ATD PHL Greater Philadelphia Chapter upcoming events

Career SIG Management Webinar: “The EQ Advantage: Navigating and Advancing Your Career in Talent Development” (July 22, 2026)

Wed, 22 Jul 2026 21:30:00 GMT

Whether you’re transitioning into Talent Development, growing within the field, or preparing for your next opportunity, technical expertise alone is rarely enough to move your career forward. Emotional intelligence (EQ) is often the differentiator that influences who gets hired, promoted, and trusted to lead.

In this interactive session, participants will explore how EQ shows up in real career moments including interviews, networking, stakeholder relationships, leadership visibility, and career transitions. Through practical examples and guided reflection, the session will examine the four core EQ competencies—self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management—and how they directly impact career growth and professional presence.

Attendees will identify their own EQ strengths and growth areas, gain strategies for managing career-related stress and uncertainty, and learn actionable techniques to communicate with greater clarity, influence, and confidence. Participants will leave with practical tools they can immediately apply to strengthen relationships, increase career mobility, and navigate the evolving Talent Development landscape more effectively.

Presenter:

Dr. Michael Brenner | Founder & CEO

As founder and CEO of Right Chord Leadership, Dr. Michael Brenner collaborates with leaders and teams at all levels to strengthen the essential skills needed for peak performance. He is the author of Strike the Right Chord: The Emerging Leader’s Guide to Exceptional Performance and has partnered with leading organizations in a variety of industries, including Penn Medicine, the City of Philadelphia, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Boeing, and United Way.

Michael has been a featured speaker at industry events and conferences around the world, including South Asia, Canada and Australia. He holds a doctorate in Adult Learning and Leadership from Columbia University and a master’s degree in Adult and Organizational Development from Temple University. He has taught courses in organizational behavior, negotiation skills, and interpersonal relations (among others) at American University, Temple University, and La Salle University. Currently, Michael is a guest lecturer at Penn State University.

Learning Conference (September 15, 2026)

Tue, 15 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT

ATD Greater Philadelphia and the Villanova College of Professional Studies are pleased to announce our first ever Learning Conference to be held on September 15th, 2026 (this will be an all-day event) at the Inn at Villanova University.

LIBERATE YOUR LEARNING

Two hundred fifty years ago, Philadelphia became the birthplace of a revolution that changed the world.

Visionaries challenged convention, questioned the status quo, and embraced bold new ideas that shaped the future.

Today, we face a different kind of revolution. The way we learn, lead, innovate, and work is evolving faster than ever before.

The question is not whether change is coming.

The question is whether you'll lead it.

Join us as we Liberate Your Learning and discover the ideas, strategies, and breakthroughs shaping the workplace of tomorrow.

Explore the speakers. Discover the sessions. Lead the revolution.

Join us for an all-day conference, September 15^th, 2026, at the Inn at Villanova University. The following speakers have committed with more to come!

From Vanity Metrics to Performance Intelligence: The New Kirkpatrick Model

Vanessa Milara Alzate

Talent development teams are under pressure to deliver insight that drives performance, not just report on participation. This session reframes evaluation as a leadership capability, walking through the 2026 Kirkpatrick Model updates and how to apply them in real-world performance systems. Participants will leave with the mindset and tools to shift from proving training to improving business outcomes.

Why Attend?

You’ll learn how to apply the new Kirkpatrick Model as a strategic framework for organizational performance, not just training evaluation. You will also learn how to identify common misuses of the model and strengthen executive partnerships by demonstrating value in ways that resonate with business leaders.

About The Speaker
Vanessa Milara Alzate is the Owner and CEO of Kirkpatrick Partners and Founder of Anchored Training. With more than fifteen years of experience, she has guided organizations across industries including life sciences, federal government, and the Department of Defense, and she is the author of Building a Culture of Evaluation and the steward of the globally recognized Kirkpatrick Model.

Identify and Overcome Your Bottleneck Behavior Type

Emily Morgan

Every leader has a Bottleneck Behavior Type that can stunt growth, weaken a culture of delegation, and keep them from making their most impactful contribution. In this session, you will identify your bottleneck type and discover how defensive habits that may have once been protective can hinder business growth and leadership potential. You will also learn how to recognize limiting behaviors and apply practical strategies that support personal growth and organizational success.

Why Attend?
You will gain insight into how your leadership style may be creating bottlenecks and to recognize behaviors that can stunt organizational progress. You will gain frameworks you can apply immediately to strengthen collaboration, delegation, and leadership effectiveness.

About the Speaker
Emily Morgan is a delegation and productivity expert, Founder and CEO of Delegate Solutions, a fractional executive assistant firm, and Verve, a leadership training company that provides workshops, coaching, and certification on delegation. She is a UPenn alum and author of Let It Go!, published by ATD, and has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, The New York Times, and Inc.

Scaling Through AI Starts With Leadership

Alec McChesney

AI can do the work of many, but only a leadership team and leaders can build the team that earns the return. This session walks through five themes that separate leaders who scale from those who stall.

