Workshop

My organization just hosted a 2-day workshop to share our model with other organizations in the field, as well as share our learnings and develop partnerships.

Attendees:

+Leaders and instructors from universities

+Business leaders (private sector representatives)

+Representatives from alternative training providers (e.g., bootcamps, entrepreneurship accelerators)

Activities:

+My organization shared our model, examples of success stories, challenges we’ve faced

+Lengthy Q&As

+Case studies - problem solving to address various challenges in this space (e.g., how to find funding, how to engage partners, how to serve most “need-ful” populations)

+Practice pitches (to both funding and employer partners)

The workshop was really helpful for all participants to learn about what other organizations are doing, learn from each other, and develop potential synergies. A few observations / learnings on my end:

+Public speaking skills were really strong! Regardless of age / role - wonder if it’s related to the field

+The work that goes into planning / executing these types of events is staggering (even if there are only ~20-30 attendees)

+Feel grateful that we were able to host this event in person - the energy in the room definitely added to the experience and I wonder what it would have been like over zoom