{"id":123269,"date":"2025-01-23T08:30:40","date_gmt":"2025-01-23T13:30:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/?post_type=magazine&#038;p=123269"},"modified":"2025-01-23T09:28:10","modified_gmt":"2025-01-23T14:28:10","slug":"the-learning-leader-spotlight-with-stacey-rivers-ph-d","status":"publish","type":"magazine","link":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/magazine\/winter-2025\/the-learning-leader-spotlight-with-stacey-rivers-ph-d\/","title":{"rendered":"The Learning Leader Spotlight With Stacey Rivers, Ph.D."},"author":34,"featured_media":123066,"template":"","tags":[29005,3197,33342],"class_list":["post-123269","magazine","type-magazine","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-corporate-learning-leaders","tag-learning-leader-development","tag-personal-branding-for-learning-leaders","global_topic_tax-learning-technologies","global_topic_tax-professional-development","magazine_issue_tax-winter-2025","magazine_article_type_tax-spotlight","magazine_article_type_tax-thought-leader"],"acf":{"sponsored":false,"gated":false,"gated_content_type":"","file_attachment":null,"gated_content":"","form_instruction_header":"To access the full article, please fill out the form below:","pardot_html_embed":"","author_override":true,"author_name":"Stacey Rivers, Ph.D.","author_image":"","author_bio":"<span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW137881304 BCX0\">Stacey Rivers,<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW137881304 BCX0\"> Ph.D. is <\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW137881304 BCX0\">h<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW137881304 BCX0\">ead of <\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW137881304 BCX0\">global learning and development <\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW137881304 BCX0\">for Warner Bros. Discovery<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW137881304 BCX0\">. <\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW137881304 BCX0\">Stacey has been working in learning and development for nine years and currently <\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW137881304 BCX0\">oversee<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW137881304 BCX0\">s<\/span> <span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW137881304 BCX0\">behavioral and tech skills <\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW137881304 BCX0\">learning for all employees. <\/span>","excerpt":"In this issue, we are excited to spotlight Stacey Rivers, Ph.D., head of global learning and development for Warner Bros. Discovery.","main_content":"In this issue, we are excited to spotlight Stacey Rivers, Ph.D., head of global learning and development for Warner Bros. Discovery. Stacey has been working in learning and development (L&amp;D) for nine years and currently oversees behavioral and tech skills learning for all employees. Her team is responsible for content creation and curation, course delivery, learning ecosystem and infrastructure, and artificial intelligence (AI) learning strategy. She received ATD\u2019s One to Watch Award in 2019 and Career Communications Group\u2019s Woman of Color in STEM Technology All-Star Award and was listed among Women We Admire\u2019s Top 50 Women Leaders in Atlanta 2024.\r\n\r\nRead on to learn more about Stacey\u2019s career journey.\r\n<h2>How did you get started in L&amp;D?<\/h2>\r\nI spent 15 years in various roles in technology before moving into a tech human capital management role reporting to the chief technology officer. When the company restructured after four years in the human tech capital role, I moved into enterprise L&amp;D and brought the tech projects with me. From there, I continued to focus on L&amp;D for tech and expanded my responsibilities to overseeing content development and delivery for behavioral skills.\r\n<h2>What\u2019s your most memorable training experience, good or bad?<\/h2>\r\nI conducted a learning event in the form of a study in 2020 during the pandemic. I collected data for how employees were learning outside of formal programs at work. I concluded that L&amp;D should co-create learning with employees for better engagement and for leaders to understand trends.\r\n<h2>Who would you consider your most valuable role model?<\/h2>\r\nI don\u2019t just have one role model, and my MVP is an amalgamation of what everyone contributes big or small. I\u2019ve learned that I have a village of supportive people: mentors, managers, my team, colleagues internal and external to the organization, and my family, all contributing to my success.\r\n<h2>What are the most pressing issues on your professional plate right now?<\/h2>\r\nThe most pressing issue by far is building <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/pulse\/wow-ai-just-gave-learning-serious-makeover-stacey-young-rivers-ph-d--zt98e\/?trackingId=dFJwXqa8Sw2%2FKJfQt8WoMw%3D%3D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">artificial intelligence (AI)<\/a> literacy in a global organization. I love that we are launching AI tools at WBD to help employees become more efficient in their workflow. However, for anyone attempting to do this, there must be a strategic plan for learning, communications, change management and measurement for AI skills growth.\r\n<h2>What\u2019s the most challenging aspect of your job?<\/h2>\r\nThe most challenging part of my job is managing my excitement about launching new models for learning. I balance my time and leverage wellness practices for my team so they can do the same.\r\n<h2>What\u2019s the most rewarding aspect of your job?<\/h2>\r\nSeeing growth in people and the impact on the business from something you\u2019ve created is exhilarating! I discovered this feeling when I launched my first learning program in tech and said I could do this role forever. When you find this, you\u2019ve found your purpose.\r\n<h2>What\u2019s your preferred training methodology?<\/h2>\r\nI prefer a blended model of synchronous + asynchronous. I found that this model motivates people to make progress in learning, because when they know they are in a cohort, there\u2019s an expectation for investing time in the content and sharing knowledge.\r\n<h2>How do you find the time to continue your own professional development?<\/h2>\r\nAs the saying goes, \u201cwhen you do what you love, you will never work a day in your life.\u201d I publish a newsletter on LinkedIn called \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/newsletters\/6710171621191098369\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Level Up on Learning<\/a>\u201d where I focus on the intersection of career development, learning and tech.\r\n<h2>Any recommendations for folks out there: books, partners, resources, etc.?<\/h2>\r\nBesides my own books on Amazon (smile), a colleague introduced me to the book \u201cA Thousand Brains: A New Theory of Intelligence\u201d by Jeff Hawkins. I love to read books with friends so we can chat, share aha moments and have deep conversations about the topic.\r\n<h2>\u201cIf someone wants to follow in my professional footsteps, I\u2019d tell them to be sure to \u2026\u201d<\/h2>\r\nFind meaning in their work, take educated risks, develop their expertise and never stop learning.","full_width":false,"content_band":null,"tice_sponsors":"","custom_dfp_keywords":"","featured_article":false,"feature_type":"","theme":"","remove_gradient":false,"title_in_image":false,"featured_text_image":null,"magazine_link":"https:\/\/www.nxtbook.com\/nxtbooks\/trainingindustry\/tiq_winter2025\/index.php#\/p\/8"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.8 (Yoast SEO v27.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Learning Leader Spotlight With Stacey Rivers, Ph.D.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In this issue, we are excited to spotlight Stacey Rivers, Ph.D., head of global learning and development for Warner Bros. Discovery.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/magazine\/winter-2025\/the-learning-leader-spotlight-with-stacey-rivers-ph-d\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Learning Leader Spotlight With Stacey Rivers, Ph.D.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In this issue, we are excited to spotlight Stacey Rivers, Ph.D., head of global learning and development for Warner Bros. 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