Why Attend?
In this session, we will explore how AI fluency, team design, leadership readiness, the B2 Formula, and coaching forward can help leaders prepare teams to scale through AI.

About the Speaker
As Vice President of Revenue at Velocity Advisory Group, Alec McChesney works with organizations that want to develop stronger leaders, align their culture, and create real momentum for their teams. Velocity is an experienced advisory firm focused on helping leaders and organizations activate greatness through leadership development, executive coaching, cultural alignment, strategic planning, and data-driven insights.

Designing Learning That Sticks: Evidence-based Strategies for Retention and Transfer

Brian Gall

Many learning experiences are designed to deliver information efficiently, yet far fewer are designed to help learners retain and apply what they have learned over time. This session explores evidence-based strategies that strengthen long-term retention and transfer in workplace learning, including retrieval practice, spaced learning, worked examples, interleaving, and authentic application activities. The session also addresses common design pitfalls, including cognitive overload, passive content delivery, and assessments that measure recall but not performance.

Why Attend?
You will learn how to shift from content transmission to learning experiences that support durable understanding and on-the-job performance. You will leave with actionable ideas for redesigning existing programs and building new learning experiences that are more effective, efficient, and aligned with real-world performance goals.

About the Speaker
Brian Gall received his Master of Science in Education with a specialization in Instructional Systems from Penn State University and his Bachelor of Science in Business Education from Shippensburg University. His professional experience includes roles as a high school teacher, director of technology, IT program director, corporate and higher education instructional designer, director of online programs, and Director of Learning Experience Design at Villanova University.

From Executive Vision to Team Execution: Leadership Patterns That Scale Performance

Dan Gallagher

Organizations struggle when executive vision fails to translate into execution across teams. This session explores how leaders build scalable systems that activate middle managers and accelerate business performance through healthier leadership patterns.

Why Attend?
In this session, you’ll gain the ability to pinpoint the leadership patterns that accelerate or slow execution through meetings, communication, and decision-making rhythms. You will learn how to shift from an escalation culture to a proposal-driven culture and apply a practical framework for distributing leadership closer to execution.

About the Speaker
Dan Gallagher is the author of The Self-Aware Leader, published by ATD Press. He advises leaders and teams on how to activate stronger cross-functional performance through self-awareness, operating rhythm, and leadership reinvention, with a focus on helping executive teams and middle managers create scalable patterns that accelerate profitable growth.

Shine a Light How to Listen So Others Feel Heard

Christine Miles

Listening is a strategic leadership lever: people from individual contributors to the C-suite can benefit from closing the listening gap, the space between what’s said and what’s understood, helping people feel heard, trusted, and aligned. In this session, you’ll gain a concrete framework and tools you can use immediately in high-stakes meetings, one-on-ones, and decision-making moments. Through an interactive, story-driven approach, participants will see how small shifts in how they ask, respond, and check understanding can improve trust, clarity, and execution.

Why Attend?
Even skilled listeners can fail to understand others accurately and to recognize the cognitive and emotional obstacles that affect listening. You will learn two practical listening tools that can reduce misunderstandings and improve connection in everyday conversations.

About the Speaker
Christine Miles is a global pioneer in listening intelligence, host of the Shine a Light podcast, TEDx and keynote speaker, award-winning author, and founder of The Listening Path®. Her work is used by Fortune 100 companies and in classrooms across three countries, and she helps leaders, educators, students, and changemakers turn listening into a strategic advantage.

Designing Successful Change

Cassie Solomon

Between 50-75% of change initiatives fail. This session shows how to be an architect of successful change in your organization or in your life. The talk is based on the Wharton book Leading Successful Change, co-authored by Cassie Solomon.

Why Attend?
You will learn how to engage stakeholders in designing change and understand the behaviors that will make up your vision for the future. You will leave with a personal roadmap for a change you want to design.

About the Speaker
Cassie A. Solomon is an organizational development consultant and executive coach, and the founder and president of The New Group Consulting, a firm dedicated to helping leaders design and implement successful change. She is trained as a futurist, holds an MBA in Operations from the Wharton School of Business and a degree in Organizational Behavior from Yale University, and teaches at the Wharton School's Aresty Institute for Executive Education.

Safe Enough to Stay Quiet

Jessica Toledo, MHRM, SHRM-CP

Most leaders think no news is good news. This session shows HR and leadership why silence is usually a signal and how to respond to it without making it worse.

Why Attend?
You will learn how to recognize workplace signals that indicate draining psychological safety on a team and apply the Signal Scan diagnostic tool to assess a team, manager, or individual. You will learn how to reframe disengagement as a response to the environment and use trauma-informed language techniques to open higher-quality leadership conversations.

About the Speaker
Jessica Toledo is the Founder and CEO of ALMA HRM™ and a fractional HR strategist with over a decade of leadership experience across corporate, union, education, and startup environments. She holds a Master's in Human Resource Management and SHRM-CP certification, and her proprietary A.L.M.A.™ Framework helps organizations reduce turnover, strengthen leadership, and build healthier cultures.

