Certification is part of my Lifelong Learning

by Kris Schaeffer, CPTD
Certified Professional in Talent Development
Certified Conscious Capitalism Consultant
First recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award, Association for Talent Develop

I was 18 when I got my first certification. I did it to double my income. I was making one dollar an hour as a college student waiting tables in the faculty dining room when I learned that I could earn two dollars an hour teaching swimming. And to qualify to teach in the school’s phys-ed department, I needed to be certified as a Water Safety Instructor (WSI).

Initially I wanted to increase my earnings, but ultimately I found more than money. I learned the joy of swimming and teaching others how to be safe in the water. Here are some of reasons that I loved this first certification experience. (more…)

5 Master Level Instructional Design Tips




Alisha Klatt
Training and Instructional Design Specialist
UC Berkeley Office of Environment, Health & Safety

Are you looking for opportunities to level-up your Instructional Design skills? Have you checked out the Association for Talent Development’s (ATD) master-level programs?

Last year, I had the pleasure of attending the ATD Master E-learning Instructional Designer Program facilitated by Diane Elkins. The workshop took place prior to the 2020 ATD TechKnowledge Conference & Expo in San Jose, CA. I’m grateful I was able to attend after receiving one of the discounted registrations that ATD National and the Golden Gate Chapter are occasionally able to offer to active Golden Gate chapter members for sessions that have space available.

My highlights include hearing insights from the instructor’s experience and discussing real-world Instructional Design (ID) challenges with other participants working in different industries. During the program, our class worked through a well-designed, realistic scenario to practice the skills we learned. After the instruction ended, we received valuable feedback on our individual project deliverables.

The course presentations and materials also included many master-level tips. Here are 5 that resonated with me. (more…)

Looking at my own Biases





Finan Hagos
, Training Specialist
Provident Credit Union

I had the opportunity to attend a virtual event on the topic of “Exploring Diversity and Inclusion”. Lisa Fairchild, a Life Coach, Public Speaker and Workshop Facilitator uses ‘Faces’ from Points of You® tools and methodologies to explore how we view ourselves and others. We were asked to share one word that came to mind when we think of the word Inclusion and my word was “openess” because we should be open to the differences in others. The exercises that we did followed Points of You® methodologies of Pause, Expand, Focus and Doing. My highlights of each methodology include:

Pause: Points of You® always start with Pause to music. While we were listening to a song, I had to ask myself “how do I feel physically? “What are my thoughts and emotions?” At first, this was a little uncomfortable because of the silence but it made me realize after a moment that it allowed me to focus on the present and relax my mind. (more…)

Defining the “new normal”




Joanna Sharp
Training & Development Specialist, Fremont Bank

When we think of networking it normally involves meeting rooms, handshakes, and in-person conversation, something that we won’t be doing for a while. Fortunately, technology is allowing us to network while physically distancing. Hosted by Kalenga Pembamoto, South Bay Group Team Leader, ATD Golden Gate held a structured networking event for participants to meet and discuss the topic ‘redesigning your future normal’.

After introductions and setup, we were split into breakout rooms to discuss two questions: “what’s on our minds at the moment?” and “what support or advice would we like from the group?”. The discussions were lively and engaging, and offered great advice. Some examples include: (more…)