ATD Greater Cleveland upcoming events

From Trainer to L&D Leader: Coaching, Feedback and Influence Skills (September 17, 2026)

Thu, 17 Sep 2026 21:30:00 GMT

Transitioning into L&D Leadership Roles

Stepping into L&D leadership requires a shift from delivering content to driving results through others. Certified (CPCC) coach Candice Gouge will show you how to navigate this transition by mastering the "soft" skills that define a Director-level professional. You’ll explore how to flex your communication style for different personality types, use proven frameworks to pitch ideas to leadership with confidence, and lead meetings that actually get results. Through practical coaching scenarios and feedback models, you’ll leave with a toolkit for influencing stakeholders and leading your team with greater clarity and impact.

This session ties to the ATD Capability Model in the following areas:

Building Professional Capability
Networking and Partnering

Program Details

Date	Thursday, September 17, 2026
Time	5:30pm – 6:30pm - Session
Location	Virtual Zoom Meeting
Cost	Current ATD Greater Cleveland Chapter Members: $10 Current Members of any Ohio ATD Chapter: $10 Non-Members & Guests: $15

Presenter: Candice Gouge

As a certified coach and L&D expert, Candice Gouge thrives on helping teams and leaders bridge the gap between strategy and execution. She specializes in creating strong organizational structures that allow learning functions to scale and succeed on a global level. Candice’s philosophy is simple: leadership is about driving excellence through others.

Please contact programs@atdgreatercleveland.org with event questions.

Mastermind Group for Independent Training Professionals - Pricing with Susan Aldrich (September 25, 2026)

Fri, 25 Sep 2026 17:00:00 GMT

Are you an independent training or learning development professional?

Pricing can be a touchy subject; you do not want to overprice and miss the work or undercut yourself and price to low. Join us for a fast-paced discussion on how to set prices, when to discount, when to raise your prices (super easy idea) and how to negotiate. Also, we will discuss upfront deposits, and overdue payments and Susan will share her pricing worksheet.

This session ties to the ATD Capability Model in the following areas:

Business Insight
Consulting and Business Partnering

Program Details

Date	Friday, September 25, 2026
Time	1:00pm - 2:00pm
Location	Virtual Google Meet
Cost	This event is FREE for members!

Hosted by: Susan Aldrich

Susan Aldrich will hand you the key to unlock how your employees really think, and give you the tools to get it right, quickly. She has created a rapid-results training targeting your high potential employees in a powerful, concise way that guarantees you success!

Susan has spent years motivating and inspiring audiences to step out of their comfort zone in order to reach their full potential individually or as part of a team. With more than 25 years of experience, she is now seen as the go-to motivational speaker and trainer for corporations interested in investing in their high potential employees with a proven program that guides emerging leaders and employees on a journey to success.

Susan engages audiences in the manufacturing, healthcare, IT, not-for-profit and sports and recreation industries. With her high energy and innovative interactive approach, Susan connects with her audiences immediately and delivers content that they can immediately use back on the job.

Raised in Cleveland, she is a graduate of Baldwin Wallace College and serves on the Board of the American Society for Training and Development and the International Alliance for Learning. Susan founded Susan Aldrich and Associates in 1997 and is the co-founder of the Northeast Ohio Accelerative Learning Special Interest Group.

Please contact programs@atdgreatercleveland.org with event / registration questions.

2nd Annual Impact Day: Designing for Our Community (October 24, 2026)

Sat, 24 Oct 2026 13:00:00 GMT

Designing a Strong Start at Blossom Hill

Join fellow talent development professionals for a day of meaningful, hands-on work that supports our local community.

This year, we are partnering with a local non-profit Blossom Hill, a 24/7 residential organization that supports individuals with disabilities and their families. Blossom Hill has shared its current training materials and onboarding checklist and is looking for help strengthening the onboarding experience specifically for early-career employees.

Together, we will review their existing resources and collaborate to create practical, engaging onboarding tools that help new team members understand the purpose behind their work, feel prepared for the role, and build confidence from day one.

You will have the opportunity to:

Collaborate with other L&D professionals on a real-world training challenge.
Apply your instructional design and adult learning expertise to a meaningful community need.
Create or adapt onboarding content, activities, and tools that Blossom Hill can use with new employees.

This is a working session, so come ready to share ideas, create, and make an impact. A lunch break is included, and Zoup! is conveniently located next door.

Accessible, abundant parking is available onsite.

Learn more about the important work Blossom Hill does and follow Blossom Hill on LinkedIn to stay connected.

This session ties to the ATD Capability Model in the following areas:

Instructional Design
Consulting and Business Partnering

Program Details

Date	Saturday, October 24, 2026
Time	9:00 am - 4:00 pm - Working Session *We will take a lunch break next door at Zoup.
Location	7080 Engle Rd, Middleburg Heights, OH 44130 *There is plenty of FREE parking available!
Cost	Current ATD Greater Cleveland Chapter Members: $25 Current Members of any Ohio ATD Chapter: $25 Non-Members & Guests: $35

Facilitator/Coordinator: Brad Withers

Brad Withers is the President of the ATD Greater Cleveland Chapter. He has presented over 1700 program days in 46 states, 10 countries and six provinces. He has taken classes from Robert Fritz, Peter Senge and Thiagi.

Please contact programs@atdgreatercleveland.org with event/registration questions.

Applied AI for Learning and Development (November 12, 2026)

Thu, 12 Nov 2026 22:30:00 GMT

How AI Is Transforming the L&D Space

AI is transforming how learning and development professionals create content, design training, and deliver results, and the L&D teams that embrace it now will build a significant competitive advantage for themselves and their organizations. In this talk, Mike will teach you how to go further with AI in your L&D work, including:

Tangible AI use cases and tools you can start using today to drive productivity and performance in learning and development.

Examples of AI in action across real-world L&D use cases like writing, ideation, and content creation.

Step-by-step instructions on how to get started with AI, no matter what you do or your AI skill level.

The result?

You'll come away with the precise guidance you need to get started with AI right away in your organization and career, no matter your role or background.

This session ties to the ATD Capability Model in the following areas:

Building Professional Capability
Developing Technology Application

Program Details

Date	Thursday, November 12, 2026
Time	5:30pm – 6:30pm - Session
Location	Virtual Zoom Meeting
Cost	Current ATD Greater Cleveland Chapter Members: $10 Current Members of any Ohio ATD Chapter: $10 Non-Members & Guests: $15

Presenter: Mike Kaput

Mike Kaput is the Chief Content Officer at SmarterX and a leading voice on the application of AI in business. He is the co-author of the book Marketing Artificial Intelligence and co-host of The Artificial Intelligence Show podcast.

Please contact programs@atdgreatercleveland.org with event questions.

Beyond the PowerPoint: Using Simulations to Make Learning Stick (November 18, 2026)

Wed, 18 Nov 2026 22:30:00 GMT

Beyond the PowerPoint: Using Simulations to Make Learning Stick

Business simulations turn training from something participants hear into something they experience. In this interactive session, you’ll learn how to design and facilitate simulations that create meaningful decisions, consequences, discussion, and discovery. We’ll explore how to turn real workplace challenges into engaging learning experiences without expensive technology or complicated game design. You’ll leave with a practical framework for building simulations that strengthen leadership, teamwork, communication, problem-solving, and business acumen while making training more memorable, relevant, and fun.

This session ties to the ATD Capability Model in the following areas:

Building Professional Capability
Networking and Partnering

Program Details

Date	Wednesday, November 18, 2026
Time	5:30pm - 6:00pm - Networking & Light Snacks Provided 6:00pm - 8:00pm - Program
Location	North Royalton Public Library, 5071 Wallings Road, North Royalton, OH, 44133
Cost	Current ATD Greater Cleveland Chapter Members: $20 Current Members of any Ohio ATD Chapter: $20 Non-Members & Guests: $35

Facilitator: Ned Parks

Ned Parks has been in the L&D business starting 1986 as a classroom instructor and helicopter flight instructor in the US Army. Today he runs Aegis 360 Consulting providing workforce and leadership development and strategic planning to organizations around the world.

Please contact programs@atdgreatercleveland.org with event / registration questions.

ATD Greater Cleveland Holiday Meet & Greet (December 03, 2026)

Thu, 03 Dec 2026 22:00:00 GMT

ATD Greater Cleveland Holiday Social Hour

Join us for some time to have a chat, share a snack, spin a prize wheel, and make new local connections among learning and development professionals.

Join us for drinks, heavy appetizers and some great conversations. We look forward to connecting with you!

Please register so we know how many to accommodate in our space. Questions? Please email programs@atdgreatercleveland.org.

Event Details

Date	Thursday, December 3, 2026
Time	5:00pm - 7:00pm
Location	The Hooley Pub & Kitchen 10310 Cascade Crossing Brooklyn, OH 44144
Cost	Registration will cover the group appetizers! Members: $15 Members of any chapter: $15 Non-members $20