The Executive Learning Exchange (ELE) is a peer-driven learning community for senior talent, learning, and business leaders who want practical ways to navigate change—not generic advice or vendor-led solutions.

Founded in 2002 as an internal learning leaders conference at Baxter International, ELE has evolved into a curated, invitation-based community connecting experienced leaders across industries and roles. Members engage as peers to explore real challenges, test ideas, and co-create approaches that build confidence, capability, and clarity in a rapidly changing workplace.

Want a quick overview?
Download: ELE Benefits Summary (1-page PDF)

This matters because leaders need confidence grounded in real peer judgment—not abstract best practices.

ELE is different because it brings HR, Talent, and Business Leaders into the same peer conversation—focused on real decisions, not content delivery or surface networking.

Members work through complex challenges together, moving from insight to action through practical dialogue and co-creation. Strategic partners participate as peers—adding perspective without sales chatter—so conversations stay grounded and useful.

As one member put it:

“The best development you’ll ever get.”
Jenny Heitman, Director, HRBP — Zurn Elkay Water Solutions

ELE functions more like a working think tank than a networking community—where progress matters more than visibility.

This difference matters because leaders build confidence by testing judgment with peers—not by consuming more content.

ELE members consistently point to the same things: the caliber of the peers, the depth of the conversations, and the practicality of what they take back with them.

Rather than surface networking or passive learning, members describe ELE as a place to think out loud with experienced leaders, pressure-test ideas, and work through real challenges together—without sales agendas or performative talk.

You can see a snapshot of that feedback in THE BUZZ on our homepage, or explore deeper reflections from members across roles and organizations here:
Read member testimonials
https://www.ele.llc/testimonials

That shared experience gives leaders confidence to act when there’s no obvious playbook.

ELE is designed for experienced HR, Talent, and Business Leaders who are actively shaping how work, leadership, and capability evolve inside their organizations—or preparing for what’s next.

Members typically hold senior roles (or have held them recently) and value thoughtful peer exchange over prescriptive advice. They come to ELE to work through real challenges, learn from leaders facing similar complexity, and co-create solutions rather than consume content.

REAL LEADERS. | REAL IMPACT. | REAL-TIME.

This matters because leaders build confidence and capability faster when they learn with peers facing the same real-world tradeoffs.

ELE may not be the right fit if you’re primarily looking for a traditional networking group—or if you prefer to observe rather than be intellectually challenged.

ELE works best for leaders who enjoy thinking out loud, engaging with peers who ask hard questions, and contributing perspective as much as they gain it. Conversations are candid, practical, and forward-looking.

Strategic partners do participate, but always as peers—adding insight without sales pitches or marketing agendas. The value comes from the quality of the exchange, not the size of a contact list.

This matters because protecting the quality of dialogue is what allows leaders to build real confidence through peer judgment.

ELE is invitation-based to protect the quality of peer exchange.

If your organization already has a team membership, you can request to be added. If you’re unsure, contact us and we’ll help you navigate next steps.

If you don’t yet have an ELE account, you can explore available options on the Membership Plans page to find the best fit.

Joining by referral works like this:

1. Identify a trusted ELE member in the Contributing Members directory
2. Use the referral button on their profile to submit a request
3. If approved, follow the email instructions to complete registration

This matters because invitation-based participation preserves trust—so leaders can work through real challenges without posturing or sales agendas.

“Trustworthy and Credible”
“The partnership of a professional network is trustworthy and credible when you know you will see each other again over the course of time.”
— Shweta Srivastava, Global Skills Leader, Microsoft

Leaders engage with ELE in practical, flexible ways—through peer dialogue, co-creation, and hands-on exchanges that connect directly to their real work.

Some participate regularly in interactive video discussions, design charrettes, or innovation sprints. Others engage more selectively—joining when a challenge, transition, or opportunity calls for outside perspective. Many contribute as peers across roles, organizations, and industries, bringing lived experience into the conversation.

“The charrette forced us to stop talking about the problem and actually work it—together. That’s where the learning happened.”

New members (or those re-engaging) can start here:
FAQs: New Member Steps to Fully Engage
https://www.ele.llc/faqs/onboarding

This matters because capability is built through active participation and shared problem-solving—not passive attendance.

ELE prepares leaders by helping them practice judgment, collaboration, and decision-making in environments that mirror real work—not hypothetical scenarios.

Through peer exchange, design-thinking charrettes, and innovation sprints, leaders work through real tensions: navigating AI shifts, reskilling closer to work, evolving roles, and leading teams through uncertainty. Rather than stepping away from work to “learn,” leaders build capability by learning inside the work itself.

ELE also creates space for reflection—inside and outside the box—so leaders can step back, see patterns, and return to their organizations with clearer thinking and more grounded action.

