Kristina R. Barkhouser is the founder and President of Excelen Performance, Inc.

Kristina has over 20 years of experience in technical and interpersonal skills development, with a background in presentation skills and instructional design, quality assurance, regulatory compliance, and active learning techniques.  With nearly ten years of direct training experience in the Pharmaceutical industry, she specializes in designing training to meet the needs of a variety of educational levels and learning styles, while ensuring regulatory compliance.  Kristina has a background in Human Resources, Quality Assurance, Education, and Instructional Design and has earned the Association for Talent Development (ATD) Certified Professional in Learning and Performance (CPLP®) credential.  Kristina has a talent for designing interactive learning experiences to improve employee effectiveness and increase organizational performance. Kristina is also a regular speaker and presenter at regional, national and international conferences. In addition, she is the author of several published articles on effective training and development.

Recommendations:

• “Having worked with Kristina several times over the years, I would highly recommend her work. Kristina is the consummate training professional, and her command of a training room is inspiring. Kristina has the ability to work with all levels and abilities within the business, adapting easily and is highly respected by all.  After you have worked with Kristina once, you are left in no doubt of her abilities to design training solutions, and of course, deliver them. Kristina is one of the best communicators that I have had the pleasure to work with, and I will look for future opportunities to partner with her again.” – Ian Rumsey, Business Analyst – Novartis
• “Kristina is a phenomenal business partner and educator who is very passionate about training. I have worked with Kristina in the past on sharing and developing the best demonstrated practices for the learning industry. I have found her to be both very professional and insightful. Kristina is an excellent communicator who REALLY connects with people. She is one of the most creative trainers I have met and always finds dynamic approaches in making her training sizzle. I particularly appreciated witnessing Kristina’s passion for her training projects and people while at Almac. Kristina never let the volume & energy of her voice trail off at the end of her sentences. I STRONGLY recommend Kristina for any company who needs a spark in creating their training program. I look forward to building more learning bridges with Kristina in the future.”  – Stephen Wallace, Quality Systems Training Manager – Novartis – Alcon Laboratories
• “I have worked with Kristina on a number of projects through GMP-TEA and PDA. Kristina is a seasoned training professional, an excellent public speaker, and I recommend her for any company’s training needs.”  – Garth Mussey, Manager, Quality Training – Boehringer-Ingelheim
• “In every organization that Kristina participates, she takes the initiative to take a leading role.  I have had the opportunity to hear Kristina present and I have found her to be both passionate and innovative in the training field.  Her proven training methods have been highly effective with the adult learner.”  – Tom Wilder, OSHA Education and Training Specialist – MESH, C-MESH – North Carolina Department of Labor
• “Kristina is passionate about her work and can make it happen with enthusiasm and experience. She is detail oriented with a view of the big picture. Given a goal, she will get it done efficiently and thoroughly. Given a project, she will create the goal and accomplish it. It is a pleasure working with Kristina.” – Pat Schoepfer, Office Manager – Almac Group
• “A compelling and inspiring speaker to say the least. Kristina does her homework and for me provides what is pretty darn rare in our business — a fresh and practical take on the training – organizational psychology topics that seem like they are copy-pasted everywhere. Excellent, is all I can say.” – C. Latham Mitchell, MD, Managing Principal – Erudita Biotechnical LLC
• “Kristina’s training is fun yet efficient. She has an incredible skill that gets your attention and keeps it; skills like this are not learned. Kristina’s expertise will be an asset to any company.” – Patty Murdock, Project Coordinator – Almac Clinical Services
• “Kristina was responsible for the planning and implementation of the training program for an Enterprise Relationship Management system being introduced across the company. This was a truly large scale project requiring the strategic roll out of e-learning based training across multiple sites based in the US and UK.
  Kristina was able to draw upon her knowledge to provide guidance to all the work-streams involved throughout the production of training materials. This played a major role in the successful and on time delivery of this training program.
  Kristina’s knowledge, dedication, proactive and ‘can do’ attitude made her a pleasure to work with at all times and helped gain the best out of those around her. I highly recommend Kristina and would enjoy working with her again on any project.”  – Dr. Allan Mullan, Technical Writer – Almac
