TrainingPros Attends 2025 ATD Leadership Conference
Investing in L&D Leadership, Volunteerism, and the Future of ATD Chapters
TrainingPros proudly participated in the 2025 ATD Leadership Conference (ALC), held May 16–17 in Washington, D.C. This premier event brings together volunteer leaders from ATD chapters across the country for two days of idea sharing, community building, and leadership development. With a focus on advancing the mission of ATD through stronger, more innovative chapters, ALC plays a vital role in shaping the future of the L&D profession.
This year, two members of the TrainingPros team were in attendance: Tracy Dee Lufkin, Vice President of Programming for the ATD Rocky Mountain Chapter, and Chenier Mershon, President-Elect of the ATD Dallas Chapter. Both are Relationship Managers with TrainingPros. They are practitioners who bring deep learning and development experience to their client partnerships. Their participation reflects TrainingPros’ ongoing commitment to giving back to the L&D community through chapter sponsorship, involvement, and leadership.
Learning from and with Chapter Leaders Nationwide
ALC is known for its highly relevant and collaborative learning sessions. This year’s schedule featured tracks focused on chapter operations, membership growth, leadership succession, and programming strategy. Some of the standout session topics included:
- “Creating a Welcoming Chapter Experience for New Members”
- “Flipping the Script on Limiting Beliefs”
- “Evolving the Chapter Value Proposition”
- “How to Plan a Stellar Signature Event”
- “Growing Membership in a Hybrid World”
- “Recognizing Volunteers in Meaningful Ways”
- “Succession Planning Starts Now”
Chenier Mershon shared that the recurring theme across her sessions was the critical need for volunteer recruitment, retention, and succession planning. “In a nonprofit organization, sustaining leadership over time is one of the biggest challenges,” she said. “The most valuable sessions emphasized the importance of appreciation, onboarding, and recognition in keeping volunteers engaged.”
Inspired by what she learned, Chenier is bringing home a creative idea to elevate her own chapter board. “One of the things I’m proposing to the Dallas Chapter is to rename some of our board roles to reflect key L&D competencies,” she said. “For example, instead of ‘VP of Marketing,’ we might use ‘VP of Communications and Social Media Engagement.’ ‘VP of Programs’ could become ‘VP of Learning Experiences.’ It helps our volunteers build marketable experience while making a clearer connection to our profession.”
Tracy Dee Lufkin found ALC to be a rich opportunity for both learning and connection. As VP of Programming for the Rocky Mountain Chapter, she attended sessions on conference planning, gaining sponsorships, and creating more impactful chapter events. “I took away so many practical tips,” she said. “From how to design programming that keeps people coming back, to how to onboard new members for better engagement, ALC gave me fresh tools I can immediately use.”
She also emphasized the value of relationship-building at the event. “You learn a lot from the sessions, but the hallway conversations with other chapter leaders are just as valuable,” she said. “I left with new ideas, new connections, and a deeper bond with my fellow Rocky Mountain board members.”
Why Sending Chapter Leaders to ALC Matters
TrainingPros President Leigh Anne Lankford has attended ALC five times over the years as a leader in the Greater Atlanta Chapter of ATD, and she strongly encourages chapters to invest in sending their board members. “ALC raises the level of service that chapters can provide to their members,” she said. “It’s one of the best ways to support chapter leaders as they take on new responsibilities and try to grow their chapters. You come away not only with best practices, but also with a renewed sense of purpose.”
For many leaders, ALC is the first time they’ve been able to step outside of their chapter’s day-to-day and view their role through a broader, national lens. By networking with peers, learning from top-performing chapters, and attending working sessions with ATD staff and board members, attendees leave with sharper skills, creative ideas, and a bigger-picture understanding of how their work fits into ATD’s overall mission.
TrainingPros believes that volunteer leadership within ATD chapters is one of the most impactful ways to serve the L&D field. Our team has a long history of giving time, talent, and energy to local chapters, not just to support professional development, but to help strengthen the community of practice. In addition, we sponsor multiple local chapters of ATD because we believe that the chapters provide great opportunities for the L&D community to learn, grow, and connect.
Continuing the Tradition of Service
Our presence at ALC is part of a larger commitment at TrainingPros. We encourage our team and our consultants to get involved in ATD chapters and support the work being done across the country to build strong, inclusive, and high-impact learning communities. When our people serve, they don’t just represent TrainingPros, they elevate the profession as a whole.
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