Walter McFarland, founder and president of Windmill Human Performance, LLC, and a former senior executive at Booz Allen Hamilton, is serving as the 2013 chair of the Board of Directors for the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD). McFarland served as chair-elect in 2012.

McFarland’s work focuses on the design and implementation of strategic human resource systems, including new leadership models for the 21st century, more effective management of a multi-cultural workforce, and how to improve performance during organizational change. His clients cut across the public and private sectors and include the Federal Reserve, the United States Department of Defense, The World Bank, and several Fortune 500 companies.

Before founding his own company, McFarland was the senior vice president for HR and Learning at Booz Allen Hamilton, a director at Hay Management Consultants, and also served as a Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense. McFarland served on President Obama’s 2012 Rank Award Council.

A lifelong learner, McFarland holds several advanced degrees from universities including Georgetown, George Washington, Southern Illinois, HEC Management School in Paris, and Oxford University.

McFarland leads ASTD’s 14-person board, members of which include:

• Martha Soehren, ASTD Chair-Elect and Chief Learning Officer and Senior Vice President, Comcast

• Tony Bingham, ASTD President and CEO

• Laurance Alvarado, President, Othon Group International

• Julie Clow, ASTD Secretary and Vice President, Learning and Development, Two Sigma Investments

• Jenny Dearborn, Vice President and Chief Learning Officer, SuccessFactors, an SAP Company

• Lisa Downs, CPLP, Strategic Business Partner: Learning, Training, & Development–Engineering Support, Boeing

• Charles Fred, Founder and CEO, The Breakaway Group

• Rob Green, Vice President, Global Sales & Delivery, Oracle University

• Michael Korcuska, Senior Director, International Product Management, LinkedIn

• Marci Meaux, Vice President, ACT Services Transformation Office, Cisco Systems

• Anne Schwartz, ASTD Treasurer and Vice President, Global Leadership Development, UPS

• Mary Slaughter, Chief Learning Officer and Senior Vice President, Talent Management and Development, SunTrust Bank

• Robert Todd, Technology Director, ?What If! Innovation Partners

For information about the board members, visit www.astd.org/About.