Heather Stefanski

Heather Stefanski is a Partner at McKinsey & Company and serves as the firm’s Chief Learning and Development Officer. She leads a global team of 400+ responsible for the learning and capability building of more than 40,000 colleagues in 65+ countries. Under her leadership, McKinsey is ensuring that we remain the fastest learners by embedding learning and apprenticeship into the daily flow of work, refining the "way we work" with AI, introducing a skills-based leadership development model, and launching a credentialing platform with 20,000+ credentials awarded to date. A passionate advocate for purposeful apprenticeship, she has redefined how McKinsey supports rapid upskilling, feedback, and growth at scale. Heather also oversees McKinsey’s People Technology function and drives digital enablement across the firm’s talent lifecycle, including AI-enabled tools for evaluation, staffing, and coaching. Over her 28-year tenure at McKinsey, Heather has held senior roles in talent management, recruiting, and professional development. She built the firm’s global Talent Management function, created its job architecture with 40+ career pathways, and helped develop its technology talent strategy. Earlier in her career, she helped expand McKinsey’s client service into digital, implementation, and transformation practices, and worked as a consultant serving clients on operational topics. Heather holds an MBA and MA in Education from Stanford University and a BSE in Operations Research from Princeton University. She has served on nonprofit and university boards and is a frequent speaker on the future of work, learning innovation, and talent strategy.