ATD Government Workforce Summit 2019

Sae Schatz, Ph.D., serves as the Director of the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative, a research and development program under the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Education and Training. Before joining the Government in 2015, Sae worked as an applied human–systems scientist, with an emphasis on human cognition and learning, instructional technologies, adaptive systems, human performance assessment, and modeling and simulation. During that time, she led the authorship and execution of the Marine Corps’ Making Good Instructor Great course and accompanying instructor tool kit. She was also the chief scientist for the award-winning Border Hunter research effort and the Joint Staff J7’s Blended Learning–Training project.

Sae has worked with the Defense training and education community for over 10 years. During that time her efforts frequently focused on ways to enhance individuals’ higher-order cognitive skills (i.e., the mental, emotional, and relational skills associated with “cognitive readiness”). She has authored more than 50 peer-reviewed scholarly publications, led development of 3 military textbooks, and received professional recognition for her publications and research, including best paper awards from the I/ITSEC and MODSIM conferences.

Sae also maintains close ties with her alma mater, the University of Central Florida. She formerly held an assistant professor position with the university, and she previously taught courses in visual design, web design and development, modeling and simulation, and human–systems interaction. Today, she continues to mentor UCF graduate students from the Institute for Simulation and Training, and she serves on the Digital Media Advisory Board

Tim Tobin, Vice President, Franchisee Onboarding and Learning, Choice Hotels

Timothy J. Tobin is a learning and leadership development professional with over 25 years of experience. He is committed to helping people and organizations achieve their greatest potential. Throughout his career, he has been directly responsible for the development of thousands of leaders from C-level to first time leaders across multiple industries. He is the author of Your Leadership Story: Use Your Story to Energize, Inspire, and Motivate (Berrett Koehler).

Tim is Vice President, Franchisee Onboarding and Learning, at Choice Hotels International. Previously, he was vice president for global learning and leadership development at Marriott International. Tim has also held senior learning and leadership development roles in multiple professional services organizations both as a consultant and internally as a department head. He has stood up and elevated multiple corporate universities.

Tim has led outstanding teams throughout his career. Programs developed under his leadership have won multiple awards including Chief Learning Officer awards for Global Leadership Development and Innovative Learning, Bersin & Associates awards for Leadership Development Strategy Excellence, Enabling High Impact Learning, Learning and Talent Initiative Excellence, and Operational Excellence, and the Helios HR Apollo award for outstanding employee development programs. In 2017, Tim was recognized for Outstanding Services to the Learning Industry by the Global Council on Corporate Universities.

Marc Brackett, Founding Director, Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence

Marc Brackett, Ph.D., is founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and professor in the Child Study Center at Yale University. His research focuses on the role of emotions and emotional intelligence in learning, decision making, creativity, relationships, health, and performance. Marc is the lead developer of RULER, an evidence-based, systemic approach to SEL that has been adopted by over 2,000 preschool to high schools across the United States and in other countries. He has published 125 scholarly articles and received numerous awards, including the Joseph E. Zins award for his research on social and emotional learning. He also is on the board of directors for the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). Marc consults regularly with corporations like Facebook, Microsoft, and Google on integrating emotional intelligence principles into employee training and product design and is co-founder of Oji Life Lab, a digital emotional intelligence learning system for businesses. He is the author of Permission to Feel: Unlocking the Power of Emotions to Help our Kids, Ourselves, and our Society Thrive, published by Celadon Books, a division of Macmillan. Marc also holds a 5th degree black belt in Hapkido, a Korean martial art.