FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Lorri Freifeld
lorri@trainingmag.com
Minneapolis (August 25, 2026) –Training magazine named the winners of its 2026 Emerging Training Leaders Awards, recognizing 25 Learning and Development (L&D) professionals who demonstrated exemplary leadership skills and outcome-based training in the last year. The winners have been in the industry for two to 10 years and help their organizations move the performance needle with top-notch skills in employee coaching, mentoring, and empowerment; innovative training; business acumen, strategic thinking; and more.
These professionals will be profiled in the March 2027 issue of Training magazine and online at www.trainingmag.com. They also will be honored at an awards ceremony on February 23, 2027, at Disney World’s Coronado Springs Resort during the Training 2027 Conference & Expo in Orlando, FL.
All Emerging Training Leader candidates had to be nominated by co-workers or industry peers. Training Hall of Famers and Editorial Advisory Board members and the editor/publisher judged the nearly 50 nominations and chose the 25 winners based on the following factors:
- Has been in the training industry for a minimum of two years but no more than 10 years
- Took on at least one new responsibility in the last year
- Successfully led a large-scale training/learning and development initiative within the last year that required management/leadership of a group of people and resulted in the achievement of a business/business unit goal (with results provided for Kirkpatrick Levels 3 or 4)
- Demonstrates specific leadership qualities
- Has the potential to lead the Training or L&D function at an organization in the next one to 10 years
In addition, Training created an “Emerging Training Leaders to Watch” list, which features five up-and-coming professionals who didn’t receive an award this year, but who are well on their way to becoming future Emerging Training Leaders.
The judges included:
- Julie Ahrens, VP & Director, Organizational Development and Culture, ESL Federal Credit Union
- Gina Villegas Allan, Director, Talent Development, McCarthy Building Holdings, Inc.
- Diane August, former Chief Learning Architect, Nationwide
- Carrington Barnes, Director, Talent Development, BNSF Railway
- Brent Bloom, President, Consulting Service Solutions inc
- Phillip Browning, Director, Learning and Development, Rosendin
- Douglas Bryant, VP, Talent Management, Sonic Automotive
- Brooke Jones-Chinetti, VP, Talent Management, The Haskell Company
- Vicente Gonzalez, CLO, GE Vernova
- Joshua Hinkle, VP, Corporate Learning, State Compensation Insurance Fund
- Glenn Hughes, Senior Director, Learning & Development, KLA Corporation
- Bruce I. Jones, former Senior Cast Development and QA Director, Disney Institute
- Jessica Kasje, Learning & Development Specialist, Leading Real Estate Companies of the World
- Laura Mierzejewski, Director, Learning Excellence, Nationwide
- Laurie O’Mara, Senior Project Manager, Learning & Development, Paychex
- Michael Orth, Senior Director, KPMG Business School – U.S.
- Catherine Rickelman, former Manager, IBM Learning
- Ross Tartell, former Technical Training and Communications Manager – North America, GE Capital Real Estate
- Training Team, Applied Materials, Inc.
- Marilyn Vertison, Assistant Manager, Learning & Development, Central Alabama Water
- Lorri Freifeld, Editor/Publisher, Training magazine
“Hats off to our 2026 Emerging Training Leaders! They are the architects of transformation: blending creativity with strategy, coaching with empowerment, and innovation with measurable results,” says Training magazine Editor/Publisher Lorri Freifeld. “These talented professionals remind us that the future of learning and development is built by those brave enough to inspire, skilled enough to deliver, and humble enough to keep growing.”
Training magazine’s 2026 Emerging Training Leaders are (in alphabetical order):
2026 TOP 5 WINNERS
Adan Jalomo, Lead Talent Development Consultant, Lumen
Yifei (Eiffy) Luo, Learning Design Lead, Handshake
Emma Miles, Senior Manager, Learning & Development, Worldwide Clinical Trials Inc
María Fernanda Sánchez Sánchez, Learning Specialist, Thermo Fisher
Kseniya Zhytsina, Senior Instructional Designer, DataArt
2026 20 WINNERS
Rohneet Ahluwalia, Senior Manager, Learning and Development, The Oberoi Group (EIH Limited)
Gregg Barlie, Facilitator II, All Star Healthcare Solutions
Faith Beatty, Manager, Learning & Development, Progress Residential
Allison Bedient, Senior Manager, Learning & Development, Wynn Las Vegas
Andrew Blomstrom, Director, Learning Technology and Operation Initiatives, Blue Sprig Pediatrics
Diana Brandon, former Chief Information Technology Officer, eLearningDOC; currently Assistant Director, Instructional Design and Creative Services, Florida State University College of Medicine
Krista Campbell, Senior Director and Chief Solutions Officer, Insight Experience
Katherine “Kit” Carlson, Senior Sales Training & Development Consultant, First Citizens Bank
Isabel Chua, Director, Learning & Development, Maybourne Beverly Hills
Jessica Dietrich, Instructional Design and Learning Experience Partner, Advocate Health
Reese Dolan, Training Sales Enablement Specialist, TransLoop
Cristin Fitzgerald, Associate Director, Learning & Development, KPMG LLP
Adam Holman, Training & Development Manager, Allergan Aesthetics, an AbbVie Company
Ameya, Karrambe, General Manager, LEAP India Ltd.
Apoorva Mishra, Manager, Learning and Development, The Oberoi Centre of Learning and Development (OCLD), The Oberoi Group (EIH Limited)
Bryon Monteleone, Training Lead, Coast Professional, Inc.
Jason Norris, Plumbing Training Manager, American Residential Services
Alyssa Pacheco, former Customer Org Trainer, Lemonade Insurance Company; currently Trainer and Instructional Designer, Openly
Elisabeth Sepulveda, Lead Instructional Designer, Lumen Technologies
Bailey Valentine, Talent Development Specialist, Ebara Elliott Energy
2026 EMERGING TRAINING LEADERS TO WATCH
Kate Dulac, Revenue Onboarding Program Manager, Salesloft
Ajit Kumar Kar, Principal Consultant, People & Culture, The MindMasters
Stephanie Lauridsen, Manager, Learning Technology & Design, Jack in the Box
Rachel Smith, Exploration Expert, Learning Specialist, ThinkUp
Nic Wester, Learning Experience Designer, Optimum
About Training magazine
Training is a 62-year-old professional development magazine written for training, Human Resources and business management professionals in all industries that advocate training and workforce development as a business tool. Trainingalso produces world-class conferences, expositions, and digital products that focus on job-related, employer-sponsored training and education in the working world. Training is published by Lakewood Media Group.
