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Learning & Performance Strategist · Experience Designer
I'm Marcus Valeriano — a learning & performance strategist with over a decade in L&D, most recently at McKinsey & Company. I help leaders turn how their organizations learn into how they actually perform.
Organizations pour millions into platforms and course libraries and wait for capability to appear. It rarely does — because capability isn't bought, it's grown: in the work, between people, one supported rep at a time. Closing that distance is what I've built my career around.
At heart, I'm a gap analyst and problem-solver. Before I prescribe anything, I find what's really holding people back — then I design the experience that moves them forward.
My mission is to design human-centered experiences that cultivate engagement and productivity — and turn them into lasting satisfaction and growth, for people and the business alike.
Entrepreneurship was wired into me early — a love of new ideas and new possibilities, and the belief that even seemingly impossible things get built when someone wants them enough.
I'm also a die-hard soccer fan, and the game taught me my favorite lesson at work: there's never just one way to reach a goal. You find the most effective path with the resources you have — and you change it the moment the game does.
This is a point of view shaped over a decade in the field — and the reason I build the way I do. Here's what I believe about the next era of learning and performance.
It's built in the conditions around people — the culture, the coaching, the small risks taken together. Content can inform, but culture is what actually changes behavior. That's the real product of learning design.
When's the last time an e-learning truly changed a behavior? Real growth happens beyond the screen — through experiments, simulation, mentorship, and reps in the flow of work, where it's safe to try before you're ready.
Anyone can write the deck. The value is in what gets built from it — and whether people actually use it. That last mile, from plan to the thing in their hands, is where I live.
My path runs from a university research institute to a global consultancy, with a studio of my own along the way — and it's where the beliefs above were forged, tested, and proven.
I lead cross-functional projects within the Design & Development COE, partnering with Senior Experts to design scalable learning solutions spanning executive education and client capability building. I synthesize inputs from diverse stakeholders into comprehensive frameworks, using agile methods to prototype and iterate experiences that deliver data-driven outcomes.
I co-founded a studio crafting dynamic, user-centric digital experiences — from web and app development to immersive learning and digital strategy. I set the technical direction across HTML5 and SCORM-compliant eLearning, manage client engagements end-to-end, and blend UX design with hands-on development to deliver tailored, high-impact solutions.
I grew from Instructional Design Associate to Instructional Designer to Solutions Engineer, designing and delivering customized training for Fortune 500 clients. I combined instructional strategy with technical execution to drive measurable outcomes — building interactive eLearning and blended programs, offering consultative insight, and managing complex scopes across internal and contract teams.
At a nationally recognized university research institute, I led interactive learning and eLearning projects from analysis through development, mentoring student designers along the way. I progressed from intern and graduate assistant into a project lead role, building the foundation of a craft I've refined ever since.
I'm genuinely energized by technology and code. I learn new tools and languages fast and push them hard — not for their own sake, but to work efficiently, lift the quality bar, and reach better outcomes sooner. Drop me into any stack and I'm productive in it quickly, then wield it to ship work worth shipping.
I get fluent fast in whatever the work calls for, whether that's React today or something new tomorrow.
The full résumé lays out a decade of learning strategy and hands-on execution — the roles, the capabilities, and the path that shaped how I work.
These aren't just logos on a page; they're teams whose people I helped grow — across pharma, tech, finance, and beyond.
If you're building something that should genuinely change how your people perform, let's talk. You'll get strategy and execution in the same pair of hands.