Speakers

With roots as a high school teacher and varsity basketball coach, Ramona brings over twenty-five years of international experience focused on helping individuals maximize their potential and supporting organizations in developing their people in meaningful ways. Often referred to as a “talent tinkerer,” she infuses her expertise in career cognition, business strategy, mobility, and talent technologies to create modern, measurable talent solutions. She was recognized as the 2022 Chief Learning Officer of the Year by CLO Magazine while serving as Chief Learning Officer at Dell Technologies and is a recipient of the University of Texas at Austin President’s Award for outstanding contributions to the success of the University’s nationally ranked MBA program.

Ramona’s leadership is pushing the boundaries of HR talent strategies to drive business impact by transcending traditional approaches. She incorporates behavioral science, AI/ML, automation, kinesthetic and simulation-based experiences, data science, social learning, and even film.

Chrissie is a visionary Learning & Development executive with over 20 years of experience in designing and executing high-impact learning strategies that align with business and commercial objectives. She has extensive experience in fostering robust learning cultures across diverse industries in both the public and private sectors including retail, CPG, quick-service restaurants, healthcare, and startups.

Chrissie’s an expert in developing transformative solutions and systems that drive talent performance and organizational growth. As a highly regarded thought leader within the L&D community, she’s frequently consulted for innovative approaches and is known for creating and optimizing high performing L&D functions in dynamic and fast-paced environments. She’s been recognized globally as a leading Learning Professional and a leader of top-performing L&D teams.

Currently, as the new Chief Learning Officer for PepsiCo, she is leading the work to reimagine the future of learning; architecting a learning strategy and ecosystem that is unifying, agile, learner-centric, tech-enabled and delivers measurable impact for individuals and the organization.

Michael Wynn is a Senior Vice President, recognized for architecting themodernization of Bank of America’s Enterprise learning ecosystem and foradvancing the Academy’s Enterprise-wide artificial intelligence strategy. He leads the design and execution of scalable, future-ready learning and AI platforms that enable workforce transformation, operational excellence, and sustained business performance.

Beginning his career in frontline leadership roles as a Financial Center Manager and progressing through transformational positions across the Preferred channel, Michael brings a practitioner’s perspective to Enterprise innovation. His career reflects a consistent commitment to developing talent, strengthening performance, and deploying technology to drive measurable impact.

Throughout his tenure, Michael has been a catalyst for Enterprise change, spearheading the adoption of immersive and next-generation learning solutions, including virtual reality, AI-powered simulations, intelligent coaching platforms, and advanced digital learning environments. His leadership has reshaped how associates learn, practice, and apply critical skills at scale.

In his current role, Michael serves as the Academy’s principal Enterprise representative for artificial intelligence governance, strategy, and execution. He actively participates in and advises Leadership, ensuring that learning, workforce readiness, risk management, and ethical considerations are embedded in Enterprise AI decision-making.

Michael directs the Academy’s multi-year AI and learning technology roadmap, partnering with Executive stakeholders to identify, assess, and prioritize high-value workflows where AI can materially improve productivity, performance, and employee experience. He oversees the translation of emerging AI capabilities into operational solutions, enabling responsible adoption, regulatory alignment, and Enterprise-grade scalability.

From frontline leadership to influencing enterprise AI acceleration, Michael is committed to advancing AI fluency and equipping employees with intelligent capabilities that transform how they work and what they can achieve.

Will Feng is an award-winning Learning and AI Enablement leader helping professionals lead in the age of AI. A former engineer turned People leader, he blends systems thinking, psychology, and empathy to build future-ready talent and high-performing cultures.

As Head of Global Learning and Leadership Development at Fabletics, Will leads enterprise-wide learning and AI enablement strategy. His work building a continuous learning ecosystem helped the company earn the ATD BEST Award. He also serves as a Board Advisor to the University of San Francisco’s Strategic AI Program and is a frequent speaker on leadership and AI.

Ana Maria Sencovici (AMS) is an interdisciplinary Human Capital Leader with a stand-out track record of translating business needs into tangible, scalable talent solutions, with a focus on transformational and innovation-driven initiatives. She is currently the Chief Talent Officer of the Royal Caribbean Group (NYSE: RCL), a vacation industry leader with a global fleet of 65 ships across five best-in-class brands traveling to approximately 1,000 destinations. In her role, AMS oversees the company’s learning, development and performance functions as well as its diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in support of the organization’s mission to deliver the best vacations responsibly.

