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Trainer's Institute (TI) is a four-part learning series with each session focusing on a core area of talent development, including Learning Technologies, Instructional Design, Training Delivery, and Evaluating Impact.
Trainer's Institute is the premier development opportunity in the Omaha area for anyone new to the talent development field or those looking to enhance and level up their skills.
Each session will be facilitated live in-person and hosted at a different area business. Registration opens first to participants opting to attend the entire series. Registration for individual sessions opens later in the summer, pending seat availability. Your best deal is to register for the whole series while early bird pricing is available!
All sessions start at 9 a.m. and will end no later than 3 p.m.
Check out the details for each level on the 2026 Trainer's Institute Page here!
BASE CAMP: Instructional Design
September 18, 2026 | 9am - 3pm
Facilitator: Stephanie Hammer
Location: Core Bank
ANCHOR: Learning Technologies
October 02, 2026 | 9am - 3pm
Facilitator: Alana Hoffman and Carrie Shively
SCALE: Training Delivery
October 16, 2026 | 9am - 3pm
Facilitator: Theresa Hummel-Krallinger
SUMMIT: Evaluating Impact
October 27, 2026 | 9am - 3pm
Facilitators: Debbie Petru
Behind many successful careers is a mentor who provided guidance, support, and perspective. This virtual session explores how mentorship can accelerate learning, expand professional networks, and build confidence. Through personal stories and an overview of the ATD Mentorship Program, attendees will discover how meaningful mentoring relationships create lasting impact for both mentors and mentees.
We hope to see you there!
☕ ATD Nebraska Coffee Chat
Connect. Learn. Grow.
Join us each month for an ATD Nebraska Coffee Chat — a casual gathering offered in person during odd months and virtually during the even ones. It is a great chance to connect with fellow members, share ideas, and build relationships in our talent development community. Feel free to bring a friend or colleague who is interested in learning more about ATD! All are welcome.
We’ve all sat through a painful presentation. And if we’re honest — we’ve delivered a few too. Great training delivery isn’t just about knowing your content. It’s about commanding a room, creating connection, managing the unexpected, and leaving your audience with something they’ll actually remember. In this high-energy, humor-forward full-day workshop, facilitator and comedian Theresa Hummel-Krallinger takes participants on a candid, laugh-out-loud tour of the most common mistakes presenters and trainers make — and exactly how to fix them. Through peer coaching, checklists, practice triads, and a healthy dose of the Rule of Three, participants leave with concrete tools, sharper instincts, and the confidence to deliver programs that stick.
By the end of the session, participants will be able to:
Facilitator Bio: Theresa Hummel-Krallinger
Theresa is a facilitator, consultant, and — yes — a professional stand-up comedian. That combination isn't accidental. For over 30 years she has helped organizations develop their people through high-energy, humor-forward programs that are as practical as they are memorable.
A proud ATD member and Past President of the Greater Philadelphia ATD Chapter, Theresa has also served as a member of the ATD National Advisors for Chapters (NAC) — so she knows firsthand what it takes to build learning communities that deliver real value to their members. She has been a featured speaker at regional and international ATD conferences, as well as SHRM and the Training Directors Forum.
A graduate of the Wharton CHRO program, she also served on the non-credit faculty at Temple University for 17 years, is a graduate of the Women Unlimited leadership program in NYC, and is a two-time Emmy Award winner for her work on the PBS talk show Counter Culture. She is the author of Make Waves and the founder of High Five Performance, Inc.
When Theresa is in the room, learning happens — and people leave smiling.
You can have a seat at the table and still struggle to be heard. Executive presence is what helps turn your HR expertise into credibility, influence, and action.
Join AIHR Subject Matter Expert Dr. Dieter Veldsman, to explore what executive presence really looks like in practice and how to connect people insights to the business priorities leaders care about most.
What you will learn: ● Explain what executive presence is and distinguish it from confidence, charisma, and visibility. ● Describe why executive presence matters for HR’s credibility and strategic influence. ● Recognize common pitfalls that weaken HR’s impact, including overexplaining, reporting activity instead of insight, hedging recommendations, and avoiding constructive challenge. ● Apply practical techniques to communicate with greater clarity, commercial relevance, and conviction. ● Identify behaviors to develop and strengthen executive presence.
Dr. Dieter Veldsman Chief HR Scientist at AIHR.
