ATD Houston upcoming events

General Meeting: From Talent to Transformation: Connecting People Strategy to Organizational Performance (October 20, 2026)

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 22:30:00 GMT

UPDATED: Event Changed

What does it take to turn a people strategy into measurable organizational impact?

Organizations do not transform through strategy alone. Transformation happens when people, culture, leadership, and organizational capabilities are aligned with business priorities.

Join ATD Houston and the Houston Organizational Development Network for an engaging panel discussion featuring leaders with expertise in talent management, learning, organizational effectiveness, and transformational change

Our panelists will share real-world experiences, practical strategies, and lessons learned for connecting people initiatives to organizational goals. Participants will leave with actionable insights for translating talent investments into meaningful outcomes and creating the conditions for successful transformation.

Learner Objectives: Identify and apply practical strategies that connect talent initiatives to business goals, strengthen organizational capability, and demonstrate the value of people investments.

Meet the Panelists

Montoya Warner Mays, MBA, SHRM-SCP
Senior Director of Talent Management, Community Health Choice

Montoya Warner Mays leads strategies across talent attraction, employee learning and experience, and employee engagement at Community Health Choice. She is passionate about developing leaders, strengthening workplace culture, and creating meaningful employee experiences that improve organizational performance.

Don Becker
Talent Development Expert, Oxy

Don Becker is an instructional designer and talent development professional with more than 25 years of experience spanning K–12 and higher education, corporate learning, workforce development, and entrepreneurship. He is passionate about transforming big ideas into practical talent solutions that help people thrive and prepare organizations for what is next.

Jerold Jeansonne, PhD
Value Realization Lead, Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Jerold Jeansonne is an internal organizational effectiveness consultant and Value Realization Lead at Hewlett Packard Enterprise. Drawing on extensive experience in organizational change management and process improvement, he partners with cross-functional teams to evaluate current and future processes, assess organizational value, and support strategic decision-making.

Kathryn Tees

Kathryn Tees serves as Associate Vice President in the Transformation Change Office at Memorial Hermann, where she supports organizational transformation and change initiatives that align people, processes, and strategic priorities. She enjoys connecting with leaders who are shaping the organizations of the future

Webinar: Beyond Training: Why Leadership Development Fails Without Cultural Intelligence (October 22, 2026)

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 17:00:00 GMT

Organisations invest millions in leadership development every year, yet many still struggle to translate learning into sustained behavioural change and improved performance.

One often-overlooked factor is culture.

In multicultural organisations, leadership behaviours are not always interpreted in the way they were intended. The result is that even well-designed development programmes can fail to deliver the expected business outcomes.

In this interactive webinar, Emma Jordaan explores why traditional leadership development approaches often overlook the hidden influence of culture and shares practical strategies that Learning & Development professionals can use to design learning experiences that create greater clarity, stronger leadership capability and measurable organisational impact.

Understand why leadership development does not always translate into workplace performance.

* Recognise how cultural differences influence the way leadership behaviours are interpreted.

* Explore practical ways to embed Cultural Intelligence into leadership development programmes.

* Identify opportunities to design learning that improves collaboration, trust and organisational performance.

* Leave with practical ideas to strengthen the impact of their leadership development initiatives.

ATD Capability Model – Performance Improvement, Learning Technologies

To learn more about this model see: https://tdcapability.org/#/

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Emma Jordaan is a Cultural Intelligence (CQ) thought leader, TEDx and international keynote speaker, author of Dubai Decoded, and Founder & CEO of Infinite Consulting. With more than 20 years of experience across the UK, Europe, and GCC, Emma works with leaders and organisations to strengthen leadership, align L&D strategy with business performance, and build high-performing multicultural teams. A CQ Fellow and creator of the CultureVantage™ and R.A.P.I.D.™ frameworks, she has worked with global organisations including Visa, Standard Chartered, and Alvarez & Marsal and has spoken at major platforms including GITEX, HRSE, and the L&D Summit.

SIG Technology: Best Practices Using AI (October 23, 2026)

Fri, 23 Oct 2026 17:00:00 GMT

AI tools are rapidly reshaping how learning professionals design content, support performance, analyze data, and develop talent. But successful adoption requires more than choosing the right tool.

Join three practitioners as they share real-world lessons learned, practical use cases, and actionable best practices for using AI responsibly and effectively in talent development. Participants will leave with ideas they can apply immediately, regardless of where they are on their AI journey.

Panelists

Xina Togba, CPTD, SHRM-SCP, is a learning and performance strategist who helps organizations and teams turn tools and technologies into practical ways of working. Her background spans training, coaching, human resources, and performance improvement.

In her role at Apex Leadership, Xina helps translate the rapidly evolving field of AI into practical, usable practices for franchise owners. She designed and delivered the workshop “AI in Your Day-to-Day Business,” focused on helping business owners identify meaningful ways to use AI in their everyday work.

Xina also encourages Houston-area professionals interested in learning more about AI to connect with the Houston AI Club.

Derrick Christopher Campos is a learning and development professional, facilitator, and creator of the EMU Communication Model, a framework for designing learning experiences that are Engaging, Meaningful, and Useful. With more than a decade of experience in global training, sales enablement, and product management, Derrick focuses on helping trainers turn complex information into learning people remember and apply. He is particularly interested in how AI can enhance training while preserving the human elements that drive meaningful learning.

