Our Facilitators

Ahmed Abd Alwareth is an HR director, organization development (OD) leader, and talent management and development expert. With 13 years of rounded, enriched, and diversified experience in different industries (modern trade, pharmacy, and FMCG), he has solid knowledge in strategic management. He’s contributed to strategic planning, budgeting, restructuring, employer branding, and engagement and culture transformation initiatives in more than one company, from leading positions. In addition, he had a leading role in planning OD interventions related to establishing a learning organization and performance-based culture.

Ahmed takes every opportunity to enrich his talent development career as a facilitator, instructional design professional, and leader for learning functions. For example, within teams, he’s established training academies throughout his career in different firms. His initiatives have a proven track record of success and achievements.

Ahmed has designed, co-designed, and delivered more than 30 different training programs on topics ranging from competency training in leadership, communication, self-awareness, change, teamwork, and collaboration, as well as scientific knowledge-based training. His total learning delivery exceeds 2,200 hours, between classroom, online, and other blended learning methods.

Ahmed has an educational background in pharmacy and practiced in clinical and community settings for three years with regional experience and exposure to different regional cultures (KSA and UAE). He is a CPTD® and PHRi certified professional. These certifications validate his experiences with structured knowledge and professional-level education. He is also an HRCI certifications preparation instructor with Jobeex Consulting, one of the HRCI-approved certification preparation providers in ME.

Zahi Abdein is a facilitator for several key programs at the Association for Talent Development—a global leadership and talent development coach, speaker, and consultant. He facilitates bespoke solutions to support executives and organizations reach their leadership goals. Having facilitated leadership development learning interventions for groups of up to 120 people and among varied experience levels from aspiring entrepreneur to seasoned C-level executives, he has worked as a mentor and coach to rising entrepreneurs and established executives across the region for more than 10 years.

Zahi has worked for more than 20 years with leaders from renowned companies and startups across the United States and Middle East. As a leader and consultant, he has built and implemented large-scale projects for the Center for Creative Leadership, Cranfield School of Business, Saudi Aramco, Lucent Technology, and Saudi Telecom Company.

An entrepreneur from the age of 19, Zahi discovered a passion for developing leaders, which led him to pursue key projects such as spearheading the creation of a leadership academy, developing and implementing company-wide culture change initiatives, and coaching and mentoring current and future leaders.

He holds an MBA with a focus on international marketing from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Continually sharpening his skills by attending industry events worldwide, he ensures that his skillset is relevant to his clients and that he can provide the most innovative approaches and value. Zahi is a Certified Professional in Talent Development (CPTD) since 2015, and he holds more than 15 other industry-related certifications, which helps him provide a world-class leadership and talent development solutions.

Rania is a technical corporate veteran-turned master coach and facilitator on a mission to help make the world a more humane place one change agent at a time.

She works with executive leaders, professional coaches and facilitators providing leadership programs, facilitator and coach development programs, mentor coaching and executive leadership coaching.

Rania is the first certified Dare to LeadTM facilitator from the MENA region and the only one in Egypt. She is an International facilitator for ATD, Cranfield Executive Leadership School, CCL and UN programs in the EMEA region amongst others.

Rania is the founder of THINK for Leadership & Coach Development. She has over 25 years of executive experience, having worked in senior leadership positions in multinational organizations in Canada, UAE and Egypt.

Rania is an MCC (Master Certified Coach, ICF) and a registered ICF MCC mentor coach. She has a record of 4200+ coaching hours working with executives and leaders in Egypt and around the world. Rania is a faculty member of the LCE Coaching Academy. She also designed and leads the ICF accredited Certified Positive Psychology Coaching program (CPPC) and the Team & Group Facilitation Program (TGFP).

Rania is a Certified Professional in Talent Development (CPTD) as well as a Certified Applied Psychology Practitioner (CAPP). In addition, she is a Professional in HR (PHR), a certified MBTI® practitioner and a LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® facilitator. Rania graduated from Canada with a BSc in Computer Science, specialized in Forensic Engineering.

In 2017, Rania was recognized as one of the top 50 most influential women in Egypt. She is currently working on her first book due to be published very soon.

Rania is passionate about many things in life, most of all her children, travelling, adventure and deep inspiring encounters!

Carrie Addington is an internal ATD Facilitator. She is a down-to-earth educator and people development coach with a passion for delivering effective communication solutions with a spirited energy. As a business consultant and educator for the past 10 years, Carrie has worked with a wide variety of business segments including retail, beauty, education, and nonprofits, and has worked with C-level executives, directors, managers, and high potentials.

She has experience designing and delivering customized management and self-development programs, including personal coaching on strategy and communication. She has delivered training on key business management principles for small business owners through Bumble and Bumble University in New York, deemed the "Harvard of Hair" by the Harvard Business Review, to classrooms ranging from 20 to 150 attendees.

Carrie has delivered on topics ranging from energetic accountability, leadership, and great feedback to cross-generational communication, resolving conflict, and presentation skills. Carrie is a part of the coaching network with the prominent, global executive leadership and management company, The Mind Gym and is a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach. As a certified ATD Master Trainer, Carrie is knowledgeable about both the development and delivery of outcome-based learning programs.

She has a master of fine arts, poetry, from George Mason University and serves on the board of the American Poetry Museum in Washington, D.C. Carrie is passionate about using her love of language and the arts to work with individuals on establishing deeper connections with their daily work.

Marla Albertie is the owner and founder of the Truth Speaks Group, and her one-word philosophy is #Learn. Marla’s mantra is to #TeachTrainEducate and help the working woman to gain the confidence she needs to create the career and life she desires. Marla is also a trainer for the Wounded Warrior Project. Marla is skilled in the field of adult education and transition. She has an extreme passion to witness growth in people’s lives and careers. Marla is a certified professional, career, and life coach; trainer and instructor; author; and graduate of World Coach Institute. She has more than 20 years of business, coaching, and training experience. She is a current doctoral student in the field of industrial and organizational psychology. She holds a master’s of education in adult education and a bachelor’s of science in supervision and management. She is the author of 52 Career Tips: Action Steps to Move You Forward VOL. #1 and co-author of The Better Business Book Vol #3. She is the founder of the annual I.M.A.G.IN.E. (I’M Awesome Growing IN Excellence Women’s Empowerment) Conference held in Jacksonville, Florida. Her website is www.truthspeaksgroup.com and she can be reached [email protected].

Nanci Appleman-Vassil, M.A., NCC, CSP is a highly experienced business professional with more than 20 years of experience delivering training, organizational development, executive coaching, and corporate consulting interventions with a focus on developing leaders, including leadership development, change management, and building high-performing teams. She specializes in facilitating individuals, groups, and organizations toward better solutions for increased engagement and effectiveness. Nanci’s consulting experience includes the technology, healthcare, engineering, manufacturing, education, and retail industries.  Her clients include GSK, Red Hat, Nomacorc, LLC, Citrix, and Cisco. Her certifications include Vital Smarts, MBTI, DiSC, DDI, Situational Leadership and Achieve Global. Nanci holds an M.A. in Counseling from the University of Colorado and a B.A. in Psychology and Education from the University of Denver. She is a member of the National Training Labs Institute for the Applied Behavioral Sciences (NTL), and the Association for Talent Development (ATD), among other organizations. Nanci is Past-President for the Research Triangle Park (RTP) Chapter of ATD, a past member of the ATD ICE Program Advisory Committee, and was a member of the ATD National Advisors for Chapters (NAC) from 2011-2013.

Rhonda Askeland is an organization development and training partner, facilitator, coach, instructional designer, and performance consultant with a twenty-year background working with leaders at all levels — C-level, managers, teams, and individual contributors. She has her own consulting business and has worked for training companies Blessing/White and Cahners TRACOM. She has worked with leaders in Fortune 100 companies in diverse industries, as well as government agencies, and a California university system. Her recent projects include development of a leadership development series in the entertainment industry, co-development and facilitation of an innovative 12-month leadership program for executive managers in the finance industry, and ongoing coaching of sales management on account executives selection process for a credit-reporting agency. In addition to coaching, she created a 90-day onboarding map to follow-up account executive selection to accelerate hire-to-performance. Her creativity in design and delivery earned her recognition in ASTD's Training magazine for innovative training and experiential learning techniques. Additionally, she was a co-author in two ASTD's T+D Learning Blueprint columns on "Presentation Design" and "More Than a Smile Sheet: Using Level 1 Evaluation Effectively." Rhonda has a passion for helping organizations achieve results through people. She is president-elect of ASTD Orange County (OC), past president of International Society of Performance Improvement (ISPI)-OC (2009), past board member of ISPI-OC and ISPI-LA, and is currently on the Whittier College Alumni Board. Rhonda's goal is to improve performance through people.

Mohamed M. Bahgat is the founder and CEO of SeGa Group. He is the author of FIRST Framework and an ATD-certified international facilitator. He is also the author of Introduction to GAMIFICATION for Learner eXperience and Manager as a COACH. He was also co-author of the guide “L&D Models Digest.”

In 2014, he was selected and certified by ATD to be part of the global facilitation team to facilitate their learning programs, mainly the Corporate Coaching Certificate and others.

In May 2016, Bahgat was chosen as ATD Middle East conference chairman in Dubai. The same year, he presented his paper “Gamification and Gaming in Coach Training” at the ACTO Conference in the US.

He presented a session at the ATD 2017 International Conference & EXPO titled FIRST LXF, Learner eXperience Facilitation. He also contributed to a panel about training trends in the Middle East at ATD17.

In 2017, Bahgat was a global board member of the Association of Coaches and Coach Training Organizations (ACTO).

Also in 2017, Bahgat published his book FIRST Framework, 5 Domains 15 Principles: Design & Facilitate Active Deep Learner eXperience. This book is for learning professionals, facilitators, and designers to acquire a new perspective and a new framework where the learner is the center of the process. This book has been introduced by B. Joseph Pine II, author of The Experience Economy, and Roy V.H. Pollock, DVM, PhD, author of The Six Disciplines of Breakthrough Learning.

In 2018, Bahgat and a research team published “FIRST Framework Design and Facilitate Active Deep Learner eXperience,” a research paper in the Journal of Education and Training Studies. He presented a session at the ATD 2018 International Conference & EXPO titled LXD (Learner eXperience Design) Using Design Maps for Active Deep Learner eXperience.

In 2020, he presented a session at the Learning Experience Design Conference (LXDCON). The session was titled Humanizing the Education Machine Using FIRST-ADLX Framework.

Bahgat is certified by various institutions across the globe. He is the only person in the Middle East to be certified by NASAGA (North America Simulation and Gaming Association) in educational game design. Also, Bahgat is the only current certified facilitator in the Middle East from Thiagi Group USA, the leading approach to interactive training strategies and game-based learning.

In 2015, Baghat became a GALLUP-certified strengths coach and received the certification of Sententia Gamification for talent development level 2. He is eligible to certify others on level 1 as well. He is also a 6Ds certified facilitator.

Bahgat has 25 years of experience in the informal education field and has provided training, people development, coaching, and consulting for the past 20 years to regional and international organizations. This has given him international exposure and allowed him to work with more than 25 nationalities.

In 2014, Baghat founded SeGa Group, a US-established LLC, as a global research-based social enterprise in talent development consultancy. It is a social impact business with a mission to “Develop Human Developers” with an Active Deep learner eXperience approach.

Mohamed M. Bahgat originally studied systems engineering and graduated in 1998.
He broadened his academic studies by studying business management starting in 2002. Afterward, he finished two academic diplomas in education and psychology counseling.

SOME PUBLICATIONS

THE PUBLISHED RESEARCH PAPERS
▪ November 2017, ICIE: “Facilitating Active Deep Learner eXperience, Using FIRST Framework.”
▪ August 2018, Journal of Education and Training Studies predatory, “ FIRST Framework Design and Facilitate Active Deep Learner eXperience.”
▪ February 2020, Journal of Education and Training Studies, “ Transforming a School Into a Learning Community by Integrating FIRST Framework.”
▪ December 2020, ICEDU, “ Validating the Impact of FIRST as a New Learner Experience Framework for Teachers’ Professional Development.”

Jennifer “Jen” Bailey is a learning solutions manager at a leading financial services organization where she has spent the last 24 years of her career. Jen has a passion for learning and for developing others. She is described as having a positive can-do attitude in the toughest situations, a willingness to be candid yet empathetic, and an “unflappable” demeanor when she facilitates. Jen has spent 15 years of her career in a learning and development role working as a facilitator, designer, learning consultant, and leader of a design team. Jen has worked with a range of people in different roles and stages of their careers including new hires, aspiring leaders, and senior and managing directors.

Jen has experience designing and delivering programs from technical training to professional development and leadership programs. Jen facilitated for a leading financial services university for more than 10 years, and during that time, she was an expert certified facilitator in crucial conversations and executive presentation classes among many other skills and topics. Recently, Jen and her team built an online training academy that serves as a one-stop-shop learning platform for financial advisor sales teams. This academy includes a robust new-hire and leader onboarding program that consists of a series of in-classroom, virtual, on-the-job, and self-paced reinforcement activities. Jen and her team also built learning paths designed to enhance sales knowledge and skills about focused products and offers, which provided distinct advantages and opportunities to grow their business with their clients.

Jen has a degree in education with a concentration in psychology from West Chester University and has had her Professional in HR certification and Series 6 and 63 licenses. These credentials also served Jen well in other previous HR roles as a business consultant, HR generalist, and employee relations specialist. Building and strengthening relationships and helping people stretch outside of their comfort zones and try new things brings Jen a great sense of accomplishment. She looks forward to meeting you, helping you advance in your learning and development journey, and learning from you.

As founder of Up to Something, LLC, Rita specializes in unconventional methods that disrupt and challenge leaders to think differently, be open to new possibilities, and question the status quo. She served in several leadership roles for more than 25 years at Southwest Airlines, including Operations, Sales, Marketing, HR, and L&D. She currently works with organizations in several sectors engaging leaders in courageous conversations, strategy sessions, and immersive experiences that foster team collaboration, change, and cultural inclusiveness.

She is a Leadership faculty contributor at SMU, Cox School of Business in Dallas, Texas, where she co-designed and facilitated Customized Executive Leadership programs. She is also cultivating entrepreneurship and developing leaders in her own multi-generational family business venture.

Rita started three successful consulting organizations and co-authored the book, Destination Profit: Creating People-Profit Opportunities in Your Organization. She served on several advisory boards and committees including Dallas Convention Bureau, Stagen Leadership, Sandals Resorts and as Chair of the National Board of ASTD now (ATD).

Mimi Banta, a skilled facilitator and organization development consultant, has over 25 years of experience helping private, public sector, and not-for-profit organizations implement training and development initiatives that produce results. Clients rely on her ability to diagnose training needs, engage executives in development efforts, design and conduct training, and equip in-house staff to be effective trainers. In addition to an educational background in psychology and adult education, Mimi is certified to use a variety of tools such as the Career Architect, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator assessment, "I Speak Your Language," and Change Style Indicator. She is also affiliated with Netspeed Leadership, Learning Tree International, and is master certified in Achieve Global products and services.

Nader Bechini is passionate about assisting people and organizations with improving and maximizing their performance and bottom-line results. His life mission is to support others with strengthening their abilities to inspire, influence, and create an impact.

He is the co-founder of Growship and the director of ROI Institute in the MENA region.

He is also global facilitator with the Association of Talent Development.

For more than 20 years, he led human performance improvement projects, programs, and initiatives in more than 30 countries in North and South America, Europe, Africa, Australia, and Asia.

Nader has received several awards for his achievements. On two occasions, ROI Institute awarded him for having the best international implementation of the ROI Methodology. The Moroccan Society for Human Resource presented him an award for being the best African HR expert in 2019. His articles about learning and development have been translated into Korean, Russian, Chinese, French, Arabic, and Spanish.

Nader facilitates workshops, consults with organizations, and speaks at conferences worldwide. He has been interviewed by several radio and TV programs in Saudi Arabia, the Republic of Sudan, Tunisia, France, and Algeria.

Nader holds a master’s degree in marketing from University of Tunis El Manar in Tunisia.

Elaine Biech, president of ebb associates inc, a strategic implementation, leadership development, and experiential learning consulting firm, has been in the field for thirty years helping organizations work through large-scale change. She has presented at dozens of national and international conferences and has been featured in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Management Update, Investors Business Daily, and Fortune Magazine. She is the author and editor of over 50 books including ATD's Handbook for Training and Talent Development , ASTD Leadership Handbook, 10 Steps to Successful Training, The Ultimate Trainer, Thriving Through Change, The Business of Consulting, 2nd ed., and Training for Dummies. A long time volunteer for ASTD, she has served on ASTD's National Board of Directors, was the recipient of the 1992 ASTD Torch Award, the 2004 ASTD Volunteer Staff Partnership Award, and the 2006 Gordon Bliss Memorial Award. Elaine was instrumental in compiling the CPLP study guides and has designed five ASTD Certificate Programs. In addition to her work with ASTD, she has served on the Independent Consultants Association's (ICA) Advisory Committee and on the Instructional Systems Association (ISA) board of directors.

Ron Blanton entered the talent development field as a result of his passion to help others succeed. After a 27-year military career where he had two assignments as an instructor in leadership academies developing new leaders, Ron had the distinct pleasure of serving our great nation by becoming the course manager for all leadership courses received by locally hired staff at US embassies abroad with the US Department of State. This was a perfect fit for Ron, who had more than 20 years of experience as a leader, an academic background in leadership, and assignments as a leadership instructor. He lived the leadership theory that he was teaching.

Ron currently serves as the director of the curriculum and staff development division with the US Department of State, Foreign Service Institute (FSI). In this capacity, he and his team deliver a full battery of “train the trainer” courses for foreign service officers (diplomats) assigned to FSI based on their subject matter expertise and scheduled to become instructions. Ron enjoys this position because it has a direct impact on what happens in the world of foreign affairs. When diplomats are trained well, that means Ron and his team have done their jobs and America is strong and righteous on the international stage.

With more than 20 years of classroom experience, Ron’s number one claim to fame is his passion in the classroom. He has trained in more than 92 countries around the world delivering leadership and train the trainer courses. Ron holds an ATD Master Trainer certificate, is an MBTI certified practitioner, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People trainer, and certified speaker, trainer, and coach with the prestigious John Maxwell Company, led by the bestselling author and world-renowned leadership guru John Maxwell.

Tyra Bremer is a highly-accomplished and dedicated human resources executive with a proven history of delivering innovative strategies. A thought leader and visionary, she ignites strong leadership and enables good people to have a secure future and become their best self. Dynamic facilitation and presentation skills allow her to connect with professionals at all levels within an organization.

Tyra is the Founder and CEO of Thrive Hive Solutions. She earns the trust and smiles of her clients by driving talent acquisition, learning, retention strategies, and leadership development programs that are creative, transformative, and support long-and short-term corporate needs.

She has a personal commitment to being a life-long learner and has completed numerous ATD certification courses including Coaching, Designing Learning, Project Management for Learning Professionals, and Creating Leadership Development Programs.

Niamh Briody Jordan is the Regional Partner for TPC Leadership Middle East, she resides in Abu Dhabi and is completing her 18^th year living and working in the UAE.

Niamh is a hands-on leader capable of strategic and critical thinking, identifying potential in others and inspiring them to action. Her strength lies in liaising and building strong relationships as well as in facilitating professional development across multiple platforms while consistently displaying exceptional communication skills and a strong sense of moral and ethical principles. She demonstrates a balance of professionalism, passion and practicality in inspiring others to action.

Leadership Development, Coaching & Consulting Experience

Niamh Jordan is a highly experienced executive coach and leadership consultant with an international career spanning 28 years in executive coaching and mentoring, leadership consultancy, corporate training and learning and development. She has a Bachelor of Education with honours, from Queen’s University, Belfast, Northern Ireland, and a master’s degree in executive coaching and mentoring from the Institute of Leadership and Management, a senior facilitator with Association for Talent Development (ATD) and a senior consultant with FranklinCovey Middle East, delivering a range of leadership topics.

