The secrets about creating and curating content for learning, what L&D professionals can steal from marketing and what it takes to build a following and showcase your personal brand. Come along for an exciting conversation with content curation guru and learning consultant, Mike Taylor! 

About Mike Taylor 

Mike Taylor is a teacher at Franklin University in a program focused on how to create effective educational courses and support materials. With an MBA from Ohio University and a specialized Master's from San Diego State, he's got both the business and tech skills to back it up.  

Mike currently leads cybersecurity training and awareness at Nationwide, but before that, he did consulting and worked in an agency. He also spent two years as a Community Manager for Articulate and their eLearning Heroes community. 

Mike has taught ATD Certification course in Storyline, Instructional Design, and eLearning, and he’s a speaker who's been invited to events worldwide. So, in a nutshell, Mike’s got a ton of experience in education, technology, and public speaking, and loves sharing what he knows and helping others level up their skills. 

Connect with Mike! 

Website: https://mike-taylor.org  

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/miketaylor  

Learn more about ATD Central Iowa by visiting ⁠www.atdiowa.org⁠! 

Insights about the secrets to discovering your career path, becoming an eLearning superhero and how AI may (or may not) change the game for instructional designers and eLearning creators. This week, we’re talking to Tim Slade, Creator of The eLearning Designer’s Acadamy and one of the industry’s leading voices in eLearning! 

About Tim Slade 

Tim Slade is a speaker, author, and award-winning freelance eLearning designer. Having spent the last decade working to help others elevate their eLearning and instructional design content, Tim has been recognized and awarded within the learning and development industry multiple times for his creative and innovative design aesthetics.  

Tim is also a regular speaker at international eLearning and instructional design conferences, a recognized Articulate Super Hero, a LinkedIn Learning instructor, author of The eLearning Designer’s Handbook, and creator of The eLearning Designer’s Academy.

Connect with Tim! 

Website: www.eLearningAcademy.io  

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sladetim/  

Learn more about ATD Central Iowa by visiting ⁠www.atdiowa.org⁠! 

Preparing students for their post-college career, the evolving needs of the emerging workforce and the best things leaders can to do support young professionals. Join us for a special conversation with Kristin Economos, Senior Director of the Adam’s Leadership Institute at Drake University and owner of The Life Skills Launch, LLC! 

About Kristin Economos  

Kristin Economos is the owner and founder of the Life Skills Launch; a consulting business that equips young professionals with skills for the launch to adulthood. She also serves as the Director of the Adams Leadership Institute at Drake University; an undergraduate leadership program designed to train students in self-awareness, collaboration, and organizational skills.  

Prior to her current roles, Kristin earned her bachelor and master’s degrees from Iowa State University and has worked professionally for 14 years in college admission, academic advising, curriculum design, and leadership development.  

In her free time, she works toward her annual 30x30 project - a personal goal to read 30 books a year, each year of her thirties. She loves cooking, hosting, and her drooly golden retriever, George. 

Connect with Kristin! 

Website: www.lifeskillslaunch.com 

The secrets to designing engaging and compelling eLearning courses, honing your craft as a designer and what makes for an ideal onboarding program. Join us as we talk with Jeni Johnson, Senior Instructional Designer at Traliant, for a wide-ranging conversation and peek behind the curtain about how to create stunning and meaningful training courses. 

About Jeni Johnson  

Jeni has been involved in learning and development in some capacity her whole life. As the oldest, she grew up teaching her sisters, and in college, one her first jobs was teaching other students how to create photographs for their design portfolios. It may sound corny, but mentoring, teaching, and guiding others is in her blood and is truly who she is. 

While in L&D, she’s been able to work with various industries like healthcare, non-profit, government, higher education, and corporate. 

Connect with Jeni 

LinkedIn 

Learn more about ATD Central Iowa by visiting ⁠www.atdiowa.org⁠! 

The secrets and research behind why psychological safety is critical for the modern-day leader, what’s trending in leadership development and how emerging technology like AI is shaping the talent development game. Tune in for an exciting conversation with Molly Mackey, longtime supporter of ATD Central Iowa, KAT Director for Optimae Lifeservices and Chief Learning Officer of the LEAdeRNship Institute! 

About Molly Mackey 

Molly J. Mackey is a speaker, author and trainer of leaders. She believes that by intentionally intersecting the ongoing journeys of leadership and learning we can create better leaders and Better Leaders = Better Lives™. 

Molly is the founder and chief learning officer of the LEAdeRNship Institute. She also serves as the Director of Knowledge Acquisition and Transfer at Optimae LifeServices. Molly has over 18 years of business and speaking experience. She has a passion for business, strategy, leadership and learning. She has taught business classes at a collegiate level since 2009 and currently partners with community colleges and other organizations offering training. 

Molly lives in Jesup, IA with her partner and has four children ages 1 to 16. 

Her books include: 

“52 Powerful Reflection Questions for Leaders” 

“52 Powerful Reflection Questions for Emotionally Intelligent Leaders” 

"52 Powerful Reflection Questions for Teams" 

Connect with Molly 

LinkedIn 

Website   

Learn more about ATD Central Iowa by visiting ⁠www.atdiowa.org⁠! 

The importance of community involvement, the intersection of volunteerism and professional development and why formal learning isn’t always the answer for building new skills. Join us this week for a wide-ranging conversation with Rona Berinobis, SVP of Corporate Social Responsibility, Organizational Development and Internal Communications at Athene USA! 

About Rona Berinobis: 

In addition to serving on multiple community boards, Rona leads Athene’s foundation, community relations, talent development, employee engagement and internal communications initiatives. In this combination of accountabilities, she has the unique opportunity to lead impactful experiences in the workplace and the community.   

Prior to joining Athene, she worked at Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield. At Wellmark, Rona developed and executed an award-winning diversity, equity and inclusion movement to maximize organizational effectiveness. Rona’s expertise is in strategic development, employee engagement, change management, coaching and consulting. 

Learn more about ATD Central Iowa by visiting ⁠www.atdiowa.org⁠! 

The secrets to unlocking your innovation, creating a culture of idea generation and why failure can ultimately lead to extraordinary success. It’s time for a conversation with author, keynote speaker and former CEO of the Iowa Lottery and Blank Park Zoo, Terry Rich! 

About Terry Rich: 

Terry Rich is a disruptive innovator and entrepreneur with a drive for integrity and honesty. He’s worked in the trenches, survived the new business trends, and had success with generational changes. Oh, and he’s given away over one billion dollars. 

It's time to welcome the fraud-busting, creative and lucky Terry Rich.   

Creative.  Lucky.  Energetic.  Fraud-busting. 

Terry Rich is a successful CEO and President of 25 years who loves to engage and entertain audiences across the globe. 

Under his leadership, state lottery sales and profits increased by 50%.  He also led the Blank Park Zoo to profitability from a $600,000 deficit while positioning it as the second largest attended attraction in the state.  But his national insight on business, banking, gaming, TV production, marketing and PR led him to success in his professional career and to his passion for public speaking.  Oh, and he’s also given away over $1 billion.  

Terry led the team that cracked the largest lottery fraud in US history.  During the investigation, Terry oversaw day-to-day operations while considering long-term consequences, adapting quickly to change, and delivering on promises.  

Before that, he started four successful entrepreneurial businesses, and has numerous national media appearances including ABC, NBC, HBO, CBS, 20/20, CNN, CNBC, USA Today and The New York Times; a movie host on Starz! and appeared as a panel guest on the "Tonight Show".  His production of a Fox Sports show called “Socker Slam” is currently a featured documentary on the Hearst streaming service “Very Local”.  

He’s a disruptive innovator and entrepreneur with a drive for integrity and honesty. He’s worked in the trenches, survived new business trends, and had success with generational changes.  Terry’s keynotes are energetic, motivating, and perfect for an early morning, lunch or after dinner presentation.  

Terry Rich has authored two books: The $80 Billion Gamble and Dare to Dream, Dare to Act.  

Connect with Terry  
Website: www.terryspeaks.com 
⁠LinkedIn⁠ 
Facebook 

Learn more about ATD Central Iowa by visiting ⁠www.atdiowa.org⁠! 

We’re shifting gears this week for an exciting conversation with Gianna Pugliese, Intercultural Outreach Coordinator with the West Des Moines Community School District. Listen in as Gianna talks about the intersection of K-12 education and corporate learning, the difference between guilt and shame and how acknowledging our biases leads to stronger learning outcomes. 
 

About Gianna Pugliese: 

Originally from Chicago, Gianna moved to Des Moines in 2016 to pursue her MSEd in Literacy at Drake University. She started working with Adult ELLs in 2017 at Lutheran Services in Iowa, where she taught Beginning English to our newest neighbors who were illiterate in their native languages. In her 4 years at LSI, Gianna was also the adult Refugee Education Coordinator, overseeing the Education Department.  

In 2021, she transitioned to the West Des Moines Community School District to advocate for foreign-born students and their families. Gianna is passionate about shifting the narrative from one that is deficit-focused towards a strengths-based lens where educators promote self-efficacy and humanity. 

Connect with Gianna  
⁠LinkedIn⁠ 
 

Learn more about ATD Central Iowa by visiting ⁠www.atdiowa.org⁠! 

We’re getting knowledge for days as we talk to Amy Pfeifer, Sr. Talent Consultant at Principal for a peek behind the curtain at what talent development looks like for a global FORTUNE 500 company, current trends in employee development needs and an introduction to heutagogy!

About Amy Pfeifer:
Amy has been working in the world of talent development for about 15 years, starting her journey as a technical trainer onboarding new employees. Since then, she's held a broad range of learning and development roles and responsibilities: facilitation (technical and soft-skills), instructional design, curriculum development, consulting & training project management, development of new trainers, and
formal leadership. Amy currently sits within Human Resources and runs programs and consults around the topics of skills and career development.

She has a Master's degree in Leadership Development from Drake University and is currently finishing a Ph.D in Education from Drake University, focused on adult learners. Amy is also an adjunct professor at Drake University and has taught courses on understanding self and others, global leadership, ethics & culture, and instructional design.

Connect with Amy
LinkedIn

Learn more about ATD Central Iowa by visiting www.atdiowa.org!