Our Mission

Based in the United Kingdom, George Schmidt is General Manager of Salience Learning and Chief Operating Officer and Managing Partner for Blue Matter Consulting (Salience Learning’s parent company). He has worked with more than 25 biopharmaceutical companies over the past 20+ years to assess organizational learning needs and drive learning transformation. 

He has significant recent experience working with multiple large pharmaceutical companies to define and implement global L&D strategies and teams. George served as a board member for the Life Sciences Trainers & Educators Network (LTEN) from 2012-2014. Previous experience includes consulting and leadership roles at Campbell Alliance (now Syneos Health Consulting) and ZS Associates. George was also a Captain in the US Army. He earned an MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business and BS degrees in Economics and Industrial Management from Carnegie Mellon University.

George developed his passion for training from his time in the US Army, where he served as his Battery’s training officer and came to understand the importance of, as Bill Murray so artfully said it in Stripes: “Army Training!”

Krista Gerhard joined Blue Matter (Salience Learning’s parent company) in 2017 to build and grow this unique learning and development organization. Her career in the life sciences spans nearly two decades, including diverse roles within biopharmaceutical companies, as well as market research and management consulting firms serving the life science industry. Her experience includes Associate Director of Market Access Strategy and Innovation at Novo Nordisk, consulting and leadership roles at inVentiv Health (now Syneos Health) and IMS Health (now IQVIA), and as an independent consultant.  

Throughout her career, Krista sought to understand the different perspectives and approaches that her clients use to solve the common challenge of providing greater access to life-changing therapies for patients. When Krista is not building an awesome team or delivering amazing learning solutions, she is proudly supporting and coaching her two young sons to be adventurous explorers and athletes!

Based in New Jersey, Karen Foster has more than 12 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry.  

Prior to her role at Salience Learning, Karen led Blue Matter Academy, the in-house learning and development organization for Blue Matter Consulting. Her other experience includes leadership roles within biopharma Learning & Development (L&D) at Novo Nordisk, as well as L&D-related consulting roles with inVentiv Health (now Syneos Health) and as an independent consultant. Karen has a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University. She earned her Masters degree in Adult Education with a focus in Cognitive Psychology at Rutgers University.

Karen’s passion for learning was ignited early on via her childhood neighbor’s Encyclopedia set and frequent visits to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. It was fueled thorough her adult years by Dr. Boos’s Management of Organizational Behavior course at Georgetown and an insatiable curiosity for truth across a range of professional and personal experiences.

Based in southern Florida, Marcy Lantzy brings more than 25 years of experience in learning and development and the biopharma industry.  As a VP at Salience Learning, Marcy works closely with biopharma clients to understand their critical learning and development needs, consults with them to develop effective L&D strategies, and leads cross-functional teams to put those strategies into action.  She is also a key leader in our offerings related to capability development and Capability Academies.

Marcy’s background includes several roles at UCB Pharma, where she served as a field sales representative, corporate sales trainer, and district sales manager.  She then entered the consulting profession in the learning and development arena, spending nearly 15 years in key leadership roles at Proficient Learning, LLC and working with US and Global Life Science clients in a variety of functions including commercial, market access, and medical.  She joined Salience Learning in 2019.

Marcy graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire with a B.S. in Biology and Chemistry.

Based in Lewes, DE, Jill Fenton brings more than 28 years of multifaceted experience in customer engagement training for the biopharmaceutical industry.  

Throughout her career, she has focused on sales excellence, learning strategy, actionable implementation, and relentless pull-through. Before joining Salience Learning, she had led the development and execution of 21 custom sales models and curriculums, training for 79+ product launches, as well as prework, workshops and pull-through for over 200 brands across 42 therapeutic areas and 60 different pharmaceutical companies.

Jill is also a veteran of the US Army, where she advanced from an enlisted Private to the rank of Captain. In the Army, part of her responsibilities included recruiting and training reserve and full-time active-duty personnel.

