Larnzell Harper is the Manager, Training and Development for VIA Metropolitan Transit with 20 years’ of knowledge in public transit and training. Larnzell began his career in transportation as a bus operator at Chicago Transit Authority, where he also held positions as a Training Coordinator and Transportation Manager (bus/rail). He gained experience in Human Resources by developing and facilitating training programs for over 32 departments as a Training Specialist at the City of Chicago. He enjoys being a board member of the Association of Talent Development, San Antonio chapter. He is honored to belong to an organization that is focused on providing leadership and resources to subject matter experts in adult-learning and talent development.
He holds a master’s degree in educating adults from DePaul University in Chicago and a bachelor’s degree in mass communication from Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans. Larnzell’s current areas of focus are determining and establishing programs, policies, and procedures to improve organizational effectiveness and departmental performance of customers, employees, and the public. His background in adult education, transit operations, and communication has led him to support the implementation of comprehensive training programs that are cohesive and compliant with transportation industry standards, safety procedures, and applicable rules. He enjoys public speaking, roller coasters, transit trains, and DC Comics animation movies when outside of work.
Vanessa is an independent Learning Performance Consultant
who is dedicated to the cultivation of spaces where people can learn, share and
grow. She has empowered teams in an
inclusive talent development environment throughout her twenty years working
with restaurant and hospitality companies, the financial technology industry
and most recently the non-profit sector.
Her passion lies in supporting learning efforts for
leadership development, ethical business ownership and sustainability. She is an advocate and ambassador for
community involvement through her work as State Technology Co-Chair of the
Hispanic Women’s Network of Texas, Board
Member of American Red Cross of Central South Texas, Steering Committee Member
for the 2023 Alexander Briseno Leadership Development Program, 2022-2023 Program
Chair of the Ethical Network of San Antonio, and an #IAmRemarkable Global
Initiative Certified Facilitator.
Vanessa currently resides in San Antonio with her partner
Ben and their two rescue dogs, Onyx the Schnoodle and Opal the Schnauzer.
Larnzell Harper is the Manager, Training and Development for VIA Metropolitan Transit with 20 years’ of knowledge in public transit and training. Larnzell began his career in transportation as a bus operator at Chicago Transit Authority, where he also held positions as a Training Coordinator and Transportation Manager (bus/rail). He gained experience in Human Resources by developing and facilitating training programs for over 32 departments as a Training Specialist at the City of Chicago. He enjoys being a board member of the Association of Talent Development, San Antonio chapter. He is honored to belong to an organization that is focused on providing leadership and resources to subject matter experts in adult-learning and talent development.
He holds a master’s degree in educating adults from DePaul University in Chicago and a bachelor’s degree in mass communication from Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans. Larnzell’s current areas of focus are determining and establishing programs, policies, and procedures to improve organizational effectiveness and departmental performance of customers, employees, and the public. His background in adult education, transit operations, and communication has led him to support the implementation of comprehensive training programs that are cohesive and compliant with transportation industry standards, safety procedures, and applicable rules. He enjoys public speaking, roller coasters, transit trains, and DC Comics animation movies when outside of work.
Tina Garza is an Instructional Designer
at Security Service Federal Credit Union where she is responsible for designing
and developing technical training solutions to support the enterprise. Tina has
had her hand in all things talent development but her specialty is in
instructional design and training evaluation. She has a BS in Chemical
Engineering from Texas A&M University – Kingsville and earned her MA in
Human Dimensions of Organizations at The University of Texas at Austin.
President Emeritus
Jacque Burandt
Jacque Burandt, MEd, President, Award-winning Results, transforms organizations through people development, creating top performers at all levels, and enhancing organizational and individual visibility, prestige, and pride through awards and recognition. She coaches organizations on achieving and spotlighting great work. Together she and her clients have won sixty top learning and development awards, including ATD BEST, Learning Elite, Brandon Hall, Stevie American Business Awards, and Corporate Learning Network Awards.
She authored Create anExceptional Learning Culture for the Association for Talent Development (ATD) and is co-editor of ATD’s Talent Development and Training in Healthcare Handbook. As a subject matter expert, she works with ATD’s Director of Content to produce blogs, quarterly webinars, and panel presentations at the International Conference.
A proven expert in creating an award-winning culture, Jacque led the Center for Learning Excellence at University Health (UH), to win eight ATD BEST Awards and ATD's first Innovation in Talent Development Award. UH has won more BEST Awards (13) than any other nonprofit organization in the world.
She serves on the ATD Awards Strategy Committee and is President Emeritus of the San Antonio chapter of ATD.
Priscilla Ramirez serves as the Employee Success Manager at Generations Federal Credit Union. She provides strategic direction and innovative framework for the development and execution of employee initiatives to include leadership development, onboarding, recognition, and wellness programs for the credit union. She is passionate about creating positive employee experiences that respect diversity and foster an environment of learning and leading. She is a seasoned professional with over 20 years in the Talent and Development space and is a graduate of Our Lady of the Lake University with a BA in Communications with a concentration in Public Relations.
