I joined the Inforum team seven years ago as a relatively recent college graduate to serve as the primary contact for our members.
It was—and is—a great assignment. Every day, I get to help our more than 6,000 members learn and build their networks.
But when you’re early in your career, it isn’t always easy to know to do that. So two years ago, we created the Next Gen Advisory Council to help us meet the needs of young professionals ages 21-33.
The council’s purpose is to provide rising talent with opportunities to make an impact in their communities, foster connections with peers in other companies and industries, and advise our staff and board of directors on their needs, challenges, and preferences in the workplace as they work to accelerate their careers and add more value to their organizations.
Since then, the council has been busy.
It has created a special six-month, $35 membership for young women and men from 18-33. It helps new members connect and experience Inforum through a series of monthly challenges, such as attending an in-person or virtual affinity group, connecting with other members for a coffee or virtual chat, or volunteering.
It also inspired the creation of two Emerging Leaders affinity groups, one in West Michