Lists. They make the world go round. The list you made for Santa detailing all the gifts you want. The list of chores you need to get through this weekend. And today, we’ve got the best list of all. The list of the top learning & development (L&D) experts you need to know about in 2022.
You’ll be seeing some familiar faces from last year’s list and our top gamification gurus list. What can we say, they’re just that good!
However, we’ve also added a host of new names to the list. Keep an eye out for these luminaries. Without further ado, let’s take a look at this year’s L&D experts!
The Top L&D Experts for 2022
We would once again like to reiterate that this list is presented in no particular order. They’re all equal superstars in our eyes!
Brigette Hyacinth [New Entry!]
Brigette is an L&D expert if we ever saw one. She’s a bestselling author, keynote speaker, founder and more. For over 15 years, Brigette has used her expertise to advise CEO’s, entrepreneurs, educators, governments and leaders all over the world on L&D matters.
She’s also received some amazing recognition, such as:
- Top 100 HR Influencers (Leadership & Development)
- Top 20 EMEA-Based Tech Experts to inspire Digital Transformation Efforts
- Top 100 Most Influential people of African Descent under 40
She’s also the second most connected woman and second most endorsed person on LinkedIn!
John Leh
We’re big fans of John here! He utilises over 25 years of knowledge to bring fresh takes and insights to the L&D industry.
John wears a lot of hats. He’s currently the CEO, Lead Analyst and LMS selection consultant of Talented Learning.
Organisations, vendors and HR professionals know they can rely on John for expert advice and counsel. You can also tune into the Talented Learning Show and hear him chat to other industry leaders.
Take a look at John’s LinkedIn!
Katrina Moss [New Entry!]
Katrina has a real passion for L&D. She’s a recipient of the highly esteemed Outstanding CHRP Ross A. Hennigar Award. She also has experience in other areas such as recruitment, succession planning and employee engagement schemes.
She’s currently the Head of Facilitation and Coaching at Shopify. They can be sure to count on her to deliver top notch coaching programmes and excellent results.
If you’d like to hear more about Katrina, you can check out her appearance on the Learning Uncut Emergent Podcast. It’s all about how you can embed a growth mindset in your organisation.
Be sure to have a look at her LinkedIn!
Karl Kapp
Karl is one of the OG L&D experts out there. He shared the good news about the benefits of game mechanics in online learning many moons ago. We’re very thankful to him for it!
In true fashion, Karl designed Enterprise Game Stack for that very reason. He’s also one of the L&D experts making waves in other areas, like being an author for LinkedIn Learning.
He passes his knowledge down to others as a professor at Bloomsburg University. And we’ve worked together to create Game Thinking, a popular series of videos about gamification.
Take a look at his LinkedIn page!
Barbara Thompson [New Entry!]
Barbara has definitely earned her place as one of our L&D experts. She’s worked with organisations such as Network Rail and Boston Consulting Group and is currently the Head of Learning Partnerships at M&S.
She has a mix of in-house and consulting knowledge to draw from. She shares her knowledge regularly as a guest speaker at conferences and podcasts such as Learning Now TV.
Barbara is also a renowned mentor who’s always keen to share what she’s learned throughout her career journey.
Learn more about Barbara on her LinkedIn!
Laura Overton
Laura is an esteemed member of the CIPD and the Learning and Performance Institute. She’s also a great international speaker and author (of 300+ articles and 70 major research reports).
She’s the co-founder of Emerging Stronger and co-host of the Emergent Series of the Learning Uncut Podcast (we’ll get to the other hosts soon!). They’re all about keeping it ‘real’ and we salute them for that!
Learn more about Laura here!
Jim Stroud [New Entry!]
Jim is a HR all-rounder. He’s the mind behind five books focused on HR. The producer of his own YouTube series called The Jim Stroud Show. And the host of The Things I Think About podcast!
Jim has also consulted for companies such as Microsoft and Google. He currently works at Proactive Talent who aim to help their clients recruit and retain top talent.
Find out extra details about Jim on his LinkedIn!
Kevin Yates
Kevin is one of our L&D experts who’s ready to solve all your learning mysteries. He does this by exploring the power of learning data. He’s a speaker, author, presenter and more.
We’re also impressed with his work outside of L&D. He’s set up a non-profit called Meals in the Meantime. They provide meals to those in need at pop-up food pantries.