Priscilla is always seeking opportunities to find meaningful ways to impact the community and future leaders. She is currently involved with the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Alex Briseno Leadership Development Program and recently joined the Hispanic Women’s Network of Texas.
Priscilla loves spending time with her family, enjoys traveling and likes to shop!
Lisa Carter is a
Career Transition Coach with a passion for helping K-12 Teachers succeed at
transitioning into the corporate space.
Lisa has 20+ years of
combined experience as a staffing manager, certified job search coach and corporate
trainer. She uses the knowledge gained in those roles to give the Teachers she
coaches the Recruiter Ready advantage, ensuring that they have the insight,
knowledge, tools, and strategies they need to compete and succeed in the
corporate world.
Sam
Caballero is a Talent Development professional and co-founder, CEO, and Pivot
Coach for Pivotn, a leadership engagement organization providing a variety of
learning programs and whole-life coaching support to enhance one’s contribution
and value proposition in the workplace. He is Senior Advisor for the
Professional Development Center – Air Force Reserve Command, Warner Robins
A.F.B., GA. He is a co-founder and
co-creator of the Emerging Leaders Series, a six-session learning event that
enhances the leadership quotient of new leaders of various organizations. Additionally, he is the VP of Finance for the
Association of Talent Development – San Antonio Chapter and Director of
Strategy for iEmpower, a San Antonio, Texas-based organization with the purpose
of promoting, elevating and inspiring women.
Sam is an Associate Certified Coach with the International Coaching
Federation and a Certified Professional in Talent Development with the
Association for Talent Development. Additionally, he is a certified practioner
with both the Myers & Briggs Type Indicator and the Thomas – Kilmann Conflict
Mode Indicator. Sam's passion and
purpose is helping people help themselves where he is committed in supporting
and assisting those that want to make an intentional pivot for the future.
Linda Salazar has over 25 years of experience as a corporate trainer. She is the founder of Bright Trainer LLC. Her signature program deputizes managers, HR, and subject matter experts to effectively train their employees.
Linda is passionate about enabling employees to grow their knowledge, skills, and abilities. She ensures her participants learn and have a great time doing it. Her success is measured by the goals that her participants and the companies they work for achieve.
Linda is a regular contributor in the field of Learning & Development as a speaker at conferences and as a contributor for TD magazine. Her Udemy course—Employee Training: Your Rapid Roadmap to Classroom Success—has helped more than 1900 people in over 86 countries.
Linda is also a mother of two, served as a Helotes City Council member in 2020-2022, and co-facilitates a Lean In Circle.
I am currently working at Firstmark Credit Union as the Learning and Development Manager.
I dived right into the L&D world in 2015 asI
started off mostly facilitating the technical trainings for the Credit Union.
Firstmark encouraged me to become a member of ATD to enhance my skills and learn more about the L&D role. I had the opportunity to learn and implement both ADDIE and Kirkpatrick methods in our program. Which both have been successful methods for our organization.
I began designing my curriculum and moved on to take on all organization training to included building our leadership training programs and created training plans for our organization wide projects. I developed a great amount of project management and communication skills which i use every day even in my current role.
I now have the privilege of leading a group of L&D professionals as they continue to build on these trainings and provide tools and resources for our employees to be successful in their roles.
I am a huge supporter of ATD since most of my skills and knowledge was provided by them. I’m looking forward to serving on the board and supporting others in their development!
Joey Caruana is a U.S. Navy veteran and certified Master Training Specialist in Adult Learning with more than 20 years of experience in Instructional Systems Design, Technical Instruction and Training Program Development. During his career he has established and managed technical training programs, developed and delivered train-the-trainer curricula for task-based instruction, and produced computer-based training. As a Training Consultant, he has helped organizations determine their training needs and develop tailored training solutions that maximize workforce talent to fulfill organizational goals. He has on-the-job experience with Articulate Storyline, LMS, SharePoint, Wild Apricot, Teams and other collaboration applications. His L&D experience includes serving the U.S. Navy, oil refineries, technical and service contractors, and the restaurant industry.
Joey believes customer service and client collaboration is key: “I am passionate about training and helping
people succeed. I believe that training
is dynamic, which means there is continuous improvement to match ever-changing product
designs, compliance standards and learning requirements. I believe the best way to get things done
right is to collaborate with stakeholders, leadership, peers, and end-users to
get buy-in and find the best solutions.”
Joey has been a member of ATD for 16 years and serving on
the Board of Directors for the ATD San Antonio Chapter for two years. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time
with God & family, taking part in local veterans’ organizations, and expanding
his knowledge of L&D. He is also currently
in school for project management and actively learning financial coaching.
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