Jordan Atkinson

Jordan Atkinson is a Professor of the Practice at the University of Kansas, where he directs the graduate program in Organizational Communication and the Bachelor of Professional Studies. He also serves on the founding committee of KU’s Center for Workplace Excellence, which connects university expertise with organizations through professional development, coaching, and consulting. His teaching, research, and applied work focus on organizational communication, workplace leadership, performance management, difficult conversations, conflict, team effectiveness, and employee development.

Dr. Atkinson regularly designs and delivers professional development programs for organizational leaders and working professionals. His scholarship has appeared in Communication Education, Communication Teacher, the Journal of Communication Pedagogy, and other communication journals and edited volumes. He is the Immediate Past President of the Eastern Communication Association and previously served as Immediate Past Chair of the Instructional Development Division of the National Communication Association. He received NCA’s Presidential Citation for Service to the discipline. Dr. Atkinson earned his Ph.D. in Communication Studies from West Virginia University and holds a master’s degree and two bachelor’s degrees from Morehead State University.

SESSION - From Expectations to Alignment: Communicating Performance for Results

Liz Benditt

Liz Benditt is Founder and President of The Balm Box, an Overland Park, KS company shipping research-backed, treatment-specific care packages for people in cancer treatment and surgical recovery.

Under her leadership, The Balm Box won 1st Place and $20,000 at the Verizon Small Business Pitch Competition (2026), was named to the Entreprenista 100 (2025), and took 2nd Place and $10,000 at the Start Pivot Grow Pitch Competition (2025). Liz also teaches marketing at the University of Kansas School of Business, where she was awarded the Allan & Nora Davis Business Faculty Award for Distinguished Service.

Before founding The Balm Box, she spent 20+ years in corporate marketing in VP-level roles at Hallmark Cards, Barkley, and TreviPay. She holds an MBA from USC.

SESSION - From Corner Office to Cardboard Box: Reinventing a Career at 46

Jenna Deyle

Jenna Deyle spent 15 years in industrial distribution, building her career at a major national distributor through field sales, government sales, supply chain consulting, and general management. Along the way, she found her true calling: developing the people around her. For four years, she focused on training and development for nearly 900 employees across a four-state region, working alongside senior leadership to build a sales culture, not just a sales team.

In 2026, Jenna left her corporate career to launch Level 3 Sales Coaching, bringing that same experience to B2B sales teams looking to build skills that actually stick. She's best known for creating the Coach and Compete framework, a structured sales competition methodology she's presented at the ATD International Core 4 Conference and the ATD Kansas City Chapter Conference. Her approach is grounded in a simple belief: people don't change their behavior because they heard something new. They change because they practiced something uncomfortable enough times that it became second nature.

Jenna is active in the Kansas City community and lives in the Overland Park area with her husband and their new baby, who's already teaching her a few things about coaching through discomfort.

SESSION - Contact With the Front Line: Designing Training That Sticks

Caroline Gorenc

Caroline Gorenc brings a unique perspective to learning and development, having begun her career as an educator before transitioning into L&D in 2022. Based in the Kansas City area, she shares a passion for helping individuals grow and succeed.

Caroline serves as Leadership Development Program Manager at TreviPay, where she designs, develops, and facilitates the organization’s leadership development programs. Her work focuses on equipping leaders with the skills, tools, and experiences needed to lead effectively and drive team success.

Caroline, with her co-speaker Sydney, leverage their backgrounds in education, facilitation, and leadership development to create meaningful learning experiences that help leaders build confidence, strengthen capabilities, and make a lasting impact across the organization.

SESSION - Beyond Content: Designing AI Agents as Training Supplements

Les Lauber

Les Lauber has been a trainer for 33 years in public, private, and non-profit sectors. His resume is diverse, eclectic, and unfocused. After stints as radio disc jockey, news reporter, parking meter repairperson, and loan industry analyst he turned to the good side of the Force as a trainer. In 2017, he returned to Kansas after 5 years in China, where he taught at Zhejiang Normal University. There, he coached English-language speech and debate and trained Chinese teachers, students, and businesses.

Les holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas and a master’s degree from Kansas State University. He is fiercely loyal to his alma mater and will hurl Shakespearean insults at anyone who disses it. Unfortunately for Les, he doesn’t look any better in purple than in crimson and blue.

