Cara North

JPMorganChase

Vice President, Product Management

Vice President, Digital Learning

Boise State University

Organizational Performance & Workplace Learning masters program

Adjunct Professor

Association for Talent Development (ATD)

Facilitator for ATD certificate programs including Learning Technologies, Project Management, Articulate Storyline, and Instructional Design
Also serve as SME for various programs in development.

Course Facilitator

The Learning Camel

Founder & Chief Learning Consultant

Medical Mutual

Learning, Performance and Customer Experience Manager

Circulo Health

Director of Learning and Development

Silfex, Inc. - A Division of Lam Research Corporation

Operations Training Manager

The Ohio State University

Senior Learning Experience Designer

Learning Experience Designer

Interim Director, Academic Technology

Trained and co-managed a 20-person Service2Facilities team in achieving the mission of the Facilities Operations and Development organization—to support the university’s academic facility needs while protecting physical assets. Received facilities requests, assessed priority, and dispatched appropriate resources to address the needs of 450+ academic, residence hall, and medical center buildings. Reviewed and updated department policies, procedures, and systems.
Drove continuous performance improvement through analysis of processes and identification of process gaps, diligently investigating issues and recommending corrective actions to improve efficiencies and effectiveness.
Hired, onboarded, trained, and developed a dedicated service team, leading the group in delivering exceptional customer service and support to diverse clients.
Received the Star Bucks Award for exceeding expectations during a campus emergency; facilitated staff coaching and development on best practices in emergency preparedness and response.

Information Associate; Service2Facilities Supervisor

Amazon

Earned rapid promotions to play a key role in the development of a robust knowledge center for the launch of the Kindle Fire, collaborating with peers in Seattle to apply educational theory to design global training materials. Met with SMEs to create training across disciplines, facilitating train-the-trainer training on the Kindle product to support rollout.
Received a continuous improvement award for identifying an issue with the second-generation Kindles, initiating the corrective action process to mitigate risks, prevent customer concerns and issues, and ensure optimal service delivery.
Served as an LMS (Moodle) administrator and troubleshot problems with grade books and student accounts for clients across North America, Costa Rica, India, and the Philippines.

Instructional Designer/Digital Specialist

Hi there, I'm Cara (care-uh, like “karaoke,” minus the okie) and I've been working in learning and development for all of my professional career. Over the years I’ve built learning strategies and experiences for higher education, corporate, and consulting. Since then, I’ve been the one people call when training goes sideways, tech implodes, or someone forgets we are in the business of supporting the complex creatures called humans.

Along the way I’ve collected the kind of stories that double as icebreakers:

The Porta-Potty Standoff: Showed up to a new-hire orientation to find a row of porta potties in the training room. We had people to onboard and enough stuff to deal with and was able to get the porta-potties banished. 

One-Woman Software SWAT: Got “Hey, we’re changing core software, train the entire org in a week” with zero team, zero prep. I caffeinated, white-boarded, and lived to meme the tale.

eLearning ER: Performed emergency-saving surgery on eLearning so ugly they triggered OSHA concerns.

If you are a teacher or someone who is new to instructional design, welcome! I hope you find as much joy in this work as I have. If you want some recommendations to get started with books & tech, I've created an Amazon storefront with some of my favorites: https://www.amazon.com/shop/unfilteredid 

DMs are always open (but my inbox is a spicy chaos goblin). Please note this year I've started to set boundaries for my time so if you are immediately asking for me to hop on a call, do something for you, etc without trying to build a relationship, I'll refer you to my services calendar.

Excited to be going back to Los Angeles in 2026!
I didn’t think I’d be headed to Association for Talent Development (ATD)’s 2026 International Conference and Expo but now I am! I’ll be facilitating the pre-conference project management certificate program. I appreciate the good folks at ATD trusting me with this program. 

The last time I was in LA was 2024 for the Apex Legends esports world championship and I got to see some things (the Jonas Brothers star in the walk of fame was a must see) but not everything I wanted to. 

My brother-in-law did find an incredible Chinese restaurant on our trip, so I’d love to go to it again and bring some folks with me (Jonathan Rock, MBA).
Who will I be seeing in Los Angeles?
 #atd26

Learning & Development Leader, Speaker, & Author of Learning Experience Design Essentials

Picture of Cara North standing by the Jonas Brothers Star on the walk of fame 

Over the last few years, I’ve lost two people who shaped my career more than any book, conference, or certificate ever could: my mentors.

Grief is a strange thing in your career. You still hear their voice when you make a tough call… and then you realize you can’t send the follow-up text or book the “talk me off the ledge” call afterward.

Their loss has made one thing very clear to me:
I don’t want to navigate the next stage of my career alone.

