Week 1 Welcome & Introductions

Hi everyone! My name is Crystal Webb, and I’m based in Cockeysville, Maryland, but I was born and raised in Southside Chicago. I work as an Operational Training Specialist, where my day‑to‑day focus is on designing and delivering learning experiences that help people build confidence, skills, and consistency in their roles. Much of my work involves translating complex information into clear, practical training, developing learning materials, coordinating skills-based training sessions, and supporting learners as they apply new skills on the job, including onboarding and continuous improvement training.

I joined the AI Assistant Certification Cohort because I see AI as a powerful extension of the work I already do. I’m especially interested in learning how to thoughtfully integrate AI tools into training design, content development, and daily workflows. I intend to be able to work more efficiently and to create better learning experiences. My goal is to leave this cohort with practical, hands‑on skills, a deeper understanding of responsible AI use, and concrete ideas for how AI assistants can support learning, performance, and innovation in my role.

Hi all! I’m MJ Kieffer Morishita (she/her), based in Madison, Wisconsin. I work remotely for Traliant as an eLearning developer and development manager. Traliant provides online compliance training featuring high-production video.

My day-to-day work includes developing new templates and courses. I also serve as Traliant’s accessibility professional, where I focus on implementing accessible course solutions, researching and testing best practices, training others, and streamlining our accessible development workflows.

I’m interested in exploring how we can use AI to improve our workflows, particularly alongside all the great new features in Storyline.

And finally, here are my 10-year-old cats, brothers Boo and Maui — coworkers and occasional keyboard assistants.

Hello, my name is Gracia Quicano, and I work as an Instructional Designer at Charter Communications, in the Charlotte office. 
I joined this Cohot because I'd love to improve the use of AI when using the Articulate programs, and I hope at the end of it I can design better, faster and more unique content. 

Hi Alyssa and all. My name is Derek Ecklund. I am located in Astoria, Oregon. I am a Learning Experience Designer and Multimedia Developer at Kaiser Permanente on the Enterprise Learning and Design group. I use Storyline mostly in my day to day. I like to create creative, engaging, and interactive learning experiences with audio, video, interactivity, and more. Excited to learn more about how AI assistant can help increase my creativity and speed up my workflow.

Here is our beloved feline friend Mishke: 

Hello from Indianapolis, Indiana! Our company, Cox Automotive, is having a big push to use AI and completing this cohort is one of my yearly performance goals. I am an Instructional Designer and I facilitate orientation for Mobile Diesel Technicians. Our guys keep the breakdowns low and make Christmas happen! I didn't have a pic of my dog handy, but here's a turtle I recently came across. 

Hey everyone!! My name is Celeste Bramlett. I am a Learning Developer with Roche Diagnostics in Indianapolis. I have been in this role over 13 years.  I love my job!!!  I created training material (documents and eLearning courses) for our internal and external customers.  I am also a certified voiceover artist.  

I have 2 very special extended family members.  Meet Shiloh and Lucy.  Shiloh is a therapy dog at Shenandoah Elementary School and Lucy is my axolotl

Hello, my name is Gracia Quicano, and I'm an Instructional Designer with Charter Communications. I work in the Charlotte office and I'm part of the Customer Operations department. My desire is to improve the way I use the AI features in Rise and Storyline, so I can develop content in a more efficient way.

Hi everyone—my name is Mrugesh (Preferred name "JANI"), and I’m based in Mississauga, Ontario. I work at PNR RailWorks, where we manage and maintain railway infrastructure for our customers. I lead the Training Department as a Training Manager, overseeing a team of 12 training professionals.

On a day-to-day basis, my role is very similar to running a small college or accredited training center. My team and I are responsible for the full training lifecycle: identifying competency requirements, designing and developing training programs, facilitating and delivering training, managing our Learning Management System (LMS), and overseeing qualifications and compliance. Our focus is on ensuring our workforce has the right skills, certifications, and continuous learning opportunities to safely and effectively maintain critical railway infrastructure.

Why I joined the AI Assistant Certification Cohort

I joined the AI Assistant Certification Cohort because I see significant potential for AI to enhance how we design, deliver, and manage training. As a training organization operating in a highly regulated, safety-critical industry, we need to be both efficient and precise—while still keeping the learner experience engaging and relevant.

Through this cohort, I’m hoping to gain practical skills in using AI assistants to support instructional design, streamline content development, personalize learning pathways, and improve knowledge management across our LMS and qualification systems. Ultimately, my goal is to leverage AI as a productivity and quality multiplier for my team, allowing us to spend less time on repetitive tasks and more time focusing on high-value activities like coaching, continuous improvement, and future skills development.

Hi everyone! 👋

My name is Kia, and I’m located in Pasadena, CA, USA. I work as a Senior Consultant at Kaiser Permanente, where my day to day focuses on designing and supporting physician education programs. That includes instructional design, program strategy, and CME consulting with physician leadership, along with systems management across our learning ecosystem such as our physician portal, Tableau dashboards, KP Learn, SharePoint, and related tools.

Much of my role involves translating complex clinical or operational needs into effective learning experiences and practical system workflows.

Why I Joined the Cohort

I joined the AI Assistant Certification Cohort because I’m interested in how AI can enhance learning design, streamline workflows, and support faster prototyping and development within complex organizational environments.

Bonus Pet Content

No furry or scaly coworkers at home right now, but I love seeing everyone else’s pets, so please keep the pictures coming! 😄

Looking forward to learning with you all! 🎉

Hi my name is Lisa Johnson, and I am a Learning & Development Advisor for Westland Insurance. I work out of my home office in Stettler, Alberta, Canada. I also share my office with my 2 huskies - Komatsu and Komanche. They don't help much, but are definitely here for the snacks!

I am excited to learn how AI can bring my course design to the next level.