SESSION - When Training Gets Tricky: Ethics for Real-World TD

Dawn Monroe

Dawn Monroe is a seasoned technical trainer based in the Kansas City area with over 30 years of experience empowering professionals through practical, approachable technology education. She holds certifications as a Microsoft Office Specialist Master (MOSM), Microsoft Certified Educator (MCE), Certified Virtual Presenter (CVP), General AI Business Professional (GenAIBIZ), Canva Certified Community Trainer, and Canvassador.

Through her company, Dawn Monroe Training, Dawn specializes in Microsoft 365, Canva, and AI tools, delivering custom training sessions for corporate teams, nonprofits, community colleges, and conference audiences. Her sessions are known for cutting through the overwhelm of new technology, replacing jargon and guesswork with clear, hands-on techniques that professionals can put to work immediately.

Dawn is passionate about helping trainers, instructional designers, and learning professionals work smarter with the tools they already have, whether that means uncovering hidden efficiencies in familiar software or showing how AI can lighten the workload without adding complexity. Her approachable teaching style and deep product expertise have made her a sought-after speaker at conferences and events throughout the region.

Learn more at DawnMonroeTraining.com.

SESSION - Canva Confidential: Beyond the Basics for Instructional Designers

Janice Perkins

Janice Perkins, PhD, PCC, is an executive coach, leadership communication scholar, and organizational consultant. Her doctoral research explores the chemistry of leadership and coaching relationships, helping leaders create stronger collaboration, influence, and organizational change.

She combines evidence-based research with executive coaching to translate complex leadership concepts into practical tools that improve team and organizational performance.

SESSION - CLICK: The Missing First Step in Leadership, Coaching & Teamwork

Nathan Regier

Nate Regier, PhD, is the CEO and founding owner of Next Element Consulting, a global leadership consulting and training firm helping build cultures of Compassionate Accountability. Dr. Regier is a former practicing psychologist and expert in positive conflict, leadership communication, learning outcomes measurement, social-emotional intelligence, mindset, and leadership.

Recognized as a Top 100 keynote speaker, Nate is the author of four books: Beyond Drama; Conflict without Casualties; Seeing People Through; and his newest book, Compassionate Accountability. He hosts a podcast, writes a weekly blog, and contributes to multiple industry publications.

SESSION - Do Your Leaders Have An SOP for Conflict?

Sydney Rutherford

Sydney Rutherford brings a unique perspective to learning and development, having begun her career as an educator before transitioning into L&D in 2022. Based in the Kansas City area, she shares a passion for helping individuals grow and succeed.

Sydney leads TreviPay’s Learning & Development function, overseeing the strategy, design, and delivery of programs that support employee growth. She is responsible for guiding the L&D team and ensuring development initiatives align with organizational goals.

Sydney, with her co-speaker Caroline, leverage their backgrounds in education, facilitation, and leadership development to create meaningful learning experiences that help leaders build confidence, strengthen capabilities, and make a lasting impact across the organization.

SESSION - Beyond Content: Designing AI Agents as Training Supplements

Damola Salawu

Damola Salawu is a graduate student in Information Technology at Emporia State University with a professional background in IT support, cloud technologies, and Microsoft 365 administration. He currently serves as a Graduate Assistant in technology support, where he assists with technical operations while pursuing advanced studies in information systems and instructional design.

Damola has experience supporting enterprise users through Microsoft 365, Azure Active Directory (Microsoft Entra ID), Exchange Online, and Windows environments. His academic interests include artificial intelligence, cloud computing, cybersecurity, and the ethical use of emerging technologies in education and the workplace.

Passionate about helping others understand technology, Damola enjoys translating complex technical concepts into practical, real-world applications. His work explores how AI can enhance learning, productivity, and decision-making while emphasizing the importance of critical thinking, ethical reasoning, adaptability, and other human-centered skills that remain essential in an AI-driven world.

Through research, presentations, and hands-on technical experience, Damola is committed to preparing students and professionals to use AI responsibly while building the resilient, future-ready skills needed to thrive in a rapidly evolving workforce.

SESSION - Future-Proof Your Career: Human Skills That AI Can't Replace