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2025 ROCTalent Summit Cultivating Resilient Talent |  |
PROGRAM |
WORKSHOP INFO |
SPEAKER BIOS |  SPONSORS |
| 8:30 Registration, sponsor expo, coffee and connection |
| 9:00 Welcome & Morning Energizer Session |
| 9:45 Learning Session 1: choose from two workshops |
| 10:45 Break, sponsor expo, connection |
| 11:00 Learning Session 2: choose from two workshops |
| 12:00 Buffet lunch, sponsor expo, connection |
| 1:15 Learning Session 3: choose from two workshops |
| 2:15 Break and sponsor expo |
| 2:30 Final Learning Session featuring Elaine Chung |
| 3:30 Closing and reception Time to unwind, discuss our power learning moments of the day, cultivate relationships and have some fun! Enjoy assorted appetizers as you connect! Cash bar will be available. |
| Workshops |
The 2025 ROCTalent Summit starts with our morning energizer session, led by Caitlin Drago, president of Inspire Improv and Coaching.
In a world where AI is making work easier, this session invites you to explore why easier isn’t always better, especially when it comes to leadership growth. Join Elaine Chung for an energizing, interactive session where you’ll experience the “Play to the Edge” framework and learn how intentional friction can actually strengthen resilience, creativity, and adaptability. You’ll walk away with:
- A fresh perspective on how to develop leaders in a tech-driven world
- A framework to design meaningful growth experiences
- Strategies to balance challenge and support in ways that build lasting capability
- Ideas for using AI not to eliminate difficulty, but to create space for deeper human development
When teams span continents, languages, and time zones, resilience isn’t one-size-fits-all. What helps one group bounce back may feel foreign, or even counterproductive, to another. But when learning experiences are designed with cultural, linguistic, and psychological nuance, resilience becomes not just possible, but powerful.
This session led by Diana Chapoy Callahan will explore how language shapes emotional expression, how cultural values influence coping and leadership, and what learning professionals can do to build psychologically safe environments across diverse teams. Participants will walk away with practical frameworks, inclusive design strategies, and fresh inspiration to create learning that helps teams not only weather challenges—but grow stronger because of them.
Performance Improvement Plans are a last gasp attempt to salvage an employee. You need a better system for your managers to implement before an employee's productivity goes off the rails. Join Andrew Biernat in this workshop as he introduces JOLT—a revolutionary framework that transforms how organizations approach employee disengagement and performance challenges.
JOLT creates a collaborative path to re-engagement by addressing the fundamental "Vitamins" every employee needs to thrive: Autonomy, Belonging, and Competence. Learn how to respond to the first signs of disengagement and build resilience in your managers and team members. Learn core strategies to rapidly rebuild engagement, and the three failure points that typically lead to employee disengagement and departure.
Get ready to explore a bold new vision of leadership in “From Armour to Anchor: Reimagining Leadership and Driving Resilience Through Vulnerability.” This transformative presentation by Brandyn Jacob challenges traditional notions of strength and control, inviting leaders to shed the protective armour of perfection and embrace the power of authentic connection.
We will uncover how vulnerability is not a weakness, but a dynamic anchor that builds trust, inspires teams, and fuels resilient, purpose-driven cultures. If you’re ready to lead with courage and create impact that lasts—this is the conversation you’ve been waiting for.
In today’s high-stakes, always-on world, resilience isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s a leadership imperative. In this powerful and practical session led by Anne Catillaz, you’ll discover how resilience can be intentionally built—not only in yourself, but across your team and culture. Drawing on brain science, real-world leadership insights, and proven tools from mental fitness and executive coaching, you’ll learn how to stay calm under pressure, turn setbacks into growth, and lead with clarity in uncertain times.
This isn’t about pushing harder—it’s about leading smarter. You’ll walk away with simple, scalable practices you can use immediately to foster trust, boost performance, and build a team that thrives—no matter what comes next.
In this hands-on workshop, participants will explore a suite of no-prep, adaptable engagement techniques—ranging from energizers to asynchronous activities and debrief protocols—designed to foster active learning across in-person, hybrid, and virtual environments. Join Dr. Kristy Tyson in examining the neuroscience of engagement and practice simple, inclusive strategies (e.g., “Facilitator Pulse Check,” myth-vs-fact polls, chime cues,) that build psychological safety and maintain momentum even when sessions go off script.
Through real-time run-throughs using provided worksheets and a comprehensive workbook, attendees will develop the agility and confidence to pivot on the fly. By mastering these techniques, facilitators create learning environments where learners feel empowered to contribute, recover from setbacks, and sustain growth—cornerstones of organizational and individual resilience.
We all experience changing times or seasons. As leaders, we have the opportunity to evolve, adapt, and lead differently depending on the circumstances. In this session led by Che' Hagins, explore how your perception will enhance your projection. Learn how to master each "season" through four steps: 1. Recognize and assess what season of leadership you are experiencing. 2. Understanding how your perception of a season impacts outcomes for yourself and your teams. 3. Challenging your reality. 4. Redefining your destiny.
