About Us
The CEO's Talent Manifesto and the A2B methodology come from a collaboration between Tom Hilgart and Chip Cleary.
Chip Cleary
Dr. Chip Cleary helps companies increase the impact they generate from their investments in learning.
Chip serves as Chief Academic Officer for ExecOnline, helping organizations rapidly deliver leadership development that makes a lasting organizational impact. He has worked with more than 100 L&D organizations on a range of efforts, including benchmarking L&D performance, creating more effective solution architectures, and allocating responsibilities between in-house and outsourced resources.
Chip brings a broad perspective to the learning industry, with experience in business strategy having worked with the Boston Consulting Group, in learning theory and design having worked as a solutions architect for CognitiveArts, and having led the Advisory Services practice within NIIT, a learning outsourcing provider, after having earned a Ph.D. in the learning sciences, and in technology, having started his career as a software engineer creating automated design tools.
Chip speaks regularly at industry conferences and events. He holds a Ph.D. from the Institute for the Learning Sciences at Northwestern University, an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago, and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Yale University.
Tom Hilgart
Tom Hilgart is a Partner at State Parkway Partners, LLC, a consultancy focused on strategic learning, talent, and performance management.
Tom is a former VP of L&D at CNA where he developed the methods that have become the Aligned to Business Methodology and has coached other organizations on how to implement them. These methods have been recognized as a best practice by the Corporate Executive Board and by Bersin & Associates.
Tom offers 35 years of business leadership combining experience in both line management and in leading the learning function. Tom is a nationally recognized leader in corporate learning and development. Tom is a former VP of L&D at CNA where he developed the methods that have become the Aligned to Business Methodology. CNA has been recognized by the Corporate Executive Board and by Bersin & Associates as a benchmark company for its approach to aligning learning investments to business strategy.
Tom earned a BA in philosophy from St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein IL and completed extensive graduate studies in philosophy, education, and social sciences at Loyola University and Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago, IL.