterprise officer at Coursera, appeared on Quartz’s Make Business Better livestream to discuss the online education platform’s risky decision to make their products free during the pandemic. The result was a transformative global learning experience for schools, businesses, and governments.
Source: Quartz
Equifax Beats Upskilling Goals With Coursera
August 8, 2023 – Lauren Thomas, senior director of global adoption, change and education, and planning and execution at Equifax, explains how the credit bureau achieved its goal to upskill 1,000 of its technologists to become cloud-certified by 2023 and, in fact, reached the milestone a couple of months early. Digital learning platform Coursera played a key role in delivering the necessary education ahead of schedule. Trena Minudri, Coursera’s VP and CLO, says that encouraged Equifax employees to continue learning and pursue additional training opportunities, such as Coursera’s Leadership Academy.
Source: Employee Benefit News
360Learning CLO Discusses L&D Team Problems
August 2, 2023 – David James, CLO at corporate learning platform provider 360Learning and host of The Learning & Development Podcast, shares his insights into the challenges L&D teams have created for themselves and how to overcome them.
Source: Forbes
AdventHealth’s CLO Explains the Value of L&D
July 24, 2023 – AdventHealth’s first-ever chief learning officer, Lamata Mitchell, shares insights she’s gained from her first year in the position. She explains how her background in academia has helped her work in L&D, as well as how that work helps the organization.
Source: HR Brew
CLO Shares Beige Flags for Employee Disengagement
July 21, 2023 – Maxwell Wessel, chief learning officer at the software company SAP, explains what behaviors might be considered workplace beige flags — a trending term for things that are not as concerning as red flags but still worth noting. Beige flags indicate that a worker is disengaged and at risk of exiting.
Source: Fast Company
RIT Certified’s Leader Shares Plans for Workforce Development
July 11, 2023 – Dennis Di Lorenzo, executive director of RIT Certified, Rochester Institute of Technology’s professional training and workforce development division, reflected on the organization’s first year in this Q&A with the RIT website. He also discussed future plans, including how they will continue investing their nearly $1.6 million in grants from New York state and area foundations for workforce development programs.
Source: Rochester Institute of Technology newsroom
Sarah Toms Explains the Power of Gaming in Business Learning
June 28, 2023 – Sarah Toms, chief learning innovation officer at the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), wrote an article for I by IMD magazine about “why gaming is the future of business learning.” However, she warns leaders to avoid naming winners and losers, which could create an overly competitive environment.
Source: I by IMD magazine
CLOs Wessel and Hull Explain Their Roles in the Future of Work
May 17, 2023 – In a World Economic Forum Q&A, Max Wessel, chief learning officer at SAP, and Patrick Hull, VP of global learning at Unilever, shared insights about the work of CLOs and how it’s been evolving over the years.
Source: World Economic Forum
L&D Leaders Being Recognized
Jay Fortuna of GoHealth, Christopher Hall of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and Francis Tan of MGM Named Finalists for the 2023 Learning in Practice Awards Finalists
September 10, 2023 – Chief Learning Officer announced finalists for its 10th annual Learning in Practices Awards, slated for October 16 in San Diego. Finalists include Jay Fortuna, VP of learning and organizational development at GoHealth; Christopher Hall, assistant commissioner for the office of training and development at U.S. Customs and Border Protection; Daniela Proust, SVP and head of global learning and growth at Siemens; and Francis Tan, vice president of learning and talent development at MGM.
Source: Chief Learning Officer
Piyush Bhartiya and Vandana Kaushik’s Companies Receive Joint Brandon Hall Group Awards
September 5, 2023 — Together, Integra Software and L&T Construction won two awards at the Brandon Hall Group HCM Excellence Awards™. The pair took home the gold award in the L&D category for best advance in custom content, and the silver award for best advance in competencies and skill development. Piyush Bhartiya is the SVP of key account management and global corporate learning at Integra, and Vandana Kaushik is head of learning and development at L&T Construction.
Source: Yahoo Finance
Addverb Wins Brandon Hall Global HCM Excellence Award for Standout Leadership and Development Strategies
August 28, 2023 – Addverb’s chief learning officer, Suumit Joshii, says winning big at the Brandon Hall Global HCM Excellence Awards reaffirms the organization’s decision to invest heavily in learning and development. The company won the gold award for their “First-Time Manager” initiative, part of the “Best Development Program for Frontline Leaders” category.
Source: APN News
Checkers and Rally’s Receives Six Awards for Outstanding Employee Training
August 24, 2023 – Checkers and Rally’s didn’t just receive two gold Stevie Awards in the “Training” and “Corporate Learning/Workforce Development Solution” categories at the 2023 International Business Awards — the restaurant chain also scored four Brandon Hall Group HCM Excellence Awards. The company’s L&D initiatives are currently led by Theresa Papaleo, senior director of learning and people development.
Source: PR Newswire
THRIVE Wins Gold Award at the Digital Technology Leaders Awards
July 10, 2023 – Online learning platform THRIVE wins top award after developing a groundbreaking project that determined the top workplace learning challenges which included a lack of access to relevant content. Led by Helen Marshall, chief learning officer, the company created an impactful solution that featured the skills to help solve common L&D problems.
Source: THRIVE newsroom
Learning Pool Named a Top Content Provider for Upskilling and Reskilling Employees
July 6, 2023 – Learning Pool, a global learning solutions provider led by Louise McElvaney, chief human resources officer, made the 2023 Learning Awards list of top content providers just after receiving the gold award for ‘External Learning Solution of the Year.’ The acknowledgement was based on criteria which considered the company’s economic growth potential, employee turnover, customer retention, social responsibility, and more.
Source: Learning News
SIIA Recognizes 50 Education Technology Products With 2023 CODiE Awards
June 22, 2023 – The Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) presented the 2023 CODiE Awards in Education Technology in a virtual celebration. Among the 50 winners are: Bookshelf + Bookshelf CoachMe from VitalSource for Best Use of Artificial Intelligence in Ed Tech and uCertify LEARN for both Best Learning Management System (LMS) and Best Virtual Learning Solution.
Source: SIIA newsroom
SIIA Recognizes 53 Business Technology Products With 2023 CODiE Awards
June 21, 2023 – The Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) presented the 2023 CODiE Awards in Business Technology in a virtual celebration. The 53 winners include: LaunchDarkly for Best DevOps Tool, Workday Adaptive Planning for Best Financial Management Solution, and Cultivate from Perceptyx for Best Upskilling of Workforce Development Solution.
Source: SIIA newsroom
Paycom Named Best Company for Career Growth By Comparably
June 16, 2023 – For the second year in a row, Paycom Software has been recognized by workplace review site Comparably with the Best Career Growth award. Jennifer Kraszewski is vice president of human resources at the HR management software provider, which earned high employee ratings for its professional development opportunities, such as career advancement, mentorship, challenging work, and frequency of valuable manager feedback.
Source: Paycom newsroom
Crafting compelling messages about your L&D successes takes time, and finding and engaging the right audiences for your messages can be even more challenging. The L&D leaders featured here are models to follow for earning media coverage or search traffic to communicate progress on their respective L&D initiatives — and for holding themselves accountable by stepping into the spotlight.
Have some learning and development (L&D) news we should add here? Please share with our Senior Executive L&D editorial team.