Prior to RCG, AMS was the global head of Change and Organizational Advisory Services at Genpact, a professional services firm where she managed a global team advising clients on learning, talent and change transformations, as well as designing award-winning employee development programs.  Previously, she served as the head of Learning and Development Bridgewater Associates where she stood up its first learning and development function and was a founding member of the company’s talent council.

AMS is an unabashed neo-generalist, a stubborn status-quo disruptor, and a passionate practitioner of applied empathy, embracing the tensions in the space of “and”:  the practical and the conceptual, the soft and hard,  and the slow and fast. She has an MBA in Change Management from the Wharton School of Business, an MA from Bryn Mawr College and a BA from Haverford College. AMS lives in South Florida with her husband, Juan, and two sons Luca and Mateo.

Lisa Christensen is the Global Head of Learning Innovation at McKinsey & Company. She leads a global function at the intersection of learning science, technology, analytics, and skills development, focused on redefining how organizations build capability at scale. Over 25 years, her work has centered on solving complex challenges where people, technology, and change meet. At McKinsey, she brings together cross-disciplinary expertise to design new models for learning that move beyond traditional, siloed approaches. She co-founded the firm’s Learning Research and Innovation Lab, translating applied research into next-generation practices. Lisa is the author of several articles on intentional learning, modern apprenticeship, and feedback culture, with a focus on practical futurism for learning professionals.

Paul Tiesler is SVP of Talent Development at Moody’s Corporation, where he leads global learning strategy for 14,000+ employees across 40+ countries. He built Moody’s enterprise GenAI learning program, which drove a 40% increase in AI tool adoption and earned a Brandon Hall Excellence Award, and has since designed persona-based pathways for agentic AI adoption firmwide. Paul pioneered Moody’s Net Impact Score, a framework that measures behavior change and learning transfer to move L&D reporting beyond NPS and completion rates toward business outcomes. He is currently on secondment to Moody’s Chief People Officer and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, supporting enterprise workforce and org design strategy. Paul is a member of Harvard’s Learning Innovations Laboratory.

Chris is the Global Head of Talent Enablement and Development at Sony Interactive Entertainment, where he leads learning, performance, and talent management for one of the most creative organizations in the world. With over 15 years of experience building talent functions at organizations including Google, the United Nations, and NBCUniversal, he brings deep expertise in designing the programs, teams, and experiences that drive organizations forward.

Katy Jones is a strategic thought leader in the leadership and talent development space who customizes talent strategies to meet business demands and accelerates growth in leaders and teams. Katy joined Medtronic in February of 2024 as Vice President, Global Learning & Leadership Development, where she has responsibility for leadership development for entry-level employees to executives, along with the organization’s global learning strategy. Prior to Medtronic, Katy was the Head of Leadership Development for Walmart with responsibility for enterprise leadership development, manager enablement, and executive coaching. Katy built her L&D career at Walmart for 10 years through onboarding, internal consulting and facilitation, early talent strategy, employee experience, performance transformation, high potential and executive development, and foundational leadership development across the globe. In recent years, Katy won two Make a Difference Awards at Walmart, one in 2020 for her rapid response work on the corporate intern program and onboarding efforts during the pandemic, and another in 2022 for her work on implementing an HR competency model and development strategy for the Global People function. Katy’s team also was awarded the Josh Bersin HR Hero Award in 2022 for excellence in HR development.

Prior to Walmart, Katy worked in higher education, where she taught public speaking and communication studies, held a leadership role in academic administration, and developed and recruited faculty members. Katy has a BA in Public Relations from James Madison University and an MA in Communication Studies from the University of Arkansas.

Outside of work, Katy lives in Minneapolis, MN with her husband, Kevin; daughter, Charlotte (8); and son, Patrick (6). When she’s not chasing her kiddos, Katy loves travel, live music, sports, and spicy food.

Jeff Neumann is the Vice President of Learning & Talent Development and Communications at Brinker International, Inc., bringing more than 20 years of leadership experience in organizational development, team engagement, and strategic communications. Throughout his career, he has been dedicated to building people-first cultures, driving leadership development, and creating programs that support employee wellbeing, inclusion, and professional development across large organizations.

Yolanda Hutchins, SPHR, SHRM, MA, is the Chief People Officer at the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, a non-profit research funder located in Washington, DC. For the past 4.5 years, she has led all aspects of PCORI’s people strategy and human capital operations, providing strategic direction to PCORI’s People Strategy & Services division and advancing a culture grounded in PCORI’s
commitment to collaboration, teamwork, and its stakeholders. She oversees PCORI’s transformation and change management activities to optimize the effectiveness of its mission delivery and achieve its
objectives and goals.

She previously served as a Deputy Vice President and Head of Talent Acquisition, Diversity, Equity, and
Inclusion, and the Employee Experience for PhRMA, a non-profit trade association for several of the leading biopharmaceutical research companies, where she oversaw several key HR functions. Previously, as a Senior Associate at Booz Allen Hamilton, she served as the Senior HR Manager overseeing all HR functions for a variety of large and complex accounts to include Commercial, Cybersecurity, and Infrastructure. She began her career in financial services with Citigroup, leaving the
organization as a Vice President, Divisional HR Manager.

Yolanda Hutchins holds a master’s from Columbia University in Organizational Psychology, a bachelor’s from Indiana University in Journalism, and an Executive Certification from Georgetown University in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. She is currently a participant in The Wharton School of Business’s CHRO program. Yolanda is a sought-after HR leader, receiving corporate and industry awards and membership requests because of her expertise and thought leadership.

As Chief Learning Officer for Zions Bancorporation, Joy Antolini brings a strategic lens and a people-first mindset to everything she does. Since joining the organization in 2013 as EVP/Director of Human Resources for National Bank of Arizona, she has been focused on one central idea: when people grow, the business grows with them.

Today, Joy leads the vision for learning, development, and education across the enterprise, ensuring learning is not only aligned to business goals, but powered by data, shaped by modern solutions, and built to meet teams where they are. With a strong background in employee relations, engagement, and culture, she is known for translating strategy into meaningful, measurable impact.

Aria Elsezy-Young is Vice President, Learning and Development at Morgan Properties, where she also leads enterprise change management for 2,500 employees supporting more than 100,000 units across 22 states. Her work sits at the intersection of building capability through L&D and managing the change that capability is meant to serve.

For more than a decade, Aria has focused on building ecosystems where people do not just grow, they thrive. Recent work includes leading L&D and change management strategy for a company-wide CRM implementation and a national sales regionalization, deploying multilingual AI tools, serving on the enterprise AI Steering Committee, and strengthening internal leadership pipelines through outcome-focused training. Before Morgan Properties, she served as National Training Manager and Regional Performance Development Manager at Marriott International, where she facilitated leadership development training for several major brands.

Aria holds a Master’s in Organization Development and Leadership with a concentration in adult learning from Saint Joseph’s University. She is a Prosci-certified change practitioner, an MBTI practitioner, a certified life coach, and the founder of PorchLight Coaching & Development. Her work has included partnerships with Temple University, Saint Joseph’s University, and Towson University, as well as board membership with Pace University’s Lubin School of Business Transformational Leadership Program.

Underneath all of it is a conviction she has carried from the start: the greatest strength anyone can have is the ability to harness the power of who they are. In organizations that never stop changing, that sense of self is the anchor.

David is a member of CCL’s executive team and maintains an active portfolio of client work that focuses on senior teams and global leadership development. His previous roles at CCL include Chief Research & Innovation Officer, EVP/Managing Director of EMEA, and Chief Operating Officer. Prior to joining CCL, David was a tenured Professor of Public Health Sciences and Pediatrics at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Senior Research Scientist at the Stanford Prevention Research Center. He currently serves on the board of directors at the International Leadership Association and The Joseph M. Bryan Foundation.

Andy transforms organizational challenges into actionable solutions using rigorous social science. He brings disciplined analytical and methodological expertise to topics of leadership and team effectiveness, bridging the gap between academic research and real-world application. He led the development of our HiFi Conversation Analytics™, an AI-enabled assessment that provides evidence-based behavioral feedback to drive leader development. Before joining CCL, Andy worked in both consulting and leading research institutions, where he honed his ability to translate complex research findings into practical insights. His research has won awards at top national conferences, been published in several of the Financial Times’ Top 50 journals, and been featured in popular media outlets.