He is an organizational psychologist with a passion for HR. He has over 15+ years of experience across the HR value chain and lifecycle, having worked for and consulted with various multi-national corporations in Europe, Asia, and Africa. He has held the positions of CHRO, Organizational Effectiveness Executive, and Organizational Design and Development Principal.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dieterveldsman/
This session blends practical strategy with mindset work: you’ll leave with a simple, actionable roadmap for building a learning culture that speaks the language of business—and a reflection guide to uncover the assumptions you need to release to get there. Whether you lead talent development, team learning, or enterprise-wide training initiatives, you’ll walk away empowered to drive measurable impact and cultivate a learning culture of agility and purpose. Join us if you’re ready to let go of going through the motions—and step into learning that truly transforms.
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
1. Identify the key elements of a data-driven learning framework and describe how they can be leveraged to demonstrate the business value of talent development initiatives.
2. Evaluate current learning programs to uncover assumptions, legacy practices, or misaligned metrics that may be hindering organizational learning agility.
3. Apply a clear, step-by-step roadmap to design or refine a learning culture that integrates data insights, leadership priorities, and measurable impact.
4. Practice strategies for “letting go” of outdated learning methods and shifting toward a culture that encourages experimentation, reflection, and continuous growth.
5. Develop a personalized action plan to communicate learning outcomes in the language of business, reinforcing credibility and influence within organizational decision-making.
Facilitator Bio: Debbie Petru
Debbie oversees the learning strategy for over 2000 associates across six states at Heritage Communities. She leads a frontline manager training program and partners with senior leaders on KPIs, addressing skill gaps with outcome-focused development opportunities. She drives frontline engagement through the Heritage Always Learning Academy (HALA). An ATD Nebraska past president, Debbie enjoys family time, the outdoors, reading, movies, and volunteering. She is currently writing her memoir, “Daffodils for My Daughter.”
In today’s fast-paced workplace, the true differentiator isn’t just more training—it’s aligning learning with business impact and being willing to let go of old habits that hold us back. In this breakout session inspired by the insights of Debbie Petru (from her blogs on data-driven learning cultures and the journey of letting go), you’ll explore how to:1. Anchor your learning strategy in a clear, measurable framework, starting with the end in mind, identifying key stakeholders, gathering available data sources and defining meaningful KPIs.2. Embrace a mindset of letting go—of outdated assumptions, irrelevant metrics, and “one-size-fits-all” training—so you can more readily respond to real business needs and shift direction when required.
Join ATD Associate Director of Membership, Allison Rafti for this information-packed session to get acquainted with all of the knowledge you need to make your ATD national membership work for you! ATD membership is a powerful tool, so join us as we explore the benefits of ATD national and ATD Nebraska memberships.
In this session, we will cover:
Join us each month for an ATD Nebraska Coffee Chat — a casual gathering offered in person during odd months and virtually during the even ones. It’s a great chance to connect with fellow members, share ideas, and build relationships in our talent development community. Feel free to bring a friend or colleague who's interested in learning more about ATD! All are welcome.
Welcome New Members! Please join us for this online meeting where you'll have the opportunity to meet board members, hear from a tenured member about their experience and learn more about the benefits of ATD and how to access our resources!
Orientation is facilitated by members of ATD Nebraska's Membership team.
Have you ever thought about writing a book? Or wondered about publishing?
In this session, you'll learn how four local authors went from having an idea to publishing a nonfiction book.
Darci Davis will moderate this panel discussion featuring local authors Carol Horner, LaPora Lindsey, Brenda Peterson, and Amber Watts. Come to learn more about their writing motivation, topic selection, process, challenges, and lessons learned. Whether you are thinking about authorship, working on a book of your own, or interested in the process, this is the session for you.
LaPora Lindsey
Talent Development & Performance Consultant, LaPora Lindsey and Company
Author of Bottom of the Food Chain: A Fresh Perspective On How Your Career Impact Goes Beyond Your Job Title
Carol Horner
Founder, Synchronicity, Inc.
Author of The Spiral of Accountability & Bridging Our Divides: The Spiral Way
Brenda Peterson
Coach, Author, and Speaker, The Layoff Lady
Author of Seven Lessons from Seven Layoffs: A Guide
Amber Watts
Founder, Radical GrowthWorks
Author of From Onboarding to Everboarding: Redefining Employee Development
ATD Nebraska, P.O. Box 85793 Lincoln, NE 68501-5793 | (402) 850-6710 | contactus@atdnebraska.org