Liberating Learning Through Reverse Mentoring

Dr. Sanghamitra (Sonai) Chaudhuri, Associate Professor, Temple University

Dr. Armando X. Estrada, Professor, Temple University

Jawaria Ashraf, Doctoral Candidate, Temple University

What if your next great teacher is the newest hire in the room? Reverse mentoring challenges traditional hierarchies by positioning junior employees as mentors to senior leaders, unlocking hidden expertise and fresh perspectives.

Why Attend?

This interactive session explores how reverse mentoring drives inclusion, innovation, and leadership growth while strengthening organizational learning cultures.

Participants will leave with a practical framework and a ready-to-launch 90-day pilot to implement in their own organizations.

About the Speakers

Dr. Sanghamitra (Sonai) Chaudhuri is an Associate Professor of Training and Organizational Development at Temple University's College of Education and Human Development and earned her PhD in Human Resource Development from the University of Minnesota. Her research focuses on reverse mentoring, intergenerational workforces, work-life balance, and the leadership of immigrant and Asian women in academia. With over 15 years of training and consulting experience, she serves as an Associate Editor of Human Resource Development Quarterly, is a board member of the Academy of Human Resource Development, and is a global speaker and consultant whose work has been featured in The Washington Post, Forbes, Financial Times, and The Wall Street Journal.

Dr. Armando X. Estrada is a Professor of Policy, Organizational and Leadership Studies at Temple University's College of Education and Human Development. His research focuses on factors influencing cohesion, resilience, readiness and effectiveness, as well as on factors influencing prejudice, harassment, and discrimination in academic and work organizations in the United States, Sweden, and Mexico. He served as President of the Society for Military Psychology in 2011 and as Editor-in-Chief of Military Psychology 2005-2020.

Jawaria Ashraf Abbasi is a PhD student in Policy, Organizational & Leadership Studies. She specializes in women’s workplace experiences, human resource development, and mentoring. She has presented her research at AERA and AHRD international conferences and serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Women and Gender in Higher Education. Her work examines gender, mentoring, and equity in professional settings.

ATD Greater Philadelphia Chapter programs are pre-approved by the ATD Certification Institute for continuing education credits. These credits are based on the ATD Capability Model and may be applied towards initial eligibility and recertification for Certified Professional in Talent Development (CPTD) and Associate Professional in Talent Development (APTD) credentials.

ATD Certification Credits for this program: 6

Delaware GIG: "Communicating Up: How to Effectively Communicate with Leadership" (October 01, 2026)

Thu, 01 Oct 2026 21:30:00 GMT

As trainers and professionals, our ability to communicate effectively with leadership is critical to driving change, gaining support, and advancing our mission. This dynamic and engaging session will empower you to:

Break through common communication barriers with leadership
Gain insight into how leaders think, prioritize, and make decisions
Communicate your ideas with clarity, confidence, and professionalism
Strengthen your influence and effectiveness within your organization

Through meaningful discussion and hands-on activities, you will leave equipped with practical tools you can immediately apply to enhance your leadership presence and professional impact.

Location: 

Widener University
Delaware Law School
4601 Concord Pike
Wilmington, Delaware 19803

The event is located at Project New Start (PNS), which is a green two-story building on the law school campus.

Park in any available, unreserved space.

Directions & Parking:

From Philadelphia and Points North: I-95 south to Exit 8/Route 202 North - Concord Pike.*

From Baltimore and Points South: I-95 north to Exit 8/Route 202 North – Concord Pike.*

From Pennsylvania Turnpike (Route 76): Take Exit 23/Downingtown off the turnpike and follow Route 100 South to Route 202 (approximately 15 minutes). Travel south on Route 202 into Delaware. Two miles past the state line, on the left side of Route 202, is the Delaware Law School.

From New Jersey: New Jersey Turnpike, 295 South or 40 West to Delaware Memorial Bridge. Take I-95 North to Exit 8/Route 202 North - Concord Pike.

Widener University Delaware Law School is five miles north of the exit (Exit 8) on the right side of Route 202 (Concord Pike).

Enter the campus at the traffic light entrance on Route 202. Drive into the parking lot and make a left.

Agenda

5:30 - 6:15 pm	Networking/Light Dinner
6:15 - 6:30 pm	Chapter Announcements
6:30 - 8:00 pm	Presentation

Speaker

Tracey Connolly:

Tracey Connolly is the owner of Engage Training, LLC, and currently travels the country as a consultant, facilitating workshops and seminars on leadership skills, communication, and interpersonal skills. She spent more than 20 years developing employees at the Delaware Departments of Human Resources, Finance, and Labor. While with the Department of Human Resources, she created and led the State of Delaware’s leadership development program and served as the Statewide Recognition Coordinator.

Tracey earned a doctorate in 2002, with a focus on innovation and leadership. When not conducting training, she volunteers for the local YWCA, is a regular platelet donor, and enjoys performing in a local Irish band.