So, I’m putting this out there publicly:
I’m looking to fill seats on my advisory board.

Not a “pick your brain once” conversation.
 Someone who is genuinely invested in my long-term growth and willing to build a consistent relationship.

Why mentorship matters so much to me:
I value honest mirrors, not just cheerleaders. My mentors have challenged my thinking, called out my blind spots, and helped me separate noise from signal.

I move fast and juggle a lot. I need someone who’s been where I’m trying to go and can help me make smart, strategic choices, not just more “busy.”

I care deeply about impact. I want my work to matter: to teams, to products, to learners, to organizations. Mentors have always helped me zoom out and stay anchored to that bigger picture.

What I’m looking for:
A senior leader who has navigated complex, messy environments and still leads with integrity.
Someone who understands (or is curious about) learning, product, and/or people development.
Willing to connect periodically (e.g., once a month or once a quarter) for real conversations about strategy, trade-offs, and growth.

If this sounds like you or if someone comes to mind who might be a fit, I’d be grateful for an introduction or a DM.

Also I'd like to open my own calendar up for this kind of work if I can help others but I want to limit the number of folks so I have the time to invest in you. If you are interested in me mentoring you, comment or send me a message. 

And if you’ve also lost a mentor, I see you. It’s a quiet kind of grief that doesn’t show up on a performance review, but it absolutely shapes who we become.

Thank you for reading. 💛

From my family to yours, happy Thanksgiving! 
Thankful for all the wonderful folks I’ve met because of this platform.

A cartoon of a turkey and Cara and Mathew north with their four cats Sid, Bib, Saffron, and Pollock 

Honored to be on this list, thank you CLN!

Open article: CLN's Top 25 L&D Influencers of 2025 by corporatelearningnetwork.com

Hey everyone!

Community has been on my mind lately, especially coming off of several conferences. In that spirit I've decided to pilot building a once a month, 1 hour community of practice where we focus on a topic and build connections and strategies. I'm calling it The Monthly 60.

I'd like to start this in December with the topic of beyond level 1 evaluations. Metrics are top of my mind right now thinking about 2026 OKRs and planning. 

If you are interested in joining, it's free and open to all, however, I reserve the right to remove those who may spam or solicit. 

https://lnkd.in/e7tngf5U

PS- If you can't access Google forms due to organizational firewalls, please PM me your email address and I can add you to the list. 

#instructionaldesign
#community

Community is Strength! Be Strong! Let's look out for one another. Stock art from Unsplash.

I’m so proud of my friend Lauren Waldman being featured in Forbes Magazine!! Huge kudos to her and such an important topic. My favorite quote:

 “The brain is not a bonus feature. It’s the seat that’s been empty for far too long.”

How many of our teams are now being asked to peddle AI slop instead of focusing on what really helps people in our orgs?

Open article: Why Corporate Learning Is Failing, And The Neuroscience That Could Fix It by forbes.com

Why Corporate Learning Is Failing, And The Neuroscience That Could Fix It

Happy Wednes-Yay! You can find past posts by searching #hotidjobs and follow me for future lists by selecting the bell by my name on my profile. If you want to share these with your network, please use the repost button. Also a friendly reminder I’m not a recruiter or a restaurant, meaning don’t send me your resumes or requests/demands for me to make a special list just for you. Get a head start on your wellness goals. Consider joining the L&D Active Club I started on Strava, lots of good folks over there sharing their wellness journeys. Free and open to all current, aspiring, or retired L&D professionals: https://lnkd.in/gBE73HHV

Training Manager, Chime (remote)
https://lnkd.in/ecQAgxUG

Senior Training Manager, RTX (remote)
https://lnkd.in/eKqm-e-N

ID Lead, Progressive Insurance (remote)
https://lnkd.in/eZ_-TrPb

Training Consultant, Livingston International (remote)
https://lnkd.in/eEprmmtS

Senior Training Ops Manager, Dandy (remote)
https://lnkd.in/ekddg-A6

Diversity and Inclusion Specialist, Sheetz (remote)
https://lnkd.in/eU5CATPq

ID, Willow Bridge Property (remote)
https://lnkd.in/e_ae7XY3

Lead Program Manager, Very Good Ventures (remote)
https://lnkd.in/eKXr_Pnt

Sr Manager Global Memberships, YPO (remote)
https://lnkd.in/efJhfzq8

ID, Bluebird Staffing (remote & contract)
https://lnkd.in/eMH3ZbHx

Learning Specialist, Onebrief (remote and great salary)
https://lnkd.in/eda2yHyW

ID Intern, WTA (remote and great for tennis fans)
https://lnkd.in/eAaGB_xr

If you made it this far, thank you. I’ve just passed year 5 of doing this kind of content and I really appreciate everyone who comments, shares, and comes up to talk to me at conferences and such. We never know when it could be our turn to look for another opportunity so I’m just doing my part to try to help others as others have helped me. 