She is currently working across a range of industries, focusing on one-on-one executive coaching, skilled facilitation, team and leadership development, action learning facilitation and coach and mentor training as well as a Keynote speaker at Summits, Expo and Conference events. Niamh has completed executive coaching and leadership consultant assignments in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Spain, France Ireland, Vietnam and Thailand. She has coached, facilitated and consulted in organizations at C-suite, middle management and new graduate levels in a range of industries, including healthcare, hospitality, aviation, education, construction, entrepreneurships, oil and gas and government entities.

Tim Brock, PhD, is a senior consultant at ROI Institute, where he provides coaching and consulting services and facilitates ROI certification. A speaker at international conferences, Tim has written about the return on investment (ROI) methodology in multiple publications.

After retiring from the Air Force as a field grade officer, Tim led Lockheed Martin's science of learning and performance improvement team as a human performance system engineer and architect. Tim also has experience as a K–12 private school principal, a college director of education, and an associate professor. Tim earned his PhD from Capella University in education, specializing in training and performance improvement.

Holly Burkett, PhD, SPHR, is an accomplished talent builder, change leader, and performance consultant with more than 20 years of experience advising organizations like Apple, the SEVA Foundation, and Blue Cross Blue Shield. She is passionate about developing resilient leadership capabilities that enable high engagement and operational excellence. A certified change practitioner, ROI Institute associate, Stakeholder Centered Coach, Forbes Coaches Council member, and research fellow at the Conference Board, Holly is a sought-after coach, speaker, and facilitator. Award-winning author of Learning for the Long Run, she regularly contributes to industry resources, including ATD’s Talent Development Body of Knowledge (TDBoK™) and ROI series. Her doctorate is in human capital development.

Sam Caballero is a seasoned talent development professional and pivot coach who is passionate about helping people help themselves. This is accentuated by his purpose of how he can be of service.

Co-founder of Pivotn and senior advisor to the Air Force Reserve Command’s Professional Development Center at Robins Air Force Base, he lives out his passion and purpose by providing coaching services from emerging leaders to C-level executives. He designs, develops, and facilitates various inspiring workshops that leave the participants engaged, enthused, and empowered. Additionally, he assists and supports organizations by analyzing their talent development initiatives then provides and implements solutions for how they can enhance overall workplace performance.

He has worked with military and civilian audiences, both English and Spanish, about topics in the areas of emotional intelligence, leadership and management development, diversity and inclusion of teams, personal branding, change management, and agile thinking.

His career began as a military training instructor for the US Air Force at Lackland Air Force Base. Since then, he has served in learning and organization development positions for the City of San Antonio, Burger King, Chevron, Heartland National TB Center, and CCC Group. Additionally, he volunteers as the vice president of finance for the Association of Talent Development’s San Antonio Chapter and director of strategy for iEmpower, a Texas-based organization with the purpose of promoting, elevating, and inspiring women.

Sam’s education includes an Associate of Science in training methodologies and another in human resources management from the Community College of the Air Force. He has a Bachelor of Arts in urban planning and a minor in economics from Texas State University and a Master of Arts in management from Webster University. He holds a variety of credentials including the Certified Professional in Talent Development from the Association of Talent Development, Associate Certified Coach from the International Coaching Federation, Myer & Briggs Indicator Type (MBTI) Practitioner Certification from the MBTI Foundation, and the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Workplace Certificate from the University of South Florida.

Sam lives with his wife, Yorka, and their two kids, Samuel and Isabella, in San Antonio, Texas. He is an avid reader of self-development books, likes long-distance running, and loves traveling with his family.

Darlene T. Carver, a skilled facilitator and organization development consultant, has more than 30 years of experience helping private, public sector, and nonprofit organizations implement training and development initiatives that produce results. Clients rely on her ability to diagnose training needs, engage executives in development efforts, design and conduct training, and equip in-house staff to be effective at managing, leading, communicating, and training.

Her educational background includes a BS in business education and an MBA. Darlene is also a transition counselor for the military, helping service members transition into private-sector employment.

Her publications include 1 Habit: 100 Habits From the Happiest Achievers on the Planet from Envision Media Press (2019, contributor) and The Masters of Success, co-authored with Ken Blanchard, Jack Canfield, and John Christensen from Insight Publishing (2005).