Our Team

David Grad, M.S. - Founder & CEO

For more than 20 years, David was a leader and innovator in media, marketing and entertainment. He found that people leadership and creating the conditions for his teams to succeed was his passion.a Leveraging that led him to shift to leadership program design & facilitation, executive coaching and teaching leadership at the graduate level. David understands the challenges faced by practitioners in the field of learning and development because he is one himself.

Recognizing those challenges and seeking to create more impactful learning experiences for his clients, he immersed himself in the science of learning, which led to the creation of elevator9.

As CEO of elevator9, David leads a transdisciplinary team of expert advisors and collaborators working together to measurably elevate learning experiences and increase the value of investment in live virtual and in-person trainings.

He holds an M.S. in Strategic Communication from Columbia University, B.A.’s in Mass Communication and Theatre from Florida State University, certifications in Brain-Based Coaching from the NeuroLeadership Institute, and Learning Science from Allen Academy and Quinnovation.

Page Chen, PhD - Founder & COO

A versatile leader with 20+ years of experience designing solutions that drive growth and development in distributed and global organizations. Page has led innovation and operations for multiple SAS learning software companies and serves on the board for a variety of organizations looking to unlock the potential of technology to improve lives through learning.

Recognized for a proactive approach to identifying customer needs and enabling their success, Page has spent two decades researching the intersection where strategy and technology come together to allow for the design of impactful learning and enablement experiences that scale. Whether as an author, speaker, mentor, or even just an innovation researcher in persuasive design, she excels at helping organizations identify their core requirements and achieve solutions that exceed their desired results.

Page has a Masters degree in Adult Education and a PhD in Instructional Design for Online Learning and has lead global and fully distributed teams in successfully designing and development learning solutions for 1000s of customers throughout her career. While still passionate about consulting with organizations in developing their own strategic learning solutions, she is excited to apply her experience and creativity to the challenge of leading product innovation and serving as COO of elevator9.

Our Board of Advisors

  • Aaron Windfield, Data Science and Behavior Change

    Aaron Windfield is a data scientist and technologist focused on making an impact in the advancement of people development and behavior change.

    He has served as a CEO to Psocratic, a behavioral health technology company, and acted as an entrepreneur in the NYC community with successful exits as a 2x Techstars Cofounder and seasoned startup investor.

    Aaron's prior experience includes advising operations and tech executives at Fortune 500 companies on financial budgets and the business value of personnel. He spent 7 years as an actuarial consultant, providing healthcare strategy, negotiations, and analytics for large organizations in the private and public sector.

    He holds a B.S. in Applied Mathematics with a focus in Economics & Finance from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and has a degree in Actuarial Sciences.

    His passions include composing music and applying his business & engineering acumen toward the impactful fields of healthcare, education, and systems dynamics.

  • Clark Quinn, Ph.D., Learning Experience Design Strategist

    Clark Quinn works and plays at the intersection of the cognitive and learning sciences, technology, design, and organizational success as Executive Director of Quinnovation.

    He's worked as a learning game designer and programmer, interaction and learning technology researcher, learning services manager, and media services executive. After a tenured academic career, Clark worked in two government-sponsored initiatives and a startup before going independent to assist organizations find innovative performance solutions.

    Along the way, Clark has worked with corporates, higher education, not-for-profits, and government. In addition to his role as a consultant and advisor, he is currently serving as Co-Director of the Learning Development Accelerator - a society for evidence-based L&D - and as Chief Learning Strategist for Upside Learning - a leading learning solutions provider. He's an internationally known speaker, and the author of seven books in learning science and technology.

    Clark received his Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology from the University of California, San Diego, did his post-doctoral fellowship at the Learning Research & Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh, and taught at the University of New South Wales.

  • Chad Truby, Leadership and Talent Development

    Chad Truby is the Vice President of Commercial Excellence at Merit Medical and has over 20 years of Medical Device, Pharmaceutical, and Life Science industry experience. Throughout his career, Chad has held roles in Sales, Sales Management, Training, Marketing, Commercial Excellence, Leadership Development, and Talent Management with organizations such as Merck, Alcon, Novartis, and, most recently Galderma Laboratories.

    In his current role, Chad is responsible for building Leadership Development and Employee development for the Merit’s global commercial business. Chad has a keen focus on aligning the talent development strategy with the global business strategy and transforming commercial skills that drive performance. Additionally, Chad serves as the lead Coach for the global executive team to help identify areas of opportunity that directly impact the organizational culture and performance of the business.

    As a passion project, Chad is also the President and Founder of Peak Gravity Leadership which brings leadership coaching and development to leaders looking to expand and grow their leadership capability. Driven by values that align to serving others, Chad lives out his passion by bringing out the best in others and seeing others reach their full potential.

  • David Irons, Strategic Communication and UI/UX

    David Irons possesses more than two decades of expertise in leading award-winning teams to create innovative brand and product experiences that bridge the gap between desirability, viability, and feasibility. He is fluent in translating customer and business needs into product focus areas and requirements.

    David has had the privilege of creating impactful experiences for global brands across a spectrum of industries, including Financial Services, Pharmaceuticals, Consumer Electronics, Technology, Telecommunications, Insurance, and Retail.

    His journey includes winning an Emmy Award, overseeing marketing and communications for a biomedical research company in Shanghai, and spearheading the strategic design of a groundbreaking passive investing product for a major financial institution, among other achievements. A polymath by nature, David has always been fascinated by learning, behavioral science, and neurology. Currently, he oversees experience strategy and responsible AI for enterprise-level GenAI products and services.

    David holds an M.S. in Strategic Communication from Columbia University, a B.S. in Journalism, and a B.A. in Film Studies from the University of Colorado, as well as certifications from MIT in Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Business Strategy and Designing and Building AI Products and Services.