Malaika Samples
Leadership in
Instructional Design and Training
ABOUT
Learning and development leader with 15 years of experience building instructional design teams and launching institution-wide learning programs. Currently Assistant Director of the Academic Innovation Program at the Florida Institute for Child Welfare, where I lead a unit spanning simulation-based learning, digital badging, interprofessional education, and university partnerships across Florida.
Previously, as Associate Director of Learning Design and Innovation at the American Society of Addiction Medicine, I led an instructional design team and served as Lead Instructional Designer on flagship CME courses, including Fundamentals of Addiction Medicine, serving a membership of 7,000 professionals.
My approach centers on building teams that can operate independently, evaluation processes that prove impact, and partnerships that expand a program's reach. I hold an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies with a focus on program evaluation, and an MPA in Human Resources Management, both from Florida State University.
SKILLS & EXPERTISE
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Team leadership and staff development
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Program strategy and evaluation
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Cross-institutional partnership building
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Client and stakeholder engagement
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Curriculum and credentialing program development
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Instructional design project management
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Coaching and mentoring junior colleagues
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Adult learning methodologies
WORK EXPERIENCE
Assistant Director,
Academic Innovation
Program
Florida Institute for Child Welfare
Tallahassee, FL
2024 - Present
2020 - 2024
Associate Director, Learning Design and Innovation
American Society of Addiction Medicine
Rockville, MD
2012 - 2020
Academic Program Coordinator/Adjunct Instructor
Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL
2009 - 2012
Course Designer, Online Mentor & Research Assistant
Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL
2009 - 2011
E-Learning Instructor - German Language
Georgia Virtual School
Atlanta, GA
EDUCATION
2013 - 2018
Florida State University
Doctor of Education, Ed. Leadership and Policy Studies
Focus: Educational Program Evaluation
Tallahassee, FL
2009 - 2011
Florida State University
Master of Public Administration
Focus: Human Resources Management
Tallahassee, FL
2002 - 2005
Florida State University
Bachelor of Arts, Multicultural/
Multilingual Education
Focus: Foreign Languages, Teaching Diverse Populations
Tallahassee, FL
KEY ACHIEVEMENTS
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Introducing the Florida Institute for Child Welfare's first digital badge program for graduate and undergraduate students in social work.
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Identifying a gap in experiential learning access for online students and launching the development of online simulation modules to provide a comparable alternative to the hands-on experiences available to in-person students.
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Spearheading the development of simulation programming for a 6,000 square foot experiential learning lab, expanding its use in social work classes and growing faculty training capacity for problem-based learning.
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Leading an 8-person instructional design team at ASAM, overseeing project assignments, quality standards, and professional development for the group.
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Designing, developing, and evaluating specialty education course products for a membership of 7,000 professionals.
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Pivoting 54 conference sessions to virtual, on-demand sessions in 3 weeks due to COVID-19 impacts.
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Developing online classes that drove a 2x increase in enrollment over three years in a self-funded academic program.
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Earning the Excellence in Online Mentoring award from the Office of Distance Learning at Florida State University.