This matters because leaders don’t need better predictions—they need clearer judgment when the ground shifts again.

Leaders don’t leave ELE with more content.
They leave with clearer judgment, stronger confidence, and practical next moves—even when the path forward isn’t obvious.

What changes in practice:

• Pressure-testing ideas in real time
  Leaders work through real challenges with peers facing similar stakes. Hearing sharp questions and co-creating in the moment reduces second-guessing and builds confidence to move forward without waiting for perfect answers.

• Stronger decision-making under uncertainty
  ELE conferences mirror the complexity leaders face at work—AI disruption, shifting priorities, competing constraints—so leaders practice making calls when the data is incomplete and the ground is moving.

• From insight to action—faster
  Instead of leaving inspired but stalled, leaders leave with ideas already stress-tested through peer dialogue, making it easier to act once back inside their organization.

• Confidence grounded in peer judgment
  The biggest shift isn’t knowledge—it’s conviction. Leaders trust their thinking more because it’s been shaped, challenged, and sharpened by experienced peers.

“Dedicated to Fostering Collaboration”
“The Executive Learning Exchange is unlike any other professional organization I’ve been involved with. It’s not focused on selling you vendor products or recycling outdated learning concepts. It’s dedicated to fostering collaboration between and sharing next practices amongst great learning leaders—which enables us to take learning and talent in our organizations from good to great.”
— Sal Venegas, Global Head of Talent Management, Walgreens

This matters because today’s leaders don’t need more frameworks—they need confidence to act when there’s no obvious playbook.

Leaders don’t make better decisions by consuming more information—they make better decisions by practicing judgment in complex, real conditions.

ELE experiences are designed for that.

Instead of passively absorbing content, leaders engage in live peer dialogue, design charrettes, and real-time problem-solving with others facing similar stakes. Ideas are pressure-tested in the moment. Assumptions get challenged. Tradeoffs become visible.

This mirrors the reality leaders face with AI, workforce change, and organizational ambiguity—where data is incomplete, and decisions can’t wait.

What’s different after ELE:

• Leaders trust their judgment sooner instead of waiting for perfect answers

• They separate signal from noise in fast-moving AI and change conversations

• Decisions move forward with clarity and conviction, not consensus theater

“The work happening in ELE is truly leading-edge in human performance—this is where leaders come together to learn, share, and grow.”
— Carlos Velazquez, Global Head of Learning, Grainger

This matters because leaders don’t need more predictions—they need stronger judgment when the ground is shifting

AI transformation fails when organizations treat it as a tools rollout or a training problem. ELE takes a different path.

Design charrettes and innovation sprints give leaders and teams a structured way to work through AI challenges together—inside real work, not outside it.

Borrowed from architecture, a design charrette brings experienced practitioners together to solve complex problems quickly.

• Design Charrettes—introduced by Alaska Fu, ELE’s Experience Designer—are focused, peer-powered working conversations that help leaders co-create and refine practical approaches in 50–90 minutes.
• In ELE design charrettes, peers work through challenges using three complementary lenses—internal client, AI learning guide, and real-world skeptic—to strengthen judgment before committing to action.

In these experiences, participants:

• Clarify the real business and talent problem before jumping to solutions

• Co-create options with peers who bring different roles, industries, and lived experience

• Customize approaches to fit their organization’s context, constraints, and culture

• Commit to small, testable actions teams can pilot immediately

This mirrors how AI actually enters organizations: messy, cross-functional, and full of tradeoffs. Instead of debating hypotheticals, teams practice judgment in real time, pressure-testing ideas with peers before stakes get higher.

The result isn’t a polished AI strategy deck—it’s shared understanding, clearer decisions, and momentum teams can carry back into the flow of work.

This matters because AI transformation is not a technology shift—it’s a human coordination challenge, and teams need practice navigating it together.

ELE doesn’t treat AI as a tools rollout or a training module. We treat it as a human coordination challenge—one that requires shared judgment, lived experience, and real dialogue.

That’s why ELE’s ✨ AI Practical Labs are designed as working sessions, not presentations.

In each AI Practical Lab, leaders and participants actively work through real AI use cases by stepping into three complementary roles:

• Internal Client
  Grounds the discussion in real business needs, constraints, and stakeholder realities.

• Learning / AI Guru
  Brings frameworks, examples, and emerging practices—without turning it into a lecture.

• Real-World Skeptic
  Experiment assumptions, risks, ethics, feasibility, and unintended consequences.

By rotating lenses, teams surface blind spots early and explore AI decisions before they scale.

Participants use these labs to:

• Clarify where AI truly adds value—and where human judgment must lead

• Test ideas safely with peers from different industries and roles

• Set responsible guardrails grounded in real work, not theory

• Build shared confidence to move forward without waiting for perfect answers

This isn’t role-play for theater’s sake—it’s practice for real decisions leaders are already being asked to make.

