Kelly Stuart-Johnson is Global VP, Learning at VML, where she leads learning for 26,000 employees in 50+ markets. Since the merger that formed the agency, she has led the learning behind every major change VML has asked of its people: first integrating two 15,000-person companies, then adopting a $300 million AI platform, and most recently moving the whole workforce onto a new operating model through We Are VML—Elevated. Leadership development is the work she cares about most. Hi, her program for 1,034 managers, built conversational agility and showed that frameworks give a manager the confidence to have a hard conversation while AI simulations build competence.

Kelly earned Brandon Hall gold for Best Learning Leader in 2025, and Chief Learning Officer magazine named her its 2025 CLO of the Year. Her team earned gold for Best Learning Team from Brandon Hall in 2025 and Learning Team of the Year from the Learning Performance Institute in 2026. This year the team won eight Brandon Hall HCM Excellence Awards, including gold for Best Learning Program Supporting a Change Transformation Business Strategy for Elevated. She has taught over 3,000 people in 11 countries how to tie a bow tie.