Jill graduated with a BA from the University of NC at Pembroke with a major in Communications and a minor in Military Science.

Based in the Philadelphia area, Iris Hill brings 20+ years of biopharma industry experience to her role as Vice President at Salience Learning.  Iris designs and builds custom learning solutions for a wide range of clients, untangling the paradoxes many modern L&D-related challenges present. Her current focus is on improving the capabilities of customer-facing teams.

During her work in biopharma, Iris developed in-depth expertise in marketing, promotions, customer-facing programs, and account management team dynamics.  She spent more than 14 years at GlaxoSmithKline, serving in market access national accounts and various segment marketing roles.  Prior to joining Salience Learning, she worked with Novo Nordisk on a range of programs and solutions focused on payers, healthcare professionals, and patients. 

Iris’ educational background includes an M.A. from Rider University and B.S. from the University of Delaware.

Based in Bloomfield, NJ, Amy has more than 15 years of instructional design and educational technology experience. She has designed learning programs for the public education, business, and non-profit sectors. Amy designs for all learning situations, including e-learning, blended learning, webinars, and on-site face-to-face learning, though she has a special passion for digital learning strategy, design, development, and deployment.

She is an active member of the International Consortium for Innovation and Collaboration in Learning Engineering (ICICLE) working group, a part of the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL), IEEE Standards Association, and The Learning Guild. Prior to joining our team, Amy held instructional design leadership roles in a diverse range of organizations including NeuroLeadership Institute, Grovo, Amplify, and the Brevard (FL) Public Schools. She also has experience as a public school teacher.

Amy earned an MA in Instructional Technology and Media Management and a BA in Secondary Education and Biology from the State University of New York at Potsdam.

Based in London, Glen brings a wealth of experience in Human Capital Management consulting to Salience Learning. Having worked as both an HR Transformation Consultant and Global HR Project Lead within life sciences, Glen has expertise in organization design, process optimization and change management. Additionally, he specializes in developing capability models and high impact learning solutions to equip life science professionals with the skills needed to drive innovation and change. His academic experiences coupled with his work experience ensures that he brings an evidence-based approach to his work at Salience Learning.

Prior to joining our team, Glen served clients in multiple consulting roles at Deloitte. He also led the Global HR Projects and Continuous Improvement team while at Astellas.

Glen earned an MSc in Occupational and Organizational Psychology and a BSc in Psychology from Northumbria University.

Based in Orlando, FL, Craig brings nearly seven years of experience in consulting with clients on learning and organizational behavior change.  His areas of expertise include learning strategy, organizational design, change management, and learning design.

Prior to joining the Salience Learning team, Craig was a manager and learning designer at NeuroLeadership Institute and Mind Gym.

Craig earned a master’s degree in social-organizational psychology from Columbia University and a BA in psychology from the University of Maryland.

Based in central PA, Abby has more than 10 years of experience in client service across learning and development and market research. As a Manager at Salience Learning, she leads the development and implementation of L&D programs including live training sessions, as well as digital and asynchronous learning journeys.  Abby has special passions for behavioral science, capability modeling, change management, executive and leadership development, and DEI.

Prior to joining Salience Learning, she served clients while working at Mind Gym, System1 Research, Ipsos, and MarketView Research.

Abby graduated with a BA degree from St. Olaf College and she earned a certificate in market research from the University of Georgia.

Based in the Philadelphia area, Alan Kumor has 20+ years in Learning & Development, with 16 of those years in the life sciences.  His focus areas include learning strategy and design, program management, adaptive learning, gamification, and measurement strategies.  Prior to joining Salience Learning, Alan spent more than 14 years at Performance Development Group in instructional design and project / program management roles.  He also served as an instructional designer at ePharmaSolutions and CIGNA.

Alan earned an MS in Instructional Technology and a BS in Business Administration from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania.  He is an avid marathon runner and enjoys studying mechanical timekeeping and watchmaking.

