Our Facilitators

Sardek P. Love is president and founder of Infinity Consulting and Training Solutions, a global management and leadership development consulting firm. Possessing over 26 years of expertise, he has worked in 32 countries, inspiring, developing, and educating thousands of managers and their employees to consistently deliver exceptional results.

Known globally for his energetic and thought-provoking style of delivery, Sardek teamed up with Anne Bruce to co-author the updated version of Anne’s best-selling book “Speak For A Living – The New and Expanded Edition” which will be published by ATD in 2018.

With more than 25 years of business experience on three continents, Lesley MacKellar works with individual leaders and organizations to address their critical business challenges and improve their overall results. These challenges may be with individual effectiveness such as developing a leadership presence, managing time, communicating powerfully, and resolving conflicts, or these may include challenges with organizational effectiveness such as developing strategy, leading change, engaging employees, and developing high-performance teams.

Her background includes having worked at a large pharmaceutical company in global sales leadership development where she created strategies and learning interventions to meet the priority needs of first- and second-level sales leaders worldwide. She has led global teams to develop critical tools to enhance sales capabilities and conducted performance consulting for affiliates across the globe. Prior to that experience, she was a training manager for a Lloyd’s insurance broker in London, United Kingdom, where she designed and helped deliver various trainings to new and existing employees.

MacKellar was born in Zimbabwe and lived in Canada, South Africa, and the United Kingdom before settling in the United States more than 30 years ago.

Certifications, Education, and Affiliations

• Associate Certified Coach with the International Coach Federation

• Certified Executive Coach and Master Facilitator with the Center for Executive Coaching.

• MBA in Human Resources Management from Indiana University

• BA in Sociology from Rhodes University in South Africa

• Member of Association for Talent Development (Central Indiana Chapter) - Former VP of Programs

Ahmed Magdy is the founder and CEO of Legacy Coaching Institute. He is profoundly committed to leaving an indelible mark on the landscape of the coaching industry and L&D at large in the Middle East.

Ahmed has been instrumental in transforming the performance and culture of renowned organizations across various sectors, including Aramco, Roshn, Ittihad Airways, Mobily, Emirates Development Bank (EDB), Dubai Taxi, Qatar University, and Qatar National Bank. His tailored coaching solutions have catalyzed growth and success within these esteemed corporations.

A prolific author, Ahmed has penned nine influential books on peak performance, coaching, and leadership. Notably, Success Dioxide stands out as a beacon, offering profound insights into coaching tools for success in life and work. His literary contributions continue to inspire and guide individuals, coaches, and organizations on their journey to excellence.

Ahmed’s expertise extends globally as an international ATD facilitator and keynote speaker. His engagements transcend borders as he shares cutting-edge insights with professionals and organizations seeking to elevate their talent development and performance strategies.

Mohamed Mamdouh is a senior learning and talent development manager for one of the top multinational pharmaceutical companies. He is a passionate lifelong learner. Recognized for his loyalty, proven leadership abilities, and learning agility, Mohamed holds 19 years of diversified experience in corporate business in fields such as pharmaceutical, medical, and learning and development.

Mohamed has performed needs analysis and gap assessments to provide recommendations to senior leaders for the development of learning and development strategies. He also has designed, developed, and delivered customized training and development programs to various cross-functional businesses.

As an ATD Master Trainer, Mohamed delivers and facilitates various topics, including performance management and improvement, talent management and development, career development, and leadership skills. As a certified global strengths coach (from Gallup) and global career development coach (from CEE), he coaches individuals, managers, and leaders to identify their own strengths then capitalize on them to serve their life and career goals.

Mohamed leads CPTD study groups in the MENA region in alignment with the standards of the ATD Certification Institute. He holds a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy. His passion to continue his professional development has led him to earn many certification from reputable associations and organizations across the globe, such as ATD, NCDA, CEE, KPI Institute, CPP, RSCI, GALLUP, CPP, and MHS.

Debbie Marino is a learning and development advisor at Greystar. She is a bilingual learning consultant and change champion with vast experience in the hospitality industry and, most recently, property management. She has designed, developed, and implemented onboarding, operations, sales, and customer service training. Her clients range from individual contributors to C-level executives.

Debbie has delivered learning on various topics ranging from emotional intelligence, situational leadership, emergenetics, Dale Carnegie sales training, and customer service trainings. She is most comfortable when interacting with others and watching them grow. She is passionate about talent development and is thankful for the opportunity she has to share her experiences and knowledge with those she interacts with.

Debbie holds a bachelor’s degree in hospitality management and a master’s degree in human resources management from the University of Central Florida. She earned her SHRM-CP in 2020 and CPTD in 2022. Through her passion for learning and growing, she proudly boasts that “learning is the one thing no one can take away from you.”

