Explore the full day of programming, including keynote sessions, networking opportunities, and concurrent education sessions focused on today’s most pressing public sector workforce challenges.
From Transformation to Trajectory: Inside OPM’s Vision for the Federal Workforce
Join a timely fireside chat with OPM Director Scott Kupor, interviewed by government workplace expert Mika J. Cross.
Get a behind-the-scenes look at how performance, efficiency, and accountability are reshaping federal hiring, retention, training, data, and the employee experience. This forward-looking conversation will help federal leaders align talent development strategies with mission outcomes while preparing their workforce for evolving roles and new ways of working.
CEO and Founder, Strategy@Work
Cultivating the Next Generation of Public Sector Leaders
Explores practical strategies for identifying, developing, and retaining emerging leaders to ensure continuity, innovation, and long-term mission success.
Steve Dobberowsky
VP, Sales Public Sector, Cornerstone
Megan J. Hennessey
Provost and Chief Learning Officer, U.S. Marine Corps Education
Meleia Rose
Program Facilitator, Leadership for an Effective and Accountable Government, OPM’s Federal Talent Management Center
Chief, Leadership Development Branch, Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency
Effective Learning Programs
This session explores how government agencies are designing training programs that drive measurable performance improvements and support mission outcomes. Panelists will share practical approaches, lessons learned, and real examples of what it takes to implement training that delivers impact.
Amy Parker
Program Director, Government and Defense Programs, UNC Kenan-Flagler Executive Development
Loi Tran
HR Consultant, Strategic Consulting, OPM’s Federal Talent Management Center
Karen Ethridge, Ph.D.
Acting Division Director Leadership Training Division, U.S. Department of State
Director, Learning & Development, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Advancing Workforce Readiness Through AI Skilling
As artificial intelligence rapidly reshapes government work, workforce readiness has become a strategic imperative rather than a future aspiration. This session explores how public sector organizations can move beyond ad hoc AI training to build scalable, role-based AI skilling strategies that support mission outcomes, responsible use, and sustained workforce capability. Attendees will leave with practical insights for aligning AI literacy, skills intelligence, and learning pathways to future-proof their workforce.
Nita Wade
Market Solutions Leader, Skillsoft
Identifying and Building Mission-Critical Skills
Identifies the critical skills government agencies will need in the next three to five years and how leaders can prioritize, build, and sustain those capabilities in a rapidly changing environment.
M. Shane Canfield
CEO, WAEPA
Samantha Adrignola
Manager, Strategic Consulting, OPM’s Federal Talent Management Center
Michelle Zager
Director, Treasury Executive Institute, U.S. Department of the Treasury
Acting Chief Human Capital Officer, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Navigating Change: Building a Culture of Accountability
As agencies face increasing pressure to demonstrate performance and results, culture change is not optional; it is operational. This panel explores how government leaders are embedding clear expectations, transparent metrics, and shared accountability into daily operations to drive mission outcomes and build high-performing teams.
Dr. Carla A. Goger
Director, Learning Asset Production Center, Warfighting Acquisition University (WarU)
Renee Vincent
Manager, Organizational and Talent Development Assessment, OPM’s Federal Talent Management Center
Amanda Voight
Acting Chief Learning Officer, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Supervisory Management Analyst, USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
From Standardization to Innovation: Build Skills, Modernize, and Unlock AI
This session explores how federal agencies can move from fragmented learning and disconnected systems to a more standardized, data-driven foundation for AI adoption. We’ll cover how building a strong learning infrastructure, modernizing systems to capture critical skills and operational data, and making that data actionable can help agencies unlock innovation, improve workforce readiness, and drive more effective AI initiatives.
Patrick Holloway
Global Account Director, Government & Public Sector, Docebo
Leveraging AI for Training and Development
How learning leaders are using AI to personalize learning, streamline content creation, and generate data-driven insights that improve workforce capability.
Richard B. Ayers, PhD
Program Manager, Training and Development, OPM’s Federal Talent Management Center
Kathleen Walch,
Director, AI Engagement and Community, Project Management Institute (PMI)
Tameca N. Brown, CPTD
Organizational Development & Training Manager, Fairfax County Park Authority
Doctoral Candidate, University of Maryland Global Campus
Javier E. Inclán
Assistant Inspector General for Management, U.S. National Science Foundation Office of Inspector General
Performance-Driven Government: Linking Talent Metrics to Mission Impact
Examines how agencies are building enterprise-wide performance systems that connect workforce data, operational metrics, and mission outcomes to drive strategic decision-making.
Ryan Hendricks
Manager, USA Performance, OPM’s Federal Systems Center
Ernest Hoffman, PhD
Personnel Research Psychologist, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Ari Vidali
Founder & Chief Strategist, Acadis, Vector Solutions
Manager, U.S. Government Affairs, Project Management Institute
From Compliance to Capability: Reimagining Federal Learning as a Driver of Mission Readiness
Agencies are facing accelerated retirements, evolving mission demands, AI-enabled work, budget constraints, and increasing competition for talent. Executive leaders are no longer asking whether employees completed training; they are asking whether the workforce is prepared to execute the mission today and adapt for tomorrow.
This session explores how federal learning organizations can evolve from managing compliance programs to becoming strategic partners in workforce capability, resilience, and mission readiness. Attendees will discuss how learning investments can better support organizational performance, strengthen critical capabilities, and prepare agencies for the future of work.
Amanda Nolen
Board Member, Investor, Strategic Advisor, Totara
Evaluating the Impact of Training
Explores methods for isolating the effects of learning programs, measuring behavior change, and demonstrating return on investment beyond completion rates and satisfaction scores.
Karrin Lukacs, PhD, CPTD
Learning Program and Staff Development Coordinator, Department of Family Services in Fairfax County, Virginia
Erin Strausbaugh
Organizational Communication and Development Specialist, Defense Information Systems Agency
Amy Tessitore
Director of Global Services Delivery, Moodle
Learning and Human Capital Strategist, Fedability
Leading Change in State and Local Government
This panel brings together state and local government workforce leaders to share how they navigate organizational change while keeping teams engaged, services running, and public trust intact. Attendees will leave with practical strategies for managing change at the state and local level, where the pressure is immediate and the margin for error is thin.
Clarke Griffith
Program Director and Strategic Initiatives Lead, Office of Innovative Learning Solutions (ILS), CUNY School of Professional Studies
Jason Mazeski
Chief of Training, NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission
Sandra Thompson-Reid
Environmental Health and Safety Manager, New York City Department of Environmental Protection
Terrance Blackman Stroud
Deputy Commissioner, Training & Development, NYC Department of Social Services
Two Deadlines, One Workforce: Closing the AI Skills Gap While Your Senior Staff Walk Out the Door
Federal and state agencies are facing two workforce crises at once — and treating them as unrelated is costing them time they don’t have. OMB’s M-25-21 has put AI governance and workforce readiness on a hard clock, while a wave of senior staff departures is quietly draining decades of institutional knowledge before it can be captured. This session makes the case that these aren’t separate problems: the agencies pulling ahead are building AI literacy and knowledge-transfer into a single workforce strategy, not two competing training budgets. Attendees will leave with a practical framework for sequencing AI skills development by role and grade level, and a model for capturing outgoing expertise before it’s gone for good.
Scott Biegel, MBA
Principal Solution Consultant (Public Sector), Adobe
Accelerating Digital Transformation in Government
As agencies invest in AI and digital modernization, adoption continues to lag. This session reveals the root cause: the human readiness gap. Drawing on years of leading federal transformation initiatives and research on motivation and behavior change, Sarah shares the proven framework that moves teams from compliance to commitment: Empathy. Emotion. Engagement. Execution. Learn how to design for behavior change, activate leadership as change agents, and turn resistance into adoption strategy, because transformation moves at the speed of confidence.
