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2023 Leadership Team

Executive Committee

Co-President

Anupa Naik is a veteran Learning & Development professional with a comprehensive background in a variety of leadership and consulting roles, industries, and Fortune 500 companies such as AIG, L‘Oreal USA, United Airlines, and more. A Chicago native, she earned a Master’s degree in Adult Education from Loyola University Chicago, then moved to New York City where she lived, worked and also served on the Board of ATD New York. Now a new resident of the Southern California area, Anupa is excited to collaborate with the local L&D community, share experiences and explore opportunities to build our collective expertise and grow in our careers.

Co-President

Valerie Quezada has 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry ranging from clinical to commercial manufacturing with a variety of responsibilities. Her current role at Takeda Los Angeles is Instructional System Designer, supporting multiple business units. In this capacity she develops eLearning, designs various curricula, and facilitates training sessions. She recently obtained her M.S. in Instructional Design and Technology from California State College, Fullerton and in addition holds a B.S. in Animal Science from California State Polytechnic, San Luis Obispo. In her spare time, she explores the local trails with her horse Cowgirl.

Chief Financial Officer

Vince LoRusso is a Certified Public Accountant who began his career in Buffalo, NY with PwC, a Big Four accounting firm, as an auditor before moving to Los Angeles in 2010. The bulk of his experience includes consulting and advisory services to prepare companies for IPOs, acquisitions, audit-readiness, as well as interim Controller and CFO type roles and ERP and software implementations. Vince is also the founder of TrueUp LLC, an e-Learning studio that develops interactive games and simulations for training platforms and universities to engage their learners and enhance learning experiences.

Secretary

Amanda Peterson is a corporate learning specialist with a background in project management and change management.  Originating her career in the entertainment industry, she is now helping launch world-leading innovation in planetary exploration for an aerospace organization. In this role, she creates and delivers skill-based trainings, as well as develops role-based curricula with a focus on knowledge transfer and succession planning.  Additionally, she supports customer-facing functions within the finance division, developing training videos, guides, and web content. A Jersey girl at heart, she came to California to earn her B. A. in English at Pomona College and stayed because she enjoys not having to shovel her weather.

Board of Directors

Director of Chapter Meetings

Tanya Thampipop has worked as a talent development professional in many industries such as music, higher education, and technology. She is currently a security learning and development specialist at Zoom. She has held leadership positions and been active in API employee resource groups at all of her past companies. She has built many training programs, diversity and inclusion events, and implemented technology from the ground up. Some of her areas of expertise include designing, developing, and delivering soft and technical skills training, analyzing data to drive business decisions, and galvanizing groups of people behind a bigger purpose. She has interdisciplinary practice focusing on the inner workings of the mind with a B.S. in Physiology and Neuroscience, B.A. in Psychology, and business minor from UC San Diego (UCSD), as well as a M.S. in Organizational and Consumer Psychology from University of Southern California (USC). 

Director of Membership

Rachel Bravo is a talent development professional who is passionate about the employee experience and helping organizations produce results by developing their people. With a skillset in research and analysis, she has worked as both an external and internal consultant designing solutions and determining metrics of success. In addition, she has developed and delivered eLearning and a variety of virtual, hybrid, and instructor-led learning programs. Her experience in numerous industries, such as finance, healthcare, and retail, has given her the ability to quickly add value in each organization she has served. Rachel recently obtained an ATD certification in Human Performance Improvement and holds a Master of Science in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from California State University, San Bernardino. 

Director of Marketing

Smita Sanbui’s career journey started at a biotech lab bench. But after a path of work experience spanning the fields of science, education, entertainment, and corporate training, she currently is the Performance and Development Manager for Grifols Biologicals. Daily she blends her storytelling skills and her passion for optimizing learning to help people achieve their potential. A lifelong learner, her interests include digital marketing and social media strategy, filmmaking, photography, writing, and coaching. She enjoys facilitating the creative process, mapping out ideas, and collaborating with others to make them happen. She also enjoys organizing events that create experiences for people coming together, whether it’s a company-wide event or a dinner party. Her original career dream included studying medicinal plants in the rainforest; however, now with VR technology and the metaverse, she hopes to still accomplish this but from her living room sofa!

Office Administration

Association Administrator

Denise is the ATD-LA Association Manager and has been with the chapter since 2008. She handles the day-to-day operations, reporting, and compliances; and is your contact through email and phone. Her business, More than Just Words, is an association management and virtual assistance company. She also manages the ATD-Orange County Chapter and serves as a bridge for the two chapters. 

Office Administrator

Grant Skakun is a freelance copyeditor and business writing trainer. He is the founder of Eucrest Writing where he designs and delivers writing training seminars, writes and edits business documents, and coaches professionals on improving their writing performance. He also proofreads resumes, cover letters, and graduate and undergraduate writing. He earned his bachelor’s degree in history at the College of William & Mary. As the ATD-LA office administrator, Grant is responsible for managing email communication, updating website content, and assisting the board of directors with chapter initiatives.

Communities of Practice Leaders

California Young Professionals SIG

Nairee Bedikian is an early career learning & talent development professional and story-teller at heart. She currently works at The Walt Disney Company supporting learning, inclusion, and talent development. As a young professional, she is most interested in Learning & Organizational Development across media entertainment and technology industries. Her passion is to drive high value impacts alongside unique learning opportunities for employees at all levels in an organization. She received her master's degree in Organizational Psychology from Alliant International University - Los Angeles and bachelor's degree in Psychology from California State University, Northridge.

Chapter Managers

Mentor Program Manager

Conrad Moore has 15 years of experience in learning. After 5 years as a high school teacher, Conrad co-founded Mariposa Kids, a non-profit in San Francisco’s Mission District. He led that organization for 3 years before transitioning to a board of directors role where he still serves as the Board Chair. In 2015 he transitioned into adult learning, first as a professional development instructor but quickly moving into leadership, becoming the VP of Operations then the VP of Professional Development at Learn It Inc., a training and development firm in San Francisco. He has since turned his sights toward consulting, first as the Director of Learning Experience at Endpoint Learning and now as the founder and principal at MAiUS Learning, a training and development consultancy focused on delivering mindful, inclusive learning programs to organizations seeking to build more just leadership in their workplaces. Conrad holds a BA in U.S. History from San Francisco State, and is a certified Agile Project Manager and Organizational Development Practitioner.

Volunteers

Mentor Program

ATD-Los Angeles Chapter
9852 W. Katella Ave. #187
Anaheim, CA 92804
office@atdla.org
562-908-3020
Chapter Code: CH8028

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