December 2025 Chapter Meeting (Virtual)

🌟 Reflect, Recharge, and Reimagine: Talent Development Achievements & 2026 Initiatives 🌟

What did organizations really achieve in talent development in 2025—and what bold initiatives are they launching in 2026?

This virtual panel brings together senior leaders from across industries to pull back the curtain on their wins, lessons learned, and the innovative strategies shaping the future of work. You’ll hear firsthand how they’ve cultivated learning cultures, tackled workforce challenges, and driven real impact in their organizations.

💥 But that’s not all…
We’ll explore how these organizations are turning insights from 2025 into actionable plans for 2026, with fresh ideas you can adapt to your own work.

This isn’t just another panel—it’s your chance to tap into C-Suite insights and fuel your own vision for the year ahead. Will you be there for one of ATD Las Vegas' most popular annual events?

📅 Date: Friday, December 12, 2025
🕗 Time: 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM (Pacific Time)
💻 Location: Virtual via Zoom

🌟 Meet the Panelists

Michelle Baker -  Chief People Officer, FORUM Credit Union

Michelle Baker is an accomplished HR and Talent Development leader with over 20 years of experience designing and implementing employee development strategies across the full employee lifecycle. She has led local and remote teams, driven talent initiatives during major organizational change, and developed leadership programs for emerging managers and senior executives alike.

Michelle Baker serves as Chief People Officer at FORUM Credit Union, where she leads the organization’s people strategy, culture development, and talent initiatives. With a clear eye for aligning workforce dynamics with business objectives, she drives organizational transformation and ensures that team members are positioned to succeed in a rapidly evolving financial-services environment. A seasoned HR and talent leader, Michelle brings deep experience in building inclusive, high-performing teams, developing leadership pipelines, and leveraging data-informed insights to deliver measurable impact. She’s also the author of Talent GPS: A Manager's Guide to Navigating the Employee Development Journey and the voice behind the award-winning phase(two)learning blog, recognized as one of the top L&D blogs worldwide.

Michelle’s work is known for being strategic, engaging, and results-focused—making her a trusted voice in talent development circles.

Tom Kuhlmann - Chief Learning Architect at Articulate

Mandi LaRue - Director of Talent Development for MGM Resorts International

Mandi LaRue is a strategic Talent Development leader with more than 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry and a proven ability to design enterprise learning strategies that strengthen leadership capability and drive business performance.

As  Executive Director Talent Development & Management for MGM Resorts International, Mandi partners with leaders across operations and HR to align development initiatives with organizational priorities, elevate engagement, and build a strong, sustainable leadership pipeline. She has led enterprise-wide efforts that enhance leadership readiness, advance organizational effectiveness, and connect talent strategy directly to measurable business outcomes.

Her expertise also extends to Talent Management, where she leverages engagement data to inform strategy and guide succession and development priorities across the enterprise.

Mandi’s approach is collaborative, data-driven, and business-aligned—ensuring every development investment strengthens MGM Resorts’ people, culture, and performance.