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2025 Rising Stars

About the Award:

The Utah ATD Rising Star Award honors emerging professionals in Utah who are making a meaningful impact in the field of Learning & Development. This award recognizes individuals who demonstrate exceptional promise through their engagement, contributions, and leadership within the local TD community.

Each quarterly winner is now in the running for Rising Star of the Year, to be announced at the Utah ATD Annual Conference this fall!

Know someone who's making waves in L&D? Nominations are open for future quarters!

Please reach out to President@utahatd.org



Joseph Diaz

Sales Enablement Coordinator

Vivint Smart Home

January

Joseph Diaz is a dedicated Sales Enablement Coordinator with a passion for instructional design, learning strategy, and workforce development. With a background in language training and a master’s degree in Instructional Psychology and Technology from BYU, Joseph brings both heart and science to learning and development.

In his role at Vivint Smart Home, he’s designed and delivered enablement programs that have driven real business outcomes—from doubling new-hire ramp speed to boosting install and service revenue through revamped training initiatives. His work spans onboarding, performance training, curriculum design, and innovative tools like microlearning apps—supporting over 1,500 employees nationwide.

Outside of work, Joseph is an active contributor to the L&D community. He hosts the “Talk Learning With Me” podcast, co-leads the L&D Collective Book Club, and shares insights around behavior change and learning science. Being named a Rising Star is a meaningful recognition of his commitment to helping people grow, connect, and succeed through the power of learning.


RaVae Beck

Exciting News Coming!

February
RaVae Beck is honored to be recognized for her contributions to the talent development community. With over fifteen years of experience, she has led transformative initiatives in internal communications, change management, and learning experience design. A strategic project manager and visionary leader, RaVae has implemented rewards-based Learning Management Systems with impressive results, significantly reducing training time and increasing engagement for front-line workers. She has also designed leadership development programs and team member development pathways that empower individuals to grow and succeed within their organizations.
RaVae is passionate about driving innovation, fostering growth, and creating learning experiences that are both meaningful and engaging. An active member of the local UT ATD program since 2013, she continually demonstrates her commitment to advancing the field with creativity and leadership.


Adam Nelsen

Senior Manager of People Development

GoEngineer

March

Adam Nelsen is a passionate Learning & Development leader dedicated to creating training programs that truly make an impact. With a focus on leadership development, performance management, and microlearning, he has designed and launched programs that help leaders grow and teams thrive. Throughout his career, Adam has worked with companies like MarketStar, Progressive Leasing, NICE CXone, and GoEngineer as well as several local community organizations to develop world-class L&D programs that drive engagement, boost performance, and foster a culture of continuous learning.

Beyond building great programs, Adam is committed to making learning both strategic and accessible. Whether leading L&D think tanks, designing innovative learning experiences, or ensuring training aligns with business goals, he is always looking for ways to help people and organizations succeed. Being named Utah ATD’s March Rising Star is a humbling honor, one which Adam is deeply grateful for.



Ford Rasmussen

Instructional Designer

Utah State University Extension


April

Ford Rasmussen is an Instructional Designer at Utah State University Extension, where he blends creativity, strategy, and emerging tech to build impactful learning experiences. Over nearly four years, he has developed 30+ online courses that expand outreach across Utah’s diverse communities.

An early adopter of AI in education, Ford designed and taught a hands-on course that introduces students to emerging technologies and their instructional uses, limitations, and ethical implications. The course continues to run annually and has been adopted by full-time faculty. He also supports his team by sharing weekly AI updates and delivered a well-attended internal webinar on AI tools.

Ford played a key role in building *Mejore Su Salud*, a Spanish-language version of an online health education course for SNAP-Ed audiences. He led course design and media production efforts, incorporating culturally relevant content and accessible delivery formats tailored to Spanish-speaking learners. The project earned a state-level Excellence in Teamwork Award from the National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences.

In his spare time, he creates educational stargazing and astronomy videos on YouTube, reflecting his passion for accessible and engaging learning.https://www.youtube.com/@FordRasmussen

Kara Wight Burton

Director of Learning and Performance Management

Children's Miracle Network Hospitals

May

Kara Wight Burton is a learning and development leader with experience spanning the private sector, higher education, and now the nonprofit space. She currently serves as Director of Learning and Performance Management at Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, where she is building out a learning program focused on helping teams do their best work.

A longtime advocate for thoughtful, human-centered learning experiences, Kara is passionate about helping people do work that matters and do it well. She’s the co-host of Waffles Friends Work, a podcast about values, boundaries, and professional development, and shares frequent book recommendations for fellow talent nerds through her #BookedIn posts on LinkedIn.

Kara loves connecting with others in the L&D community and is always up for a conversation about learning strategy, manager enablement, or the latest great read. Whether designing leadership programs or swapping workshop ideas, she’s most energized when learning is collaborative, practical, and just a little bit fun.

Ismael "Izzy" Zarate

Learning & Development Intern

Stadler


June

Ismael "Izzy" Zarate discovered a passion for learning and development during a college internship with Maverik Inc., which led to a full-time role as a Learning and Development Coordinator. There, he collaborated with instructional designers to create business-focused learning solutions. After earning his bachelor’s in Human Experience Design and Interaction from Utah State University, He joined Stadler US as an L&D intern.

Stadler’s US branch, though part of a global company, is still growing, with over 500 employees and evolving infrastructure. This has allowed him to take on meaningful projects, including leading a company-wide learning analysis to identify development gaps and design tailored learning paths that support our mission to create trains people love and want to ride.

He is passionate about employee engagement and have developed onboarding materials, a healthcare education series, and safety training in partnership with HR. He is honored to be the ATD Rising Star Nominee for June 2025 and remain committed to enhancing the employee experience through impactful L&D work.

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