Based in the United Kingdom, George Schmidt is General Manager of Salience Learning and Chief Operating Officer and Managing Partner for Blue Matter Consulting (Salience Learning’s parent company). He has worked with more than 25 biopharmaceutical companies over the past 20+ years to assess organizational learning needs and drive learning transformation. 

He has significant recent experience working with multiple large pharmaceutical companies to define and implement global L&D strategies and teams. George served as a board member for the Life Sciences Trainers & Educators Network (LTEN) from 2012-2014. Previous experience includes consulting and leadership roles at Campbell Alliance (now Syneos Health Consulting) and ZS Associates. George was also a Captain in the US Army. He earned an MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business and BS degrees in Economics and Industrial Management from Carnegie Mellon University.

George developed his passion for training from his time in the US Army, where he served as his Battery’s training officer and came to understand the importance of, as Bill Murray so artfully said it in Stripes: “Army Training!”

Krista Gerhard joined Blue Matter (Salience Learning’s parent company) in 2017 to build and grow this unique learning and development organization. Her career in the life sciences spans nearly two decades, including diverse roles within biopharmaceutical companies, as well as market research and management consulting firms serving the life science industry. Her experience includes Associate Director of Market Access Strategy and Innovation at Novo Nordisk, consulting and leadership roles at inVentiv Health (now Syneos Health) and IMS Health (now IQVIA), and as an independent consultant.  

Throughout her career, Krista sought to understand the different perspectives and approaches that her clients use to solve the common challenge of providing greater access to life-changing therapies for patients. When Krista is not building an awesome team or delivering amazing learning solutions, she is proudly supporting and coaching her two young sons to be adventurous explorers and athletes!

Based in New Jersey, Karen Foster has more than 12 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry.  

Prior to her role at Salience Learning, Karen led Blue Matter Academy, the in-house learning and development organization for Blue Matter Consulting. Her other experience includes leadership roles within biopharma Learning & Development (L&D) at Novo Nordisk, as well as L&D-related consulting roles with inVentiv Health (now Syneos Health) and as an independent consultant. Karen has a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University. She earned her Masters degree in Adult Education with a focus in Cognitive Psychology at Rutgers University.

Karen’s passion for learning was ignited early on via her childhood neighbor’s Encyclopedia set and frequent visits to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. It was fueled thorough her adult years by Dr. Boos’s Management of Organizational Behavior course at Georgetown and an insatiable curiosity for truth across a range of professional and personal experiences.

Based in southern Florida, Marcy Lantzy brings more than 25 years of experience in learning and development and the biopharma industry.  As a VP at Salience Learning, Marcy works closely with biopharma clients to understand their critical learning and development needs, consults with them to develop effective L&D strategies, and leads cross-functional teams to put those strategies into action.  She is also a key leader in our offerings related to capability development and Capability Academies.

Marcy’s background includes several roles at UCB Pharma, where she served as a field sales representative, corporate sales trainer, and district sales manager.  She then entered the consulting profession in the learning and development arena, spending nearly 15 years in key leadership roles at Proficient Learning, LLC and working with US and Global Life Science clients in a variety of functions including commercial, market access, and medical.  She joined Salience Learning in 2019.

Marcy graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire with a B.S. in Biology and Chemistry.

Based in Lewes, DE, Jill Fenton brings more than 28 years of multifaceted experience in customer engagement training for the biopharmaceutical industry.  

Throughout her career, she has focused on sales excellence, learning strategy, actionable implementation, and relentless pull-through. Before joining Salience Learning, she had led the development and execution of 21 custom sales models and curriculums, training for 79+ product launches, as well as prework, workshops and pull-through for over 200 brands across 42 therapeutic areas and 60 different pharmaceutical companies.

Jill is also a veteran of the US Army, where she advanced from an enlisted Private to the rank of Captain. In the Army, part of her responsibilities included recruiting and training reserve and full-time active-duty personnel.