Tamara Thomas is a Principal in Learning and Development at Westlake, based in Houston, Texas. She holds dual bachelor’s degrees in Computer Information Systems and Risk Management/Insurance from the University of Louisiana at Monroe, along with a master’s degree in Technology Project Management from the University of Houston, where she also completed doctoral-level coursework in Learning, Design, and Technology. About a year ago, Tamara began exploring generative AI and has been obsessed with it ever since. She actively experiments with tools like Claude building websites, apps, and automating workflows.

Join the Conversation

Whether you are an AI novice or a power user, your perspective is valuable. This is your space to ask questions and learn from peers.

Help Shape the Agenda

We tailor each session based on member needs. Please submit your specific questions or suggested topics in advance to: presidentemeritus@tdhouston.org

General Meeting: Leading the Emotional Side of Change (November 10, 2026)

Tue, 10 Nov 2026 23:30:00 GMT

Leading the Emotional Side of Change: How to convert resistance into progress

Everyone understands the need for change. We just don’t like to be changed. When we’re deeply connected to our ways, being asked to do things differently triggers frustration, anxiety, and even grief. In today’s environment of constant disruption, plans and policies aren’t enough—leaders need to know what to do when emotions run high. This interactive, research-backed session equips HR professionals and people leaders with practical techniques to meet resistance with skill.

Learner Objectives:

Recognize the emotional signals beneath resistance — and understand what they're really telling you.
Practice three hands-on techniques for responding to pushback in the moment.
Leave with a concrete plan for applying your insights at your workplace.

ATD Capability Model – Managing Learning Programs and Integrated Talent Management

To learn more about this model see: https://tdcapability.org/#/

Marek Rudak is an emotional intelligence expert who has designed workshops for premier organizations such as NASA, Fidelity, and Rice University. He is certified in the EQ-i 2.0® & EQ 360® assessments that help his clients quickly understand what they need to do specifically to improve their leadership skills and effectiveness.

Marek is also certified in Red Team Coaching, a revolutionary set of tools first developed by the military and intelligence agencies, then evolved to help business executives thrive in complexity and make better decisions by ensuring emotions are an asset, not a liability. Marek graduated in the top 10% of his class at West Point and became a Ranger in the 82nd Airborne Division, where he deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Upon separating from the Army, he joined ExxonMobil, where he worked on global, multi-billion-dollar projects for ten years.

As an executive coach, Marek accumulated over 5,000 hours coaching C-suite leaders and their teams at multiple Fortune 500 companies, start-ups, non-profits, and government agencies.

Judith Walton is a leadership coach and organizational development consultant who helps leaders navigate the emotional side of change—especially when the stakes are high and the path forward isn’t clear. With over 20 years of experience at NASA, she built and supported teams operating in complex, high-pressure environments where clarity had to emerge in real time.

She specializes in helping leaders work the stretch between “we don’t know yet” and “now we do,” equipping them to stay grounded in moments of resistance, surface what’s really driving pushback, and move teams toward shared ownership and progress.

Judith’s approach blends emotional intelligence, practical tools, and real-world application—giving leaders not just insight, but something they can use immediately when emotions run high and decisions matter most.

Webinar: AI in L&D: Q4 2026 Snapshot & What’s Ahead in 2027 (November 12, 2026)

Thu, 12 Nov 2026 18:00:00 GMT

As 2026 draws to a close, artificial intelligence continues to reshape how talent development professionals design, deliver, and measure learning experiences. From autonomous AI agents streamlining instructional workflows to multimodal generation and hyper-personalized learner journeys, AI has moved past early experimentation into operational reality across organizations.

Join ATD Houston for a high-impact, forward-looking session with industry leader Debbie Richards as we take a clear-eyed look at where generative and agentic AI stand in the final quarter of 2026—and, more importantly, what talent development teams must prepare for in 2027.

Whether your organization is refining existing AI policies or looking ahead to the next wave of smart learning ecosystems, this webinar will provide practical insights, emerging benchmarks, and strategic guidance to keep your practice ahead of the curve.

What You’ll Discover

During this 60-minute interactive session, you will explore:

The Q4 2026 State of Play: A practical debrief on current enterprise adoption—how L&D teams are leveraging autonomous agents, multimodal authoring tools, and adaptive skill-mapping engines today.
Key Shifts on the Horizon for 2027: Predictions and emerging paradigms for the coming year, including real-time performance support ecosystems, deeper workflow integration, and the evolution of learner interfaces.
Ethics, Governance & Quality Control: Best practices for data privacy, algorithmic transparency, and maintaining human-centered learning integrity amid rapid technological acceleration.
Actionable Next Steps for L&D Leaders: Concrete strategies to ready your team’s skillsets, technology stack, and instructional design workflows for the year ahead.

Who Should Attend

Talent Development & HR Leaders
Instructional Designers and E-Learning Developers
Corporate Trainers and Facilitators
Performance Consultants and L&D Strategists

About the Speaker

Debbie Richards

President, Creative Interactive Ideas

Debbie Richards is an acclaimed learning architect, author, and frequent keynote speaker specializing in emerging learning technologies. As the founder and president of Creative Interactive Ideas, Debbie works with organizations nationwide to evaluate, implement, and optimize cutting-edge technologies—from AI-driven learning workflows and immersive extended reality (XR) to modern instructional system design. A passionate advocate for the talent development profession and a longtime ATD contributor and leader, Debbie is dedicated to empowering educators and practitioners with actionable, technology-enabled strategies.