Whitney Egstad, PhD
Learning and Development Leader
Learning is infrastructure.
I research it, build it, and connect it to outcomes that matter.
What I bring to an organization
Strategic L&D Leadership
I've directed portfolios spanning 100+ programs, led enterprise-wide transformations, and partnered with senior leaders to align learning investment with business outcomes.
Learning Technology & Platform Development
I design and build the infrastructure that learning runs on — including custom platforms developed from scratch using AI-assisted prototyping, eliminating vendor dependency and accelerating delivery at enterprise scale.
Change Management
From a two-week pandemic pivot that preserved revenue and grew a business model, to driving product adoption in a fiercely resistant market, I lead people through change by addressing both the rational and the emotional.
Data-Driven Design
I build evaluation in from the start. Every program I lead generates feedback, tracks behavior change, and reports outcomes to leadership.
Cross-Functional Partnership
I've worked across HR, IT, marketing, the CDC, the U.S. Army War College Foundation, academic institutions, vendors, and community stakeholders. I know how to build consensus across people who don't always agree.
Inclusive, Accessible Learning
Equity isn't a checkbox. I've built it into program design, community communication, and organizational structure, including founding an Accessibility & Inclusion Committee that won new business partnerships.
I research and build enterprise learning ecosystems for decentralized organizations. Over 17 years I've architected portfolios spanning 100+ programs, built custom learning platforms, and designed programming from frontline technicians to presidential succession — currently as the sole L&D architect supporting 36 operating companies.
Throughout my career, I've reduced compliance errors by 23%, drove 20% membership growth in a resistant market, retained 95% attendance through a pandemic pivot, and launched the first standardized wastewater surveillance training for public health epidemiologists nationally.
Good learning doesn't happen by accident. It starts with understanding the real problem, earning trust across stakeholders, designing solutions that meet people where they are, and measuring whether they had a meaningful impact. That's the work I do.
Explore Select Projects
Each project begins with a real organizational problem and shows the full arc from diagnosis to measurable outcome. Click each title to view the full project.
Led the rapid transformation of 70% of in-person offerings to virtual during the pandemic in two weeks
Preserved revenue, retained 95% of program attendance, and increased learner satisfaction scores by 11%
Leveraged the crisis as a proof of concept for a new, more sustainable membership-based business model
Winning Over a Resistant Market
Identified that resistance to training our technology wasn't technical; agents' loyalty was emotional, tied to professional identity and client trust
Designed a change strategy that reframed adoption as an enhancement rather than a replacement, embedding training directly in broker offices
Grew membership 20% in previously resistant territories; brokerage leaders shifted from skeptics to active advocates
Identified that repetitive administrative churn, not a knowledge gap, was the root cause of inefficiency across an R1 research organization
Designed a systemic learning solution that eliminated redundant workflows and freed staff to focus on higher-value work
Reduced email volume and cross-functional confusion by creating clear, accessible resources that answered the right questions before they were asked
Directed the design and launch of the first standardized wastewater surveillance training for public health epidemiologists nationally
Managed a complex, multi-stakeholder collaboration across federal agencies, researchers, and public health officials
Developed training for a CDC-aligned National Center of Excellence, building capacity among health departments nationwide to use wastewater surveillance as an early warning tool for disease outbreaks