To further boost the post, respond to the following question in the comments: what is a tiny thing you’re giving yourself permission to enjoy this December? For me, we’ve been working on our house and it’s moving at a snail’s pace and I’m just going to slow down and enjoy it. Tell someone you love them today and have a genuine day.
#jobs #instructionaldesign

A sincere thank you to the kind folks at Canvas LMS for the sweet little panda I brought home from #devlearn for my boy, Sidious. He carries it around the house and is one of his new favorite toys. Since the panda is wearing a shirt, Sid agreed to wear his sweater for this quick pic.

Picture of Sidious (Sid) a black cat wearing a cream sweater with bold lines sitting on a walking pad next to a small panda plushie wearing a Canvas shirt 

Happy Fri-Yay! You can find past posts by searching #hotidjobs and follow me for future lists by selecting the bell by my name on my profile. If you want to share these with your network, please use the repost button. Also a friendly reminder I’m not a recruiter or a restaurant, meaning don’t send me your resumes or requests/demands for me to make a special list just for you. Also I am starting a community of practice called The Monthly 60. Our first topic will be beyond Level 1 evaluations and it’s free and open to all. Learn more and sign up if interested: https://lnkd.in/e7tngf5U

Bilingual ID, Colorado Stare University (remote)
https://lnkd.in/eeKScCxM

ID, Colorado State University 3 open recs!  (remote)
 https://lnkd.in/eE5KQFJs

ID, UMass Global (remote)
https://lnkd.in/eCex3zBN

Senior Learning Professional, Humana (remote)
https://lnkd.in/eB2vyEDF

Senior Communication and Learning Professional, Nature Conservancy (remote) https://lnkd.in/ebA7YQDt

People Development Manager, Stambaugh Ness (remote)
https://lnkd.in/er4bhmpU

ID Lead, Constant (remote)
https://lnkd.in/eDiKYZBP

ID, SMM Health (remote)
https://lnkd.in/eDj2crkd

If you made it this far, thank you. I’ve just passed year 5 of doing this kind of content and I really appreciate everyone who comments, shares, and comes up to talk to me at conferences and such. We never know when it could be our turn to look for another opportunity so I’m just doing my part to try to help others as others have helped me. 

To further boost the post, respond to the following question in the comments: Your life has a commentator, who is it? For me, I’d want the voice of James Earl Jones like Darth Vader explaining simple tasks in an evil way. Tell someone you love them today and have a genuine day.
#jobs #instructionaldesign

Putting the finishing touches on the Mural board I plan on using for the first meeting of The Monthly 60 kicking off on Friday. I have really been looking for a community that isn't just networking, but isn't someone talking at you. I haven't really seen anything I like so I decided to build it by piloting this method for our first meeting. Also it will be exactly 60 minutes a month. We will start and end on time. No exceptions :) The agenda is 15 minutes of networking, 45 minutes of discussion of the topic. I took inspiration from ESPN's Around the Horn to keep the conversation moving and giving everyone an opportunity to share.

The topic is Beyond Level 1 Evaluations and it will be facilitated by yours truly along with my incredible colleague Nathan Coey. It isn't too late to sign up if you want to join us.

If all goes well, I plan on launching this fully for 2026.

Join us: https://lnkd.in/e7tngf5U

#instructionaldesign
#community

A Mural canvas with The Monthly 60 written on it with the December topic: Beyond Level 1 Evaluations

Happy Mon-Yay! You can find past posts by searching #hotidjobs and follow me for future lists by selecting the bell by my name on my profile. If you want to share these with your network, please use the repost button. Also a friendly reminder I’m not a recruiter or a restaurant, meaning don’t send me your resumes or requests/demands for me to make a special list just for you. Consider following The Monthly 60: a learning and development community of practice that meets once a month to talk about a topic. We have a meeting this Thursday Dec 11 for EMEA and India time zones if you want to join fill out the form on our page https://lnkd.in/eBPNskSW

Head of ID, Alexander Group (remote)
https://lnkd.in/eR7Rm4DC

ID Specialist, VSP (remote)
https://lnkd.in/eKP5dK8J

Director of Learning, Mosaic (remote)
https://lnkd.in/eS5AfweF

ID, Sand Cherry (remote)
https://lnkd.in/eymtBiqy

Senior ID, ChenMed (remote)
https://lnkd.in/eGPvC9ar

ID, Haskell (remote)
https://lnkd.in/evTKEP6s

If you made it this far, thank you. I’ve just passed year 5 of doing this kind of content and I really appreciate everyone who comments, shares, and comes up to talk to me at conferences and such. We never know when it could be our turn to look for another opportunity so I’m just doing my part to try to help others as others have helped me. 

