Hello. I’m your new community manager for the ATD Senior Leaders & Executives Community of Practice. I’ve rarely met a challenge I didn’t want to tackle, so I’m excited to accept the challenge of leading this community to new levels of excellence. 

While I’m new to this position, I’m not new to the ATD (formerly ASTD) community or the talent development profession. I’ve been a member of ATD for more than 30 years, so I know the value that membership adds to your career development and the support the organization can provide to grow your credibility and outreach. I served as a chapter president, and have been involved in ATD chapter volunteer efforts in Iowa, Colorado, and the Washington, D.C. area. I have also volunteered at the International Conference & EXPO in 2009 and 2014.   

My work experience includes the private, nonprofit, and federal sectors in a variety of roles—from starting as a training specialist with a nationwide financial services firm to working as a human capital consultant with federal government contractors. Along the way I’ve dipped my toes in lots of puddles and ponds: instructional design and delivery, marketing, human resources administration and management, change management and communications, workforce planning, talent management, strategic human capital planning, leadership and management development, contracting and acquisitions, public speaking, writing and publishing, logistics and event management, measurement, analytics, and evaluation. 

Some of the challenges I’ve tackled include:

• managing the development and deployment of the Executive Capstone Leader Development Program for new Senior Executive Service members to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security

• managing the development, assessment, and reporting for the Contracting Workforce Competency Survey for all federal civilian agencies

• serving as the first HR director and member of the senior executive committee for a for-profit institution of higher education

• streamlining vendor management and reduced costs while managing a $50 million contract portfolio for the HR department of the American Red Cross

• building a business from scratch in a new market; designed, developed, marketed, presented, and evaluated more than 200 programs for 6,500 people in three years

• developing a comprehensive talent management solution that reduced turnover in an entry level sales position and saved the financial institution more than $3 million. 

The threads that have tied all my challenges together are made up of a desire to contribute to organizational goals, to make an impact in my sphere of influence, and to enhance the lives of others.  This position with ATD seems the perfect opportunity to tie all these threads together and achieve ATD’s mission to “Create a world that works better.”   

I look forward to engaging with you over the next few months through blog posts, Twitter feeds, at ATD TechKnowledge 2015 and the ATD 2015 International Conference & EXPO, and through many other mediums and events. More important, I want to hear how you’re creating a world that works better as a senior leader or executive so I can share it with the community. 

Let’s keep the conversation going. You can connect with me via email at [email protected], on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/cynthialschoeppel, or through Twitter (@ATDSRLeaders).