Who doesn't love a good cup of coffee?
Isn't it great that we live in the Kansas City Metro Area that is blessed with so many great cafes? So we thought, why not do informal coffee meetings so we all get to meet each other, learn, and build our network?
Morning meeting times are simple, informal coffee sessions... good for networking, relaxing, and also to ask any questions to our Membership team and board members.
For a little relaxation, we've added a happy hour time... still great for networking, relaxing, and questions. This time, just over a beer.
Consider yourself invited.
PS: If you bring a non-member, yours and their first drink is on the house!!
Join the “Design for All” Book Club Join us, each week (6 weeks), where we'll explore a different chapter of Design for All, diving into themes of inclusive learning, accessibility, and innovation — all through the voices of the book’s contributors. It’s a chance to connect, learn, and grow with others who care deeply about creating equitable learning experiences.
register for Book Club: Design for All
**NOTE: When you register for Book Club, you will be sent a link to register for the ZOOM meeting separately.
Save the Date! As part of our Learning Technologies Special Interest Group, we’re thrilled to host Sarah Mercier, the editor of Design for All and a nationally recognized expert in accessible learning design. Hear directly from Sarah about how design can (and should) include everyone — and what that means for your own learning programs.
️July 8th, 2025, 4 -5 pm CST via ZOOM
REGISTER FOR sPECIAL iNTEREST gROUP wEBINAR
Author & Featured Speaker
Sarah Mercier, MBA, CPACC, specializes in innovative learning technology and strategic implementation of learning solutions. She is an advocate for learner-centered design and is known for her ability to translate highly technical concepts and research to real-world practice.
As the CEO of Build Capable, she leads an organization that prioritizes inclusive design, equity, and accessibility in all aspects of its products and services. Sarah brings together matrix teams of training, design, and technology experts to work with organizations in a wide range of industries, from small, community nonprofits to global corporations.
Sarah is a published author and editor in a wide range of books and other training and workforce publications, including Design for All Learners: Create Accessible and Inclusive Learning Experiences, ATD’s 2020 Trends in Learning Technology, The Book of Road-Tested Activities, TD Magazine, Learning Solutions Magazine, and CLO Magazine. She is an international facilitator for the Association for Talent Development and a frequent speaker at industry conferences and business events in the areas of instructional and learning technology strategy.
SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP (SIG) - TALENT STRATEGY
PERFORMANCE REVIEWS:
IS YOURS JUST CHECKING THE BOX?
ATD Kansas City is proud to introduce our newest Special Interest Group: Talent Strategy. To kick things off, we're launching a 5-part series that brings together experts and practitioners to reframe the role of performance reviews and explore how they can grow your business, your people, and your bottom line. Each session offers actionable strategies, tools, and insights to turn your performance review process into a true strategic advantage.
Program Description
Learning Objectives
Facilitator Bios
Giulia Brutesco, P.Eng. is a John Maxwell Certified Coach, Certified Behavioral Consultant, and professional engineer who helps emerging leaders grow into confident, impactful decision-makers. With 15+ years of experience in policy, stakeholder engagement, and organizational strategy, she’s known for turning complex challenges into simple, powerful solutions. As a coach and facilitator, Giulia empowers her clients to lead with clarity, confidence, and impact.
Rachel Schell, is the founder of RASPersonalized Solutions, where she helps organizations turn training into a strategic advantage. With over 15 years of experience in learning and development across healthcare, tech, government, and manufacturing, she specializes in designing engaging, real-world learning solutions that drive impact. Rachel believes training should be more than a requirement – it should be simple, effective, and personalized to each organization’s unique needs.
ATD Capabilities
July Webinar
How to Improve your Employee Experience through Employee Journey Mapping
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
Employee Journey Mapping is a powerful tool to help organizations understand and improve the stages of an employee’s journey. It can help organizations understand the “moments that matter” for employees and improve the employee experience. They can help you gain a better understanding of employee’s needs.
In this talk, you will learn about the fundamentals of employee journey mapping. By understanding the learnings an employee journey map can offer, you can find those critical “moments that matter” for employees.
Paul Lopushinsky, founder of Playficient, will work through a practical example of building an employee journey map by navigating through the map that comes from a cumulation of past client work and best practices.
SPEAKER BIO
Paul Lopushinsky (Law-puh-shin-ski) is the founder of Playficient, a consultancy helping organizations create better employee experiences.
Areas of focus for Playficient include the following:
Paul has worked with organizations such as Ronald McDonald House, The British Columbia Lottery Corporation, UXPressia, and Culture Amp.
Paul’s work has been featured in the BBC, Harvard Business Review, Association for Talent Development, and People Managing People.
Links:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
ATD CAPABILITIES
Impacting Organizational Capability
This session has been approved for recertification credits by the Association for Talent Development.
Free Webinar: Discover the Value of ATD Certification (CPTD & APTD)
Date: July 23, 2025, 6:30pm
Location: Virtual
ATD Talent Development Capability Model
The Talent Development Capability Model outlines the essential knowledge and skills practitioners need to succeed in developing themselves, others, and their organizations. It serves as your blueprint for making an impact.
About ATD Certification
The APTD and CPTD certifications set the standard for expertise in talent development. They showcase your commitment to the field and validate your skills.
Join this informational session to explore the ATD Capability Model and learn about our collaborative study group series. Ideal for those considering certification or looking to deepen their knowledge, this session requires no commitment to testing or participation in the study group.
For complete series information, including dates and topics, CLICK HERE
What’s in It for You?