👉 Explore past AI Practical Lab topics and member-only recordings:
https://www.ele.llc/insights?s=ai+practical+lab

This matters because responsible AI adoption isn’t about speed or tools—it’s about helping leaders and teams practice judgment together, before the stakes get higher.

The most practical way to join ELE depends on how you want to engage—individually, with a team, or through an existing relationship.

Many leaders join through an individual membership to participate in peer exchange and curated experiences. Others are added through a team membership sponsored by their organization, allowing multiple leaders to engage and learn together.

If you’re exploring options, start with a quick overview:
Download: ELE Benefits Summary (1-page PDF)

This matters because clarity about how to engage makes it easier to focus on outcomes—not logistics.

Past ELE events and resources are designed to help leaders learn from real decisions, not abstract theory.

“I can’t begin to count the relationships from this group that enriched my career—and my life.”
Judy Albers, Director, Research Institute

Through ELE Insights
https://www.ele.llc/insights

members can explore over 20 years of agendas, audio, video, slides, and session summaries from peer exchanges, keynotes, and working sessions. Many of the most practical ideas—how leaders navigate change, weigh tradeoffs, and apply learning inside organizations—remain timeless.

This matters because reflection on real experience builds clarity about what actually works.

Most learning programs try to build capability by adding more content. ELE takes a different approach: helping teams learn from each other while doing real work.

Team membership is designed around peer-based learning, design-thinking charrettes, and innovation sprints—so leaders practice navigating real challenges together, in real time. Instead of stepping away from work to “learn,” teams build confidence, capability, and clarity inside the flow of work itself.

Best Practice Use Case: Learning in the Flow of Work

“The best development you’ll ever get.”
Jenny Heitman, Director, HRBP — Zurn Elkay Water Solutions

To explore team options and choose the right fit, visit:
For Your Team — ELE Membership Options
https://www.ele.llc/our-membership-plans/team

This matters because teams—not individuals—are the unit of capability in today’s workplace.

ELE is designed to keep you connected to what matters—without overwhelming your inbox.

Your ELE Profile controls how you receive insights, event information, and follow-ups. You can update preferences at any time here:
Manage your preferences
https://www.ele.llc/profile#preferences

How it works:

• ELE Newsletter
  Receive occasional updates, insights, and announcements from ELE.

• Interest & Expertise Notifications
  Get notified when ELE discussions or experiences align with your interests or expertise.

• Calendar Invites & Event Recordings Follow-Ups
  When you register for or attend an ELE event, calendar invites are sent from dirk@ele.llc (we recommend adding this address to your safe contacts).
  If you accept or tentatively accept, ELE automatically registers your participation. After the event, you’ll receive an AI-generated summary along with links to recordings and related resources.

“Manage all ELE communications in one place from your profile.”

All preferences are self-service and can be adjusted anytime—so you stay informed, connected, and focused on what’s most relevant to you.

This matters because clarity of signal—not volume—helps leaders stay effective.

ELE’s local experiences are peer-organized, expertise-driven, and platform-enabled.

As ELE has grown beyond Chicago, members in cities like New York have stepped forward to convene local, in-person exchanges—grounded in regional context and shaped by leaders who know the work firsthand.

ELE’s platform supports promotion, registration, and alignment with annual themes and virtual experiences—while local leaders bring insight to action.

Local ELE communities operate as integrated extensions of ELE’s platform—not stand-alone events.

Local members focus on what matters most:
bringing insight to action—surfacing real challenges, pressure-testing ideas with peers, and translating shared thinking into practical next steps.

This matters because capability grows fastest when trusted local expertise is supported by a platform that helps ideas travel, connect, and scale.

ELE grows through members who see a need—and step in.

If you’re interested in convening leaders in your region, ELE provides the structure, visibility, and support so you can focus on the experience—not the logistics.

Members who create and grow local ELE communities typically:

• Extend ELE’s top-of-mind priorities into their region
  Local leaders build on ELE’s virtual experiences and annual themes—customizing conversations around what matters most in their market right now.
• Convene small, high-trust peer exchanges
  These are purposeful conversations—not open networking—where experienced leaders work through real challenges together.
• Integrate local experiences into ELE’s broader platform
  Local gatherings connect back to ELE’s ongoing calendar, annual conference, and innovation sprints—so insights stay grounded, shared, and actionable.

ELE supports hosts with:

• Event setup, promotion, and registration

• Alignment to ELE’s annual themes and shared frameworks

• Connection to the broader ELE network so insights don’t stay local

This matters because ELE doesn’t scale by broadcasting content—it scales by activating judgment, leadership, and trust in local contexts.