Kevin is currently the Learning Measurement Principal at Meta. He’s even created a new game! It’s called ‘L&D Detective Measurement Mysteries’ and it’s set to be unveiled next year. How exciting!
You can learn more about Kevin here!
Lavinia Mehedințu [New Entry!]
Lavinia is a learning architect here to design the solution to your L&D issues. She started a newsletter two years ago which saw phenomenal growth and is now a start-up. It’s called Offbeat.
They collect and share great L&D resources and it’s now a thriving community. They’re also launching a podcast soon!
Click here to view Lavinia’s LinkedIn profile!
Toby Beresford [New Entry!]
Toby is a speaker, CEO and founder of Leaderboarded. He has a wealth of knowledge on the use of gamification in learning and HR. With it he’s written a book and given great speeches at multiple conferences.
He even gamified some of the operations at the United Nations!
More recently, Toby gave a much appreciated contribution to our ‘Gamification: Now and In the Future’ Report. He’s also started working with the non-profit Bible Society!
Toby has a great LinkedIn profile for you to look at!
Jane McGonigal [New Entry!]
Dr. Jane is the Director of Game Research and Development at the Institute for the Future. She’s worked there for over 16 years.
She’s also an acclaimed author (and two-time New York Times Best Seller), game designer and a certified L&D expert.
She developed SuperBetter after suffering a concussion. The application now helps those facing the same obstacles and challenges.
Find out more about Jane here!
Elliott Masie
Everytime you say the term ‘eLearning’ you actually owe it to Elliott Masie. He’s a true pioneer and L&D expert. His insights are informed by over three decades of experience.
He’s a real jack of all trades. Elliott is a researcher, founder, popular speaker and more. He’s also the CEO of the MASIE Centre and the editor of Learning TRENDS, which has over 50,000 readers!
Additionally, Elliott is the CEO of MASIE Productions which produces top-notch Broadway and West End Theatre. Catch a show if you can!
Read all about Elliott here!
Rob Alvarez Bucholska [New Entry!]
Rob Alvarez is a true L&D expert. He’s an international speaker with a real passion for gamification — that’s something we have in common!
He’s also the creator and host of the Professor Game podcast. On it you’ll get to hear inspiring gamification insights from a variety of special guests.
Rob also passes on his gamification wisdom to students at IE University and helps Ironhack provide top of the line solutions for their clients.
Do yourself a favour and check out Rob’s LinkedIn!
Shannon Tipton [New Entry!]
Shannon is one of the other co-hosts of the Emergent Series of the Learning Uncut Podcast.
She’s also a consultant and well known speaker. Her goal is simple: to make your training stick! Shannon is currently the Chief Learning Officer at Learning Rebels and uses expert techniques to solve their client’s learning issues.
And she’s the author a book that details all of her knowledge — Disruptive Learning: Discover Your Inner Learning Rebel.
Head over to Shannon’s LinkedIn!
Donald Clark [New Entry!]
Donald is currently the CEO of Wildfire Learning. They leverage artificial intelligence to bring you the power of content creation with one simple click.
He was also the director of Learning Pool for a whopping 16 years. During that time, he honed his knowledge and became a real L&D expert. Aside from this, he’s a great author, so you can mine that knowledge by having a read of his books!
Be sure to view Donald’s LinkedIn!
Craig Weiss
Craig is the author of the popular E-Learning 24/7 blog. It’s read in a staggering 174 countries, territories and colonial territories.
He also heads up the Craig Weiss Group which includes his blog, consulting services and more. For example, FindAnLMS.com allows you to conduct a side-by-side comparison of the best learning systems on the market (including Growth Engineering LMS!).
Check out Craig’s LinkedIn!
Michelle Ockers
Here we have the host of the Learning Uncut Podcast!
Michelle, Shannon and Laura are also co-founders of Emerging Stronger. Their goal is to ‘empower L&D professionals to take the BOLD action needed to positively impact business’.
Michelle herself is also a brilliant mentor, facilitator, strategist, trainer and speaker. Her purpose is to help everyone out there perform at their very best.
Learn more about Michelle here!
Josh Bersin
Josh studies all aspects of HR and L&D. He’s famous for his public speaking, writing, advice, and more. Josh also founded Bersin & Associates, which we now know as Bersin by Deloitte.