• “Kristina is an excellent facilitator/trainer. Her presentations are very informative and she takes pride in the material she is presenting to the group.  Her topics are always very relevant and timely.  Kristina is very creative in developing the content she uses for her presentations.  Kristina’s presentation sessions are always very interactive and you feel enlightened about the subject.  Her demeanor is very approachable and friendly.  Her organizational skills are strongly demonstrated as she leads you through the subject matter with a clear understanding of what you will be able to do after the presentation.  The level of energy that Kristina brings to a training session is so inviting that you will not feel you are in a class but on a journey of enlightenment.” – Eugene Lofton, SRO Learning and Performance Specialist – Merck
• “Working with Kristina was an excellent experience for me.  Kristina ran the training projects supporting some high profile, global implementations including the LMS and the ERP.  Both of these were well planned and executed. I was always up to date on the latest developments of these projects.  Not only was the training well done, but she also covered change management and communications very well.   I would highly recommend Kristina.” – Helene Matthews, Training Manager – Almac Group
• “I know Kristina through the GMPTEA.  I have attended a number of biennial meetings with her over the last few years.  Kristina is an excellent presenter, innovator, and collaborator.  She has provided numerous ideas to the GMPTEA (and me) through her presentations and overall knowledge of compliance training.  I would recommend Kristina to anyone who requires a person with training and compliance experience.” – Ken Petelinkar, Associate Director – Compliance Training and Development at Bristol-Myers Squibb
• “I have worked with Kristina in the past and can truly say that she is an excellent communicator and is very enthusiastic and professional.  She has always provided a high level of detail and has expertise in effectively and efficiently delivering training that meets or even exceeds organizational expectations.  She has a unique way of involving audiences in her presentations that add so much value to the overall training experience.” – Steven Hicks, Manager, Global Clinical Trial Supplies at Stiefel, a GSK Company
• “I have known Kristina for years through the GMP TEA.  We have served together on many committees.  I observed immediately that was she schooled in instructional design techniques and not only understands Adult Learning Practices but effectively designs her materials around the principles.  And it shows.   She is a seasoned conference presenter and her sessions are well attended;  often overflowing with standing room only attendees who arrive too late!  Kristina knows her target audience well and is always up to date with current methodologies and new L & D trends. It is such  a treat for me to engage in dialogue with her and I am privileged to have her as one of my industry contacts.” – Vivian Bringslimark, GMP TEA Board of Directors – Chief Learning Officer, GMP TEA, Inc.
• “Kristina provided a day of training to our Leadership Southside XIX class. The training we requested focused on Mission, Vision, Core Values, and Ethical Decision Making. Kristina provided a day of high quality, high energy training to our group. The learning objectives were met and exceeded and Kristina was exceptionally well-prepared and in control. She did a fabulous job for us and I would highly recommend her for corporate or other leadership training needs.” – H. Lynnette Lawson, Program Manager, Danville Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce
• “Kristina is one of the most captivating and motivational speakers that I’ve ever had the privilege of hearing. She really knows how to get the audience going and keep their attention. I am very impressed with her professional skills.” – Brandy Eastwood, Account Executive, Ameristaff Executive Group
• “I have had the pleasure working with Kristina during several GMP TEA conferences. She is an outstanding presenter and I always look forward to attending her workshops. She is very knowledgeable about the pharmaceutical industry and associated training requirements. I highly recommend Kristina.”  –  Jill Drummond, Director of Training and Education, Blood Systems, Inc.

Annonymous feedback:

• “Kristina is an excellent communicator.  She is able to communicate her ideas and knowledge in a concise and easy to understand manner.”
• “Kristina brings very valuable business knowledge and training experience.”
• “She is thoughtful and logical in her decision making and always considers what will make the best sense for the business.”
• “Kristina has a lot of great ideas to make training interesting and relevant to staff.” 
• “She is logical, analytical and uses good common sense when approaching projects and processes.  Her communication style is open and honest.”  
• “This was the best GMP Training course in the last 4 years!”

Organizational Affiliations / Memberships:

• Association for Talent Development (ATD)
  Certified Professional in Learning and Performance (CPLP) Designee
• Valleys of Virginia Chapter of Association for Talent Development (ATD)
  President 2015-2016, Board Member
• Drug Information Association (DIA)
• Parenteral Drug Association (PDA)
• International Society of Pharmaceutical Engineers (ISPE)
• Good Manufacturing Practices Training & Education Association (GMPTEA)
• Southeast Chapter of Good Manufacturing Practices Training & Education Association (SE GMPTEA)
• Danville Riverview Rotary
• National Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)
• Southside Virginia Society for Human Resource Management (SSVA SHRM)
  Board Member