Jill graduated with a BA from the University of NC at Pembroke with a major in Communications and a minor in Military Science.

Based in the Philadelphia area, Iris Hill brings 20+ years of biopharma industry experience to her role as Vice President at Salience Learning.  Iris designs and builds custom learning solutions for a wide range of clients, untangling the paradoxes many modern L&D-related challenges present. Her current focus is on improving the capabilities of customer-facing teams.

During her work in biopharma, Iris developed in-depth expertise in marketing, promotions, customer-facing programs, and account management team dynamics.  She spent more than 14 years at GlaxoSmithKline, serving in market access national accounts and various segment marketing roles.  Prior to joining Salience Learning, she worked with Novo Nordisk on a range of programs and solutions focused on payers, healthcare professionals, and patients. 

Iris’ educational background includes an M.A. from Rider University and B.S. from the University of Delaware.

Based in Bloomfield, NJ, Amy has more than 15 years of instructional design and educational technology experience. She has designed learning programs for the public education, business, and non-profit sectors. Amy designs for all learning situations, including e-learning, blended learning, webinars, and on-site face-to-face learning, though she has a special passion for digital learning strategy, design, development, and deployment.

She is an active member of the International Consortium for Innovation and Collaboration in Learning Engineering (ICICLE) working group, a part of the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL), IEEE Standards Association, and The Learning Guild. Prior to joining our team, Amy held instructional design leadership roles in a diverse range of organizations including NeuroLeadership Institute, Grovo, Amplify, and the Brevard (FL) Public Schools. She also has experience as a public school teacher.

Amy earned an MA in Instructional Technology and Media Management and a BA in Secondary Education and Biology from the State University of New York at Potsdam.

Based in London, Glen brings a wealth of experience in Human Capital Management consulting to Salience Learning. Having worked as both an HR Transformation Consultant and Global HR Project Lead within life sciences, Glen has expertise in organization design, process optimization and change management. Additionally, he specializes in developing capability models and high impact learning solutions to equip life science professionals with the skills needed to drive innovation and change. His academic experiences coupled with his work experience ensures that he brings an evidence-based approach to his work at Salience Learning.

Prior to joining our team, Glen served clients in multiple consulting roles at Deloitte. He also led the Global HR Projects and Continuous Improvement team while at Astellas.

Glen earned an MSc in Occupational and Organizational Psychology and a BSc in Psychology from Northumbria University.

Based in Orlando, FL, Craig brings nearly seven years of experience in consulting with clients on learning and organizational behavior change.  His areas of expertise include learning strategy, organizational design, change management, and learning design.

Prior to joining the Salience Learning team, Craig was a manager and learning designer at NeuroLeadership Institute and Mind Gym.

Craig earned a master’s degree in social-organizational psychology from Columbia University and a BA in psychology from the University of Maryland.

Based in central PA, Abby has more than 10 years of experience in client service across learning and development and market research. As a Manager at Salience Learning, she leads the development and implementation of L&D programs including live training sessions, as well as digital and asynchronous learning journeys.  Abby has special passions for behavioral science, capability modeling, change management, executive and leadership development, and DEI.

Prior to joining Salience Learning, she served clients while working at Mind Gym, System1 Research, Ipsos, and MarketView Research.

Abby graduated with a BA degree from St. Olaf College and she earned a certificate in market research from the University of Georgia.

Based in the Philadelphia area, Alan Kumor has 20+ years in Learning & Development, with 16 of those years in the life sciences.  His focus areas include learning strategy and design, program management, adaptive learning, gamification, and measurement strategies.  Prior to joining Salience Learning, Alan spent more than 14 years at Performance Development Group in instructional design and project / program management roles.  He also served as an instructional designer at ePharmaSolutions and CIGNA.

Alan earned an MS in Instructional Technology and a BS in Business Administration from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania.  He is an avid marathon runner and enjoys studying mechanical timekeeping and watchmaking.