To further boost the post, respond to the following question in the comments: if you could have one super boring corporate superpower, what would it be? For me, I’ll go with instantly finding calendar slots when a meeting is needed* (I argue most meetings are not needed btw) . Tell someone you love them today and have a genuine day.
#jobs #instructionaldesign

Open article: The Monthly 60 | LinkedIn by linkedin.com

Happy Wednes-Yay! You can find past posts by searching #hotidjobs and follow me for future lists by selecting the bell by my name on my profile. If you want to share these with your network, please use the repost button. Also a friendly reminder I’m not a recruiter or a restaurant, meaning don’t send me your resumes or requests/demands for me to make a special list just for you. Consider following The Monthly 60: a learning and development community of practice that meets once a month to talk about a topic. Our next event is January 16, 2026 and covers AI! If you want to get added to the invite, add your information to our form: https://lnkd.in/eYx6dKPr

Learning Leader of Platforms, Cisco (remote)
https://lnkd.in/eWPsf6Zz

Associate Director, Abbive (remote)
https://lnkd.in/e2EeuvFw

ID, Infuse  (remote & contract)
https://lnkd.in/eSwHV7dD

LXD, Floquast (remote)
https://lnkd.in/eppwAq2J

Senior Manager, Trulieve (remote)
https://lnkd.in/eMnRuaDT

Program Manager, Figma (remote)
https://lnkd.in/eqCiTMxp

Sr ID, CNO Financial (remote)
https://lnkd.in/ewWq7ezj

ID, Wasserman (remote US & Canada)
https://lnkd.in/ePQKRRvm

Senior ID, Prudential (remote)
https://lnkd.in/ee5vqMxb

ID, Snorkel (remote)
https://lnkd.in/eaEW-xfs

Senior LXD, Endeavor (remote)
https://lnkd.in/etTMKWKj

If you made it this far, thank you. To further boost the post, respond to the following question in the comments: what is one of your niche subject expertises? For me, I’ll go with Apex Legends esports (go Team Falcons)! Tell someone you love them today and have a genuine day.
#jobs #instructionaldesign

Thank you to everyone who showed up for today's first ever The Monthly 60! We've had a lot of interest in EMEA and India so we will do another session on Dec 11 at 5:00AM ET. If you are interested in joining us, please fill out the form for an invite and follow The Monthly 60 page for updates about our next sessions! 

https://lnkd.in/e_bJgp86

#TheMonthly60

We are having an encore of our session today for our friends in EMEA and India. If you are interested in joining us December 11 at 5:00AM ET, please fill out this form to be added to the invite.

The topic will be beyond Level 1 evaluation, looking forward to welcoming you.

https://lnkd.in/ewMn3gYx

Open article: The Monthly 60: EMEA/India by forms.gle

Excited about the conversation for EMEA folks tomorrow! This will be fun!

PSA: Your Level 1 evaluations are lying to you. 😂

In our December North America Monthly 60 session, we asked a very serious, highly academic question:

“What’s an example where Level 1 evaluation data told you something completely useless or misleading?”

The responses did not disappoint:

🙃 “Agree/disagreed to ‘it helped my understanding’.”
🙃 “As a facilitator, a learner said they didn’t like my hair.”
🙃 “My very first feedback form for my very first ILT was a full rant about the catering.”
🙃 “I am not a frontline fundraiser and I don’t know why I was here”
 (…note: the audience description very clearly said frontline fundraisers 😅)

This is why we can’t have nice things. Or at least why we can’t only have Level 1.
If you read these and could relate
…then you are exactly who The Monthly 60 is for.

What’s The Monthly 60?

A one-hour, once-a-month community of practice for L&D folks who want:
Real talk (not 47-slide vendor decks)
Peer brains > performance gaps
Actual tactics you can steal and ship on Monday
We’re hosting a special EMEA-friendly Monthly 60 on December 11 at 5:00 AM ET (10:00 AM UK / 11:00 AM CET).

We’ll be:
Dragging misleading Level 1 data lovingly through the mud
Swapping war stories
Sharing alternative ways to get feedback that’s actually… useful

If you want in:
Follow this page page: The Monthly 60 so you don’t miss future sessions.

Join the December 11 EMEA event (link in comments)

Bring your spiciest, most unhinged Level 1 comment. The catering complaints are absolutely invited.

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