About a year ago a young woman named Susann (Sue) Prenderville sent my partner Stephanie and me a LinkedIn request asking if we could meet for coffee. She and her partner had moved far away from friends and family in Ireland for work in the U.S. Once contract work ended there, they headed up to Vancouver, B.C. Sue reached out to a number of individuals in the local learning community wanting to make new connections. This is how we first met her.

We got to know Sue over time and eventually she started working on projects for Limestone Learning. She is now a valued member of our Limestone team and we are fortunate to have her. Her sunny personality, her passion for learning, her persistence in getting it right and her willingness to go the extra mile when needed is part of what makes her who she is. She has made such a difference in our personal and professional lives since we’ve first met her. Being in the field of learning and development for over 30 years, it’s easy to forget the days when we were eager new instructional designers wanting to take on the world. Sue has brightened our lives with her passion, enthusiasm and fresh ideas and has given us fresh perspectives and greater enthusiasm for doing what we love to do at Limestone.

We learned last week that Sue has just been awarded the Association for Talent Development (formerly ASTD) “One to Watch” award. Six young professionals are awarded this honor per year in the training and development profession industry who are "dedicated, forward-thinkers and passionate about applying effective and creative solutions to challenges facing their organizations – and our industry". Sue will receive a complimentary ATD membership, a feature in the November 2014 T&D Magazine, a month’s feature on ATD’s One to Watch page and a recognition award next May at the 2015 ATD conference in Orlando, Florida.

We are so excited for her and offer sincerest congratulations to her from Stephanie and myself and the entire Limestone team.  Sue truly deserves to be the “One to Watch”.