He’s also responsible for founding the Josh Bersin Academy. This serves as a goldmine of knowledge for over one million HR professionals!
Learn more about Josh and his work by viewing his LinkedIn profile!
Brandon Carson
Brandon has achieved many things during his twenty-year career as an L&D practitioner and expert.
Previously he’s worked with big names such as Microsoft and Delta Airlines. He’s currently the Vice President of Learning and Leadership at Walmart, a fantastic author, and the founder of L&D Cares.
L&D Cares is an all-volunteer group of L&D and HR professionals. They aim to provide learning, support, and growth opportunities for learning professionals.
We’re also very proud to say that he shared some of his expert knowledge with us. Have a read of his interview where he speaks about crafting the perfect mobile learning strategy!
You should also have a browse of his LinkedIn!
Robin Hoyle [New Entry!]
Robin is currently Head of Learning Innovation at Huthwaite International and has worked in this industry for over 30 years. In that time he’s created learning strategies and trained people from all walks of life.
He’s regularly invited to speak at industry events and conferences and is also a two-time nominee of the Outstanding Contribution to the Training Industry award. Robin’s a talented writer and has written two books: Informal Learning in Organizations and Complete Training.
Lastly, Robin is Chair of the World of Learning Conference, regularly contributes a video piece to Learning Now TV and is a regular columnist for TrainingZone.
Head over to his LinkedIn!
Brit Morenus [New Entry!]
Brit is currently the Gamification Program Manager at Microsoft.
As strong advocates of gamification, we love the work that she’s been doing. She also has a similar mission to us: to make learning fun!
During her time at Microsoft, she’s received multiple awards such as the FY22 Q2 CSS Impact Award, 2020 Centrical Select Professor Award and CSS Impact Team Award Winner. Go Brit!
You can find out more about Brit on her LinkedIn profile!
Christopher Lind [New Entry!]
Christopher is the VP, Chief Learning Officer at ChenMed.
He is also the founder of Learning Sharks and the host of Learning Tech Talks. On the podcast, he has discussions with other learning professionals about key industry topics.
Learning Sharks is an international online community of learning and talent development professionals. We advise you to join!
Christopher is also an advisory board member on the Chief Learning Officer Exchange. This is a closed-door forum where L&D experts can connect with other professionals.
You can find Christopher’s LinkedIn profile here!
Donald H. Taylor [New Entry!]
Donald H. Taylor is a veteran in the war against dull online learning. He has experience in every level of L&D from design and delivery through to analysis.
He chaired the Learning and Performance Institute for over a decade and has been chairperson of the Learning Technologies Conference since 2000. He’s also the mind behind the L&D Global Sentiment Survey and an established author!
Read more about Donald here!
Dr. Nigel Paine [New Entry!]
Dr. Nigel has been a part of the corporate learning world for over 20 years.
He’s currently the co-presenter of Learning Now TV. They bring us some great interviews, guidance and discussions about L&D!
Nigel also served as head of the BBC’s learning and development operation. During his time there he was responsible for the creation of a brand new onboarding programme, a wonderful leadership scheme for over 6,000 staff, and a stellar informal learning and knowledge sharing network.
He’s also the mind behind some great books based on L&D topics.
Check out his LinkedIn!
Juliette Denny
Juliette is the captain of the SS Growth Engineering.
She founded the company nearly two decades ago and had one goal in mind: to wage war on dull online learning. She’s leveraged game mechanics, social learning and epic meaning to help achieve this difficult feat.
In that time, she launched three innovative products: Growth Engineering LMS, Growth Engineering Learning App and Growth Engineering Authoring Tool. They all come together to make up our Impact Suite.
Head here to browse through her LinkedIn!
Final Words
This list includes some of the best experts that the L&D industry has to offer. Between them, there’s centuries of knowledge for you to mine from. We encourage you to connect with them and learn more!
Like we said, this is just a select few of the best out there. There are many more. Unfortunately, we can’t include them all or we’d be here all day!
We hope you found this list informative. Well done to all those who made the cut and thank you for your contribution to L&D!
We’ve got some L&D experts of our own here at Growth Engineering. If you’d like to get connected, or raise your learner engagement levels, then please get in contact with us!
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