Moderator

David Grad, M.S., Co-Founder, Elevator9, Leadership Program Designer & Facilitator, Executive Coach, Senior Lecturer

For more than 20 years, David was a leader and innovator in media, marketing and entertainment. He found that leading people and creating the conditions for his teams to succeed was his superpower. Leveraging that led him to shifting to leadership program design & facilitation, executive coaching and teaching leadership at the graduate level. David understands the challenges faced by practitioners in the field of learning and development.

Recognizing those challenges and seeking to create more impactful learning experiences for his clients, partnered with datascientist and tech entrepreneur, Aaron Windfield to co-found elevator9. With elevator9, David and Aaron are pioneering newways to bridge learning science with digital and virtual technology to create more lasting and effective learning transformations,while providing a unique and innovative means for measuring the outcomes of trainings and coaching engagements.

He holds an M.S. in Strategic Communication from Columbia University, B.A.'s in Mass Communication and Theatre from Florida State University, certifications in Brain-Based Coaching from the NeuroLeadership Institute,  and Learning Sciencefrom Allen Academy and Quinnovation.

Panelists

Clark Quinn, Co-Director Learning Development Accelerator

Clark Quinn, Ph.D. provides strategic learning technology solutions to corporations, government, not-for-profits, and education organizations. An internationally known consultant, speaker, and author of five books as well as numerous articles and chapters, he integrates a deep understanding of thinking & learning with broad experience in technology to improve organizational execution, innovation, and ultimately performance. In 2012, Clark was recognized as the eLearning Guild’s first Guild Master. He thinks ‘out loud’ at learnlets.com, tweets as @quinnovator, and works on behalf of clients through Quinnovation.

Remy Meraz, CEO and Co-Founder Zella Life

Zella Life is an AI-driven coaching-as-a-service platform that helps companies upskill soft skills for diverse talent and middle managers.  

With two decades of experience building and leading high-performance sales teams in Fortune 500 companies and VC-backed startups, Remy is a seasoned leader in the training and development field and holds a Masters in Transformational Training certification.

Julian Lewis, COO and Co-Founder Zella Life

Julian is a recognized corporate trainer and leader, renowned for leveraging real-life experiences and evidence-based methodologies to drive positive change within individuals and organizations. 

Zella Life recently received funding from Google for Startups and Pledge LA to support their work as a future-of-work solution to solve critical workforce development issues.

Chad Truby, Vice President of Commercial Excellence, Merit Medical

Chad Truby is the Vice President of Commercial Excellence at Merit Medical and has over 20 years of Medical Device, Pharmaceutical, and Life Science industry experience. Throughout his career, Chad has held roles in Sales, Sales Management, Training, Marketing, Commercial Excellence, Leadership Development, and Talent Management with organizations such as Merck, Alcon, Novartis, and, most recently Galderma Laboratories.

During his eight years at Galderma laboratories, Chad led the development and execution of the US Commercial Excellence, Global Leadership Development, and Global Talent Management functions with a keen focus on aligning the talent strategy with the business strategy to increase employee engagement and drive business results. Additionally, Chad served as the lead Coach for the North American executive team to help identify areas of opportunity that directly impacted the organizational culture and performance of the business. Key measures of success were an increase in employee engagement, reduced turnover, an increase in the leadership pipeline, and an increase in internal promotions.

"I believe there is untapped potential in all of us. I am inspired and motivated to work with individuals and teams to help reach their highest potential. With a People First mentality, I help organizations create cultures where people want to show up and be the best version of themselves fueled by purpose and growth.”

Chad currently resides in Fort Worth with his wife of 23 years and their two daughters. Outside work, Chad serves on the Board of Directors for the Armed Services YMCA, and has a passion for outdoor activities, including climbing, mountaineering, skiing, trail running, and fly fishing.

Markus Bernhardt, AI Strategy & Learning Expert

Recognized as a Fellow of the Learning Performance Institute (LPI) and affiliated with organizations such as the Forbes Technology Council, the HBR Advisory Council, and the Learning Development Accelerator (LDA), Markus Bernhardt is a recognized authority, author, panelist, and speaker in the global learning and HR community. Recently serving as chief evangelist at OBRIZUM on the vendor side, Markus has been at the forefront of combining cognitive science with digital learning transformation and AI. Prior, Markus held the CEO position at two education institutions in the UK, backed by an extensive leadership background serving in executive and non-executive board roles.