Certification Study Series
Dates: August 6 - November 19, 2025
Orientation: July 30, 2025
Time: Weekly meetings on Wednesday nights, 6:30 - 7:30 PM CST
Cost: $65
Register here
Are you preparing for the ATD Certified Professional in Talent Development (CPTD) or Associate Professional in Talent Development (APTD) exam? Join our ATD Multi-Chapter Certification Study Group for structured, collaborative study sessions designed to help you stay accountable, gain insights from certified facilitators, and connect with fellow candidates..
For complete series information, including dates and topics, VISIT HERE.
What to Expect:
Who Should Attend?
Registration & Commitment
RESERVE YOUR SPOT TODAY & TAKE THE NEXT STEP TOWARDS ATD CERTIFICATION.
Learn more about the study group, including dates and topics, VISIT HERE.
The purpose of the C&E SIG is to provide an environment within ATD KC where independent consultants, contractors, and business owners can thrive! This unique community of talent developers, instructional designers, learning consultants, and business owners will meet to:
On the second Thursday of each month, the C&E SIG will hold virtual meet-ups and quarterly in-person events for facilitated networking, knowledge sharing, and socializing. Bring your tough questions and challenges as a business owner for the group to solve with their wealth of knowledge and experience.
Put it on your calendar today so you can join us in growing together as a group!
September Webinar
Teach the Geek to Speak - Developing Training Programs for Technical Staff
AI. Green technology. Augmented reality. All these topics are popular nowadays. Companies are either using them directly or developing products that incorporate them. Organizations need people who have the aptitude to learn technically complex topics quickly. The technical staff are these people. For a variety of reasons, though, technical professionals can struggle with effectively communicating these topics, especially to non-technical audiences. TD leaders can help overcome this challenge by developing speaker training programs for the technical staff. In this session, we will discuss why developing a speaker program makes sense, what developing a speaker program entails, and how to track the usefulness of the program.
This session is for TD leaders who recognize the issue of their technical staff struggling to convey technical information that others in the organization can understand and appreciate and are open to the idea of establishing speaker training programs to address the issue.
Neil Thompson is an engineer-turned-communication coach dedicated to helping STEM professionals enhance their public speaking skills. After experiencing challenges in conveying complex technical information to non-technical audiences, he founded Teach the Geek, a platform designed to empower technical experts to communicate more effectively.
Through Teach the Geek, Neil collaborates with organizations to develop customized speaker training programs for technical staff, aiming to transform technically proficient employees into confident communicators.
Neil also hosts the Teach the Geek podcast, where he interviews STEM professionals about their public speaking journeys, and has authored the book Teach the Geek to Speak: A No-Fluff Public Speaking Guide for STEM Professionals.
In addition to his coaching and writing, Neil contributes to publications such as Inc. Magazine, sharing insights on effective communication strategies for technical audiences.
Consult > Design > Deliver! A Foundational L&D Practitioner's Series
This series is designed for early- to mid-career Learning & Development professionals eager to build practical, real-world skills. Whether you're an instructional designer, facilitator, or talent development leader, this series will equip you with the tools and frameworks to elevate your L&D practice.
Session 2: From Concept to Prototype
Bring your learners’ needs into sharp focus and turn ideas into concrete learning assets. In this hands-on session, you will:
You will leave with a vetted instruction roadmap ready for final development.
Save the Date for Session 3
Dr. Dan Jensen is a higher education professional in both leadership and faculty roles. He has developed innovative and impactful curriculum/process designs for executive MBA, professional MBA, and undergraduate programs. He leverages his past experiences as an executive coach, educator and training/organization development professional to help his students achieve their potential. His research interests include entrepreneurship, strategy, organization development, organizational behavior, strategic career management, and advances in educational technology and online learning. He currently serves as Director of UCM’s MBA program.
With three decades of experience in talent development, Shannon Swift has designed and delivered over 10,000 hours of training across both in-person and virtual platforms. Specializing in leadership development, communication, customer service, and train-the-trainer programs, she has partnered both internally and externally with organizations to implement transformative learning solutions. Now teaching graduate and undergraduate courses at the University of Central Missouri, Shannon is focused on business communications, human resources management, and other talent development-related courses. She also contracts with Kansas City-based companies to provide learning facilitation and leadership coaching services.
Fee: $30 Members / $50 Non-Members
In this Lunch & Learn, we will hear from three TD professions (15 minutes each) who will share their communication strategy to support leadership development (nominations, selection, updates for supervisors/senior leadership and executive overview).
Facilitator Bio
Amy Swaminathan, CPTD® loves helping others reach their full potential. She’s a champion for driving your own career through ongoing development, learning from others, and using the benefits an ATD membership provides.
Amy has over two decades of learning and organizational development experience that includes leadership and employee experience design, facilitation, coaching, instructional design, and organizational effectiveness consulting. She earned the Certified Professional in Talent Development (CPTD) credential in 2018 and continues to learn to earn recertification requirements to impact personal, team, and organization strategies.
She finds great joy in traveling with her husband and son, watching KC Chiefs football, and helping others advocate for their aging parents.
Session 3: Delivery & Evaluation - Launching for Impact
Move from “nearly ready” to “live and measurable.” This capstone workshop focuses on executing, evaluating, and sustaining your learning initiative. Participants will:
By day’s end you will have a launch checklist, evaluation instruments, and a strategy for showcasing results—positioning your program for scalable, demonstrable success.
Mailing Address:
