Helping talent development professionals thrive and flourish in their careers.

A strategic and accomplished talent development leader with extensive experience creating global workforce development strategies, Brandon Carson recently led global and domestic learning programs at Starbucks. He is currently the Chief Learning Officer at Docebo, where he travels the world promoting their product and the future of learning.

Brandon has been honored with several industry awards, including the ATD BEST Award, the Learning Guild People's Choice Award, and three Brandon Hall Awards for Best Custom Learning Design. He is the author of Learning in the Age of Immediacy: Five Factors for How We Connect, Communicate, and Get Work Done and L&D's Playbook for the Digital Age, both from ATD Press. He has also served on the board of the North American Simulation and Gaming Association and the ATD TK conference committee.

Dawn Baron founded Passion Profits Consulting in 2008 to help businesses and learning professionals find solutions to obstacles in the corporate learning space. She is a strategic and creative problem solver, marketer, facilitator, and speaker with a special interest in helping companies and organizations focus on talent, learning, wellness, and D&I strategies.

Before starting her consultancy, Dawn served as Vice President of Marketing for the Association for Talent Development. Today, she focuses on elevating messaging for learning opportunities, strategies, and technologies that support a future workforce appreciative of diversity, continuous skill development, and the balance between people and business needs. Dawn has master's degrees in Business with a focus on Organizational Development and in Public Management with a focus on Social Policy from the University of Maryland.

Debbie Richards, president of Creative Interactive Ideas, supports talent development clients with technology challenges. She updates her job knowledge by researching new technologies and software products, participating in educational opportunities such as learning conferences and webinars, and contributing to professional organizations.

Passionate about working with and mentoring other learning professionals, Debbie is the past president of the ATD Houston chapter and a past National Advisor for Chapters. She was the ATD Technology Conference Advisory Council chairperson for 2019 and is the author of Seeing the Possibilities With Augmented Reality, an ATD TD at Work publication. She was awarded the title of Guild Master by the Learning Guild in 2022.

Kimo Kippen is a native of Hawaii and currently alternates between Warsaw, Poland, and Honolulu. Kimo is a thought leader, speaker, and advocate for learning, a former executive at Hilton and Marriott, and was recognized by CLO Magazine as the 2015 CLO of the Year. He is a former chairman of ATD, chairman of APIA Scholars, and a board member for the Center for Talent Reporting and CTDO Next.

Kimo serves as an advisory board member at CAEL, CLO advisor at the Defense Acquisition University, and advisory board member for Strategic Education Inc., Gnowbe, Rochester Institute of Technology, World Institute for Action Learning, and GP Strategies. He is a Program Director for The Conference Board Talent & Organizational Development Executive Council, USA and the Learning & Development Council, Europe. He is also an adjunct professor and advisor at Catholic University of America and George Mason University.

Over the last 20 years, Michelle Lentz has become a recognized leader in learning and AI strategy within the corporate space and has frequently presented at industry events. Michelle runs Innovate+Elevate Strategies, where she focuses on AI strategy, AI instruction, and change management with a focus on AI. She has worked as a Learning and AI Strategist at ELB Learning, previously modernized the training strategy for UPS global call centers, and led the HR Custom Learning team for Oracle.

Michelle holds a graduate certification in AI in Business from Arizona State University and will complete her Master of Science in the same area in August 2026. She holds certifications in Prompt Engineering, Synchronous Training, Integrated Talent Management, Hogan Assessments, and 360 Feedback. Michelle has written two AI guides and contributed to several books, including Ready, Set, Curate: 8 Learning Experts Tell You How and L&D's Playbook for the Digital Age.

Penny Carson leads the Managed Learning Services team for Clarity Consultants. Previously, she led the learning design and development team for Meta's Global Sales Learning. Penny also worked for NetApp, where her charter was to implement agile learning design methodologies and transform the development process by integrating dynamic, next-generation learning methods.

The breadth of her talent development work focuses on the intersection of strategy and organizational transformation. Penny joined the L&D Cares team to advocate for the individuals who make up the profession and to help build capability in others as they achieve their career goals.

Robyn A. Defelice, PhD, is an industry thought leader, author, and presenter with over 20 years in the L&D field. She is the co-author of Microlearning: Short and Sweet and has been researching how long it takes to develop training for over a decade.

Robyn's diverse capabilities provide her clients with customized, pragmatic solutions. Her experience spans corporate to manufacturing, government to higher education, and nonprofits to startups. Her passion comes from empowering her peers. She is happiest when collaborating with L&D leadership and teams to get them to the decision-making table. She is currently serving as the VP of Programming for ATD Central PA and is a member of Learning Leaders Alliance through The Learning Guild.