About the Editor
Elaine Biech, CPTD fellow, believes excellence isn’t optional. Her passion is helping others achieve their passion. She specializes in maximizing individual, team, and organizational effectiveness using her expertise in OD, training, and consulting. She custom designs every project to address each client’s unique needs. She conducts strategic planning and implements organization-wide systems including process improvement, change management, leadership development, onboarding, and mentoring programs. She has developed hundreds of training courses and apps. As the founder and president of ebb associates inc, Elaine helps organizations implement large-scale change and is particularly adept at turning dysfunctional teams into productive teams.
As a management and executive consultant, trainer, and designer, Elaine’s clients include the US Navy, China Sinopec, China Telecom, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Banco de Credito Peru, Lockheed Martin, Outback Steakhouse, FAA, Land O’Lakes, McDonald’s, Lands’ End, Johnson Wax, Federal Reserve Bank, Department of Homeland Security, American Family Insurance, Marathon Oil, Hershey Chocolate, NASA, Newport News Shipbuilding, Kohler Company, American Red Cross, Association of Independent CPAs, The College of William and Mary, and hundreds of other public and private sector organizations. She designed the first process improvement programs for The Newport News Shipbuilding Company and McDonald’s as well as Hershey Chocolate’s first creativity and innovation program; she also presented one of the first ever virtual training sessions in 1986 for NASA.
Elaine’s been called a titan of the training industry. She’s written 86 books with 14 publishers, including the Washington Post number 1 bestseller, The Art & Science of Training. She recently served as the principal author of ATD’s Talent Development Body of Knowledge. Her books have won national awards and have been translated into 13 languages. She was the consulting editor for the prestigious Pfeiffer Training and Consulting Annuals for 16 years. Elaine has also been featured in dozens of publications including The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Management Update, Washington Post, Investor’s Business Daily, and Fortune. Elaine has presented more than 400 times for national and international conferences, including keynote presentations to 7,000 trainers in China. She has presented 35 consecutive years at ATD’s International Conference & EXPO.
Elaine has been active in ATD since 1982, serving on the National ASTD Board of Directors and as the Board’s secretary from 1991 to 1994. She initiated and chaired Consultant’s Day for seven years and was ATD’s International Conference Design Chair in 2000. Elaine also designed ATD’s first training certificate program and has since written five other certificate programs for the association.
A talent development thought leader and ATD’s inaugural CPTD Fellow designee, Elaine is the recipient of more than a dozen national awards, including ATD’s 1992 Torch Award, 2004 Volunteer-Staff Partnership Award, 2006 Gordon M. Bliss Memorial Award, and the 2020 Distinguished Contribution to Talent Development Award. She is also the recipient of the 2001 ISA Spirit Award, 2012 ISA Outstanding Contributor Award, and 2022 ISA Thought Leader Award, and Wisconsin’s Women’s Mentor Award. Elaine sponsors several scholarship funds and currently serves on the board of directors for ISA and CCL.