This interactive session combines movement based activities, storytelling and reflection to enhance your engagement and learning experience. Whether you’re navigating new responsibilities, rebuilding momentum or fully stepping into your calling, identifying your season will be a game changer!
| Speakers |
Caitlin is an LA-based actor-turned Rochester, NY-based certified leadership coach, facilitator, and author of Approaching Improv – Communication and Connection in Business and Beyond. Acting taught her to be present, self-aware, empathetic and to prioritize connection with others. Improv taught her to listen and to deal with the unexpected in positive and creative ways. Paired with her training as a leadership coach, she works with leaders and teams to help with communication, connection, and teamwork.
Elaine Chung is a leadership strategist and author of The Illusion of Authenticity, which explores how real alignment fuels impactful leadership. Blending research in organizational behavior, the neuroscience of play, and executive experience, she helps leaders reconnect with what makes them most human to lead with clarity, courage, and connection.
She has partnered with organizations like Nike, Sony, PBS, and the U.S. Navy’s innovation arm to help teams build trust and solve complex challenges together. Her approach draws inspiration from how kids learn: through curiosity, openness, and a willingness to play. When teams “play to their edge”—the space where discomfort meets growth—they build resilience that technology can’t replicate.
Elaine has spoken at TEDxAsheville, SHRM National, and DisruptHR. She holds degrees from Duke and USC’s Marshall School of Business. Outside of work, she’s often on her Peloton or off on a curiosity-fueled adventure.
Diana Chapoy Callahan is a bilingual, bicultural learning strategist and founder of LinkeLearn, a global consultancy focused on creating inclusive, accessible, and culturally adaptive learning experiences. She has led training initiatives for Microsoft, Uber, and international nonprofits, helping global teams navigate change, foster connection, and thrive across cultures. Diana is passionate about building learning that transcends borders—and strengthens human connection in every language.
Andrew Biernat is a strategic business consultant and team dynamics specialist who transforms workplace engagement through his innovative JOLT framework – a revolutionary alternative to traditional PIPs designed to re-engage struggling employees. Drawing on his diverse background spanning sales, marketing, account management, and project management, Andrew helps organizations identify hidden talent patterns and redesign work processes to build resilience through meaningful engagement. As Curator at HR.Salon, he facilitates intellectual gatherings where HR professionals discuss key workplace challenges and opportunities. This role keeps him at the forefront of evolving talent management practices.
Leaders appreciate his business-minded approach to people development, while individual contributors value his practical frameworks that improve both job satisfaction and team effectiveness.
Brandyn Jacob, a 20-year talent industry leader and consultant. A People-First Leadership Strategist. Husband, and father of two. Began my career in the hospitality industry, ultimately assuming responsibility as the GM, and leading a team of nearly 100. Began my career in the staffing industry in 2004, spending time as a on-premise site manager for a large contingent workforce, then advancing into recruiting, supervising recruiter, branch leader, market leader, sales, sales leadership.
With a passion rooted in helping individuals unlock their potential and fostering growth to assist professionals in achieving their highest potential, Anne Catillaz is a seasoned Leadership Coach and Mental Fitness Trainer. With a wealth of experience in guiding individuals towards positive transformation, Anne brings a unique blend of expertise in leadership development and the science of mental fitness.
Anne holds certifications in Leadership Coaching and Positive Intelligence Training, the pandemic provided her a space to take a deep dive into herself and shift from a corporate leadership role to successfully working with professionals across diverse industries, facilitating positive change and fostering mental fitness. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was cultivating a teachable strategy to inspire, change, and choose resilience. Her expertise include: Leadership Coaching, Positive Intelligence Training, Resilience Building, Change Management.
Dr. Kristy Tyson is the Owner and Lead Talent Development Facilitator at Lifement LLC, an award-winning educator, and current President of the Buffalo Niagara Chapter of the Association for Talent Development. With over seven years of experience as an adjunct professor at Buffalo State SUNY, Bryant & Stratton College, and Medaille University, she specializes in creating inclusive, career-focused learning experiences that bridge theory and practice. As an author of YOUR CALL: Critical Thinking for Decision Makers, Kristy combines scholarship with hands-on facilitation to guide emerging leaders through real-world challenges.
She holds a Doctoral Management degree in Organizational Leadership and as a Keynote Speaker helps ambitious professionals navigate career growth and challenges, empowering them to stay true to their principles while advancing. Kristy’s interactive workshops leverage no-prep engagement techniques, adult learning principles, and reflective practice to build resilient talent capable of thriving in dynamic environments.
Che'ffan Hagins, or Che', hails from Rochester, NY, showcasing a deep passion for youth engagement. Commencing his educational journey at Monroe Community College, where he earned an Associate's Degree, a Bachelor's Degree in Public Health at Brockport College. He later achieved his Master's Degree in Leadership and Organizational Change at Nazareth University and now is currently persuing his Doctoral Degree in Executive Leadership and St John Fisher College. Exemplifying servant leadership, Che' spent nearly 13 years as a Rochester City School District. He’s now the owner and operator Intuitive Innovation Learning Center, started a scholarship for single fathers, a motivational speaker, and currently the Coordinator of ROC My Brother’s Keeper Initiative.
Che' solidifies his commitment to impacting Rochester's youth positively day in and day out.With an unwavering belief in the transformative power of education and leadership, Che' continues to shape meaningful and lasting impacts on the students he serves.
Have any questions? Contact us at admin@rocatd.org |
