9 Learning and Development Leaders in Austin, 2026

Last updated: August 2026

Austin has a rich learning and development community because education, healthcare, technology and public service sit close together. The people on this list work across those settings, helping leaders build capability, better teams and organisations where people can do their best work.

This is a practical starting point for anyone looking for learning and development expertise in Austin. Some people work directly in organisational learning, while others bring a closely related perspective from talent, organisation effectiveness, adult education, healthcare or leadership.

The names are presented as a directory rather than a ranking. Each person offers a different way to think about how people learn, lead and grow at work.

Why Learning and Development Matters

Learning and development works best when it is connected to the work people are actually trying to do. A course can open a door, but leaders still need to make expectations clear, create room to practise and notice what changes afterwards.

That is why Austin is such an interesting place to look. The city brings together a major university, a teaching hospital, public institutions and a wide group of growing organisations. The best development work can borrow from all of them.

If you want a broader starting point, you can also explore my guide to influential learning and development leaders and learn more about Consult Clarity.

1. Emil Kresl

Director of Learning & Development, The University of Texas at Austin

Emil Kresl is Director of Learning & Development at The University of Texas at Austin. His work sits inside a large university where learning has to serve staff, leaders and a changing organisation, not just a single course audience.

That makes Kresl a useful person to watch if you are building learning that connects everyday capability with the wider employee experience. His team’s work points towards development as an organisational practice, with learning connected to how people lead and work together.

2. Frances Delacruz

Learning Architect, The University of Texas at Austin

Frances Delacruz is Learning Architect at The University of Texas at Austin. The role is a strong fit for the practical side of learning and development: shaping experiences so that ideas can move from a session into the way people actually work.

A learning architect brings useful discipline to the question many teams skip: what should people be able to do differently afterwards? Delacruz’s place in the university’s Learning & Development team makes her a relevant name for leaders who want development to be designed around real behaviour and organisational needs.

3. Karen Chawner

Executive Director of Talent Strategy and Employee Support, The University of Texas at Austin

Karen Chawner is Executive Director of Talent Strategy and Employee Support at The University of Texas at Austin. Her remit connects talent choices with the support people need to do good work over time.

That combination matters because development rarely succeeds as a stand-alone programme. It needs to sit alongside clear expectations, thoughtful support and a talent system that helps people grow without leaving them to navigate the organisation alone.

4. Elida Lee

Director of Organization Effectiveness, The University of Texas at Austin

Elida Lee is Director of Organization Effectiveness at The University of Texas at Austin. Organisation effectiveness is where leadership, structure, culture and performance meet, which makes it a natural partner to learning and development.

For a leader, this is a useful reminder that a learning need can be a signal about the system around the learner. Sometimes the answer is a new skill. Sometimes it is a clearer decision, a better team habit or a change in how work is designed.

5. Sandy Abney

Senior Program Manager, Organization Effectiveness, The University of Texas at Austin

Sandy Abney is Senior Program Manager in Organization Effectiveness at The University of Texas at Austin. Program management is often the difference between a good people idea and a repeatable experience that leaders and teams can actually use.

Abney’s role belongs on this list because practical development depends on the details: sequencing, communication, ownership and follow-through. Those are the quiet design choices that make learning feel connected to work rather than added on top of it.

6. Julie Gillespie

Training Specialist III, Organization Effectiveness, The University of Texas at Austin

Julie Gillespie is Training Specialist III in Organization Effectiveness at The University of Texas at Austin. A training specialist is close to the point where learning becomes a real experience for the people in the room or on the screen.

That proximity is valuable. It keeps development grounded in clarity, practice and the small moments that help people feel more capable when they return to their work.

7. Ryan Sutton

Associate Professor of Instruction, Department of Educational Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin

Ryan Sutton is Associate Professor of Instruction in the Department of Educational Psychology at The University of Texas at Austin. His teaching and research interests include designing effective professional development, giving him a direct connection to the question of how adults learn and improve.

Sutton brings an educator’s lens to workplace development. That lens is useful when a team needs more than content, because it asks how learning is structured, supported and made relevant enough to survive the pressure of real work.

8. Suneet Singh

Affiliate Faculty, Department of Surgery and Perioperative Care, Dell Medical School

Suneet Singh is Affiliate Faculty in the Department of Surgery and Perioperative Care at Dell Medical School. His work includes teaching and mentoring in a high-stakes professional setting where leadership, communication and learning are closely linked to patient care.

That setting offers a useful lesson for learning leaders in every sector: development is strongest when it is tied to the work people are responsible for, with enough practice and reflection to change what happens under pressure.

9. Tony Cucolo

Executive Director, National Security Innovation Council

Tony Cucolo is Executive Director of the National Security Innovation Council at The University of Texas at Austin. His leadership background and current work in a university innovation setting bring a valuable perspective on developing people for complex, uncertain environments.

Cucolo is relevant to this conversation because leadership development is not only about adding knowledge. It is also about judgement, responsibility and the ability to help a group act when the path is not obvious.

Conclusion

Austin’s learning and development landscape is broad enough to reward curiosity. The right person to learn from will depend on the challenge in front of you, whether that is building a leadership pipeline, improving a learning experience, strengthening a team or helping people grow through complex work.

The common thread is practical development. People need ideas they can use, leaders who make room for learning and systems that help good intentions turn into better work.

About the Author

I’m Jonno White, founder of Consult Clarity. I help leaders build organisations people would move cities to work at, with practical ideas they can use on Monday morning.

Next Read

If you are exploring leadership development, start with my guide to influential learning and development leaders then get in touch if you want help turning the ideas into a practical experience for your team.

Email me at jonno@consultclarity.org.