Nadine Martin is president and CEO of NWM Consulting, a small independent firm focusing on learning design, development, and delivery to help employees increase business results. She has spent the majority of her career in the technology learning field. She also has been the technology training manager for Northeast Utilities (a New England-based utility company), the IS learning manager for LL Bean and the e-learning manager for Bean. During her corporate career, Martin helped to introduce the accelerated learning methodology at both companies as well as help to redesign the way in which learning was done at the company. She is certified in the usage of the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument and has been utilizing technology to deliver learning for most of her career. Martin has bachelor's and master's degrees in education as well as having done post-graduate work in counseling.

Codie McQuay loves learning, loves learning about learning, and loves learning about the ways people learn. She brings an eclectic mix of therapeutic, experiential, practical, and product-focused knowledge to her work in learning and development. On one side of the spectrum, she has a background in Agile as a Scrum Master and product owner as well as a foundation in change and conflict management. She also has a therapeutic foundation in group process and community growth and development. Underneath theory, she believes there is a human path to learning—one where the learner’s individual needs and processes can be seen and honored. The future may be digital, but it is also human.

Margie Meacham, “The Brain Lady,” is a scholar-practitioner in the field of education and learning and president of LearningToGo. She specializes in practical applications for neuroscience to enhance learning and performance. Meacham’s clients include businesses, schools, and universities. She writes a popular blog for the Association of Talent Development and has published two books, Brain Matters: How to Help Anyone Learn Anything Using Neuroscience and The Genius Button: Using Neuroscience to Bring Out Your Inner Genius.

She first became interested in the brain when she went with undiagnosed dyslexia as a child. Although she struggled in the early grades, she eventually taught herself how to overcome the challenge of a slight learning disability and became her high school valedictorian, graduated magna cum laude from Centenary University, and earned her master’s degree in education from Capella University with a 4.0.

Meacham started her professional career in high-tech sales, and when she was promoted to director of training, she discovered her passion for teaching and helping people learn. She became one of the first corporate trainers to use video conferencing and e-learning and started her own consulting company from there. Today she consults for many organizations, helping them design learning experiences that will form new neural connections and marry neuroscience theory with practice.

“I believe we are on the verge of so many wonderful discoveries about how we learn. Understanding what happens in the brain is making us better leaders, teachers, parents, and employees. We have no limits to what we can accomplish with our wonderful brains— the best survival machines ever built.”
—Margie Meacham

I am an enthusiastic training professional living in Saudi Arabia. With 10+ years of experience in managing training projects and Learning activities, designing and delivering trainings that vary between soft skills and technical topics based on the trainees needs and annual training plans. Working with external training providers, internal instructors and SMEs. Have a proven record of interpersonal skills, and achievements across seven countries. My passion is working with people, always aiming for the deepest impact with highest engagement.

Managing Director and Founder of CALM Worldwide (Center for Action in Learning Management)

Seema Nagrath Menon is an international speaker, an ATD expert facilitator, a Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Coach, and a senior learning and development specialist based in Dubai. As a Certified Professional in Learning and Performance (CPLP) and a qualified Certificates of Occupational Test Use - British Psychological Society (Level A & B) from Cambridge University, she has been working internationally in the fields of leadership development, learning strategy, and instructional design for more than 18 years.

Currently, she is the head of CALM Worldwide (Center for Action in Learning Management), a dynamic UAE-based management and learning consultancy dedicated to adding value to people and organizations by focusing on highly effective leadership, management, and L&D practices that enable maximum potential and growth.

Seema has also trained as a leadership and emotional intelligence specialist at Yale University and Case Western Reserve University. Her principal area of experience and expertise has been in research, innovation, designing, and managing delivery of interactive developmental learning programs aimed at facilitating the enhancement of targeted skills in her clientele. She is also an expert in the neuroscience of learning.

Using her cross-cultural international business exposure to add value and positively influence the life of her clients in global business, Seema has coached executives and leaders for peak performance. In addition, she has designed, developed, and delivered specialist learning programs on leadership skills, business and life skills, emotional intelligence, and mindfulness for a range of international organizations.

Sarah Mercier, CEO at Learning Ninjas, specializes in innovative learning technology and strategic implementation of learning solutions. Her innovative learning solutions have been recognized by winning industry awards, such as Best of Show at FocusOn Learning DemoFest for xAPI for Interactive eBooks, and Best Performance Support Solution at DevLearn DemoFest for Critical Success Factors training and assessment tool.

