| About the Creators

Crystal Kadakia

Crystal is a two-time TEDx speaker, international keynoter, and best selling author, known for transforming the toughest workplace changes into exciting possibilities for our digital world. As an organization development consultant, she brings organizations into the digital age, leveling up people strategies in areas such as career development, learning culture, inclusion, leadership development, and employee engagement. Past clients include General Mills, Southern Company, Monster.com, Wells Fargo, and other organizations. She also brings deep training expertise as the co-creator of the Owens-Kadakia Learning Cluster Design model, that upskills the training industry to design modern learning, supported by ATD.

Through her best-selling book, The Millennial Myth: Transforming Misunderstanding into Workplace Breakthroughs (Berrett-Koehler, 2017), and keynotes, Crystal has changed the story around generation gap for thousands over the past decade. Her most recent book Designing for Modern Learning: Beyond ADDIE and SAM (ATD, 2020) calls for a transformation of the training industry, empowering relevancy in the digital age. Her current project is a deep study of self-leadership actions that help create connection, escape burnout, and overcome other challenges unique to the digital age.

Crystal is honored to be a Power 30 Under 30, CLO Learning in Practice, and ATD One to Watch award recipient. Her academic background includes a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering and a master’s in Organization Development. Originally from Austin, TX, she is now based in Atlanta, GA with her husband Jeremy, where they love immersing in nature’s way of life and cultural experiences.

Lisa MD Owens

Lisa MD Owens is a learning expert who combines her engineering mindset with her deep interest in instructional design and learning sciences to create training that moves business forward.

In the later half of her 30+ year career at Procter & Gamble, Lisa was P&G’s leading training professional, with a broad range of cutting-edge internal programs. After retiring from P&G in 2011, Lisa partnered with Crystal Kadakia to research and solve some of the issues facing L&D in this modern age. This work resulted in the highly-rated ATD LearnNOW course, and the 2020 ATD book on this topic — Designing for Modern Learning: Beyond ADDIE and SAM. The Owens-Kadakia Learning Cluster Design Model (OK-LCD), described in this book, is slated to be the next evolution for the L&D industry beyond blended learning.

Lisa also co-authored “Leaders as Teachers Action Guide”; the textbook, “Your Career: How to Make it Happen” 9th edition; and “Lo Start-Up Di Una Corporate University” (Italian). Annually, since 2009, she judges for learning awards such as ATD BEST Awards and CLO ELITE.

Lisa holds a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering (1977 Georgia Tech), and Masters in Education (1996 UC). She worked at the Savannah River nuclear facility (’72-76), joined P&G in 1977 as a Process Design & Construction Engineer, and in 1992, took on full-time global training responsibilities. She is married (since 1978), with two sons and grandchildren. She has been active in church education and was the lead instructional designer for a nation-wide multi-day, youth leadership training programs in use since 2003. Her youth leadership work continued with China Capable Teens.