Sarah is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and business events in the areas of instructional strategy, learning technology strategy, and learning solution design and development. She is a national facilitator for the Association for Talent Development, and her work has been published in ATD’s 2020 Trends in Learning Technology, The Book of Road-Tested Activities, TD Magazine, Learning Solutions Magazine, CLO Magazine, and a variety of other training and workforce publications. Connect with her via Twitter @sarahmerci or LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/sarahcmercier.

Nancy Mikkelsen is passionate about the power of being positive and integrating that concept into everything she does. Nancy has over 25 years of experience in training and development in a variety of organizations ranging from large Fortune 500 companies to not-­‐for-­profit organizations. Her attitude, drive and skill at working at all levels within an organization and her ability to design, develop and deliver training has lead to positive results and a better bottom line. Nancy’s technical background led her to become a strong proponent of using the power of technology to transform learning.  In addition to an engineering degree and extensive graduate work in Adult Education, Nancy has also been certified in a variety of educational tools such as the Kouzes/Posner Leadership Challenge and Career Coaching. She is also affiliated with Harvard Business Publishing delivering their Leadership Direct and Breakthrough Leadership Programs.  Nancy is a National Member of ASTD and also served on several local chapter boards during her career. She also serves on several volunteer community boards. She devotes many hours to local community theater in Allentown both on and off stage.

Kiran Mohan, a skilled facilitator, leadership consultant and coach, has over 15 years of experience helping organizations implement results and behavioral driven training and development initiatives that address the real needs that leaders and employees face in today’s competitive landscape.  Clients rely on her ability to strategically diagnose training needs, and her inclusive style in engaging executives in development efforts that create customized solutions for their organizations.   Kiran comes highly recommend for her talent in designing and conducting  training, as well as her ability to equip in-house staff to be effective trainers. Kiran’s background includes supporting organizations with culture transformation, as well as strategies to increase employee engagement. Kiran is currently enrolled in a Graduate Certificate for Executive Coaching through Royal Roads University, and obtained EQ-i 2.0/EQ360 Certification from The Emotional Intelligence Training company in 2016.  She is also affiliated with ViRTUS, one of the top leadership development and strategic planning companies in Western Canada.

Emmy Monticelli is a certified leadership and mindfulness coach, facilitator, and consultant with more than 20 years of experience developing leaders, trainers, and employees in talent management. Her upbringing amidst a family-owned business combined with her field leadership and corporate experience help her to understand the different needs and challenges among various organizational structures and cultures.

After spending more than 15 years in the corporate sector, Emmy started Momentum Leadership Solutions, a leadership coaching and development company, where she develops leaders and managers at all levels across a variety of industries. This includes finance, banking, insurance, manufacturing, healthcare, sales, service, higher education, and technology. She works with for-profit and nonprofit organizations to find solutions that fit their leadership and learning needs.

As an experienced leader herself, Emmy understands the challenges of today’s managers and leaders. This understanding, combined with her authentic, practical approach, allows her to connect and engage with various audiences effortlessly. Known for her transformational learning events and engaging delivery style, Emmy creates awareness and delivers a powerful message that inspires others to take positive, productive action, leading to more effective relationships and results. She is passionate about providing leaders with relevant tools and strategies that are easily applied to enhance communication, relationships, and performance while minimizing stress and burnout. In addition to designing and facilitating her own programs, she also facilitates several courses for the Association of Talent Development (ATD).

Emmy is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) through ICF, a Certified Professional Coach (CPC) through iPEC, and a Certified Professional in Talent Development (CPTD®) through ATD. She is also certified in several other assessment and development tools, including DiSC, EQ-i 2.0 + 360 (Emotional Intelligence) and CORE Energy Leadership to name a few. She holds a master’s degree in business administration and a bachelor’s degree in marketing and communications from Assumption University.

Mohamed Mossilhy is a Master Trainer® and experienced HR and L&D professional with multiple certifications and a successful 17-year career of proven experience in talent development projects. Mohamed has the ability to execute high-impact people-focused strategies that enhance business performance using a results-focused style and a consultative leadership approach to identify key gaps for learning and set development plans accordingly for top clients.

Mohamed has a strong background in all areas of learning development and talent management, and he is accustomed to cutting-edge techniques and strategies for leadership development and performance management for clients like Leejam, PWC, and Landmark group. Mohamed has worked in more than seven countries in the Middle East and North Africa.

He has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and multiple certifications from organizations like CIPD and ATD, and he is currently working on a master’s degree in strategic HR management from Salford University.

Mohamed is a sports enthusiast—especially basketball—and an avid gamer who believes in the deep value of linking fun with learning.

Lisa Nabors is a partner with Strategic Performance Group and is recognized by the International Coach Federation as a Professional Certified Coach (PCC). Ms. Nabors is a talented speaker and often makes presentations on the topic of coaching to industry and professional groups. She began coaching during her 16 years of experience as a successful, senior-level HR and training and development professional in private industry. Her passion is in optimizing individual, team, and organization performance, and her coaching clients include managers, executives, and teams in organizations such as AOL, AARP, U.S. Department of Education, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Ms. Nabors' coaching expertise includes gathering and feeding back data, helping clients to generate alternatives, identifying key metrics and creating action plans designed to achieve specific, measurable results. Ms. Nabors is a certified user of all Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) 360-degree feedback instruments, the BarOn EQi and EQ 360, LEI, APT 360 Instruments, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) assessment, and many customized instruments. She is an adjunct faculty member for Marymount University and the George Washington University, and she is the co-author of Leading From the Inside Out: A Coaching Model (Sage, 2002).

Erica Nelson, MA, has been in the learning and development field for 25 years, consulting with clients from various fields at the corporate level. Clients include Horizon Therapeutics, Wintrust Financial Corporation, and ACE Hardware. As a Business Leader Faculty® member with the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management's Center for Leadership, she applies her expertise working with mid-level to executive-level professionals. She aids with their personal growth and them becoming effective communicators to build better relationships within their organization.

As an ATD program facilitator of seven certificate programs, Erica applies her professional background by aligning the content to the personal experiences of program participants. She views each course as a way to deepen everyone's understanding and abilities.

Her coaching practice provides a customized model for each client and their unique interests and development needs. She has been certified in mediation practices and is affiliated with the Center for Conflict Resolution in Chicago. She also served as a mediator for 10 years with the Cook County Court System in Chicago, Illinois.

Erica wrote a training book, Management Development Training, published in 2021 for the ATD Workshop Series©. The book is a guide on the essential elements of great management, leadership skills, and behaviors. Erica's passion is to focus on development for each person in their organization, believing we are always searching for growth opportunities.

Cara North is an award-winning learning experience leader who has worked for some of the biggest organizations in corporate and higher education settings. She started her career as an “accidental instructional designer” at Amazon before transitioning into higher education, working at The Ohio State University. Cara is the operations training manager for Silfex, the world’s largest provider of high-purity custom silicon components and assemblies.

Cara has served as a past president of the board of directors for Central Ohio ATD and has also been a national ATD International Conference & EXPO volunteer. She is a producer and community manager of the Training Learning and Development Community. She recently wrote and self-published an open educational resource book about acing your next instructional design job interview.

A self-proclaimed social media junkie, you can find her sharing content on her YouTube channel, Unfiltered ID, or on the podcast she co-founded with Joseph Suarez, Instructional ReDesign. You can connect with her on LinkedIn and Twitter by searching caranorth11.

Hadiya Nuriddin is an accomplished learning and development professional with 20 years of experience in learning strategy, instructional design, e-learning development, and learning facilitation. She owns Focus Learning Solutions in Chicago, a full-service learning and development consultancy. She is also the founder of Fresh Eye Reviews, a quality control and assurance service for learning materials.

Before starting her own company, Hadiya worked in both corporate and academic environments at all levels, from specialist to manager. She has also taught training and development at both the undergraduate and graduate level. Hadiya has an MEd and an MA in writing and publishing, and is a Certified Professional in Learning and Performance. She is a frequent conference speaker, having presented at the ATD International Conference & Exposition, the eLearning Guild’s Learning Solutions conference, and Training magazine’s Training Conference. She is also a contributor to ATD’s TD magazine.

Nikki O’Keeffe is an internal ATD Facilitator. She is dedicated training specialist who delivers a positive, memorable, and meaningful service that repeatedly meets or exceeds the expectations of the client. She has experience creating strategies and visions to ensure training requirements and deliveries are in line with quality, probability, and client need. 

Nikki has worked in varied industries, including education, healthcare, and pharmaceuticals. In her role as the global senior training and development specialist at PAREXEL International, her focus was on managing and developing courses for new and existing staff on technical systems, process changes, new products, and soft skills.  Her educational background includes a BA in psychology from Butler University and a master’s degree in exercise science, health, and wellness from Northeastern Illinois University. Her specific areas of interest include virtual training, facilitation techniques, and mentoring new trainers. 

Nikki is skilled at providing face-to-face and online learning programs for global participants of varying experience levels. In addition to delivering training, she has performed training needs analyses to identify gaps and recommend training solutions, worked with SMEs as a consultant to develop courses and curriculums, and evaluated programs for effectiveness. 

As a certified ATD Master Trainer and certified ATD Master Instructional Designer she understands the value of solid training plans and strong facilitation. Nikki looks forward to sharing her experiences and expanding her knowledge base by learning from her participants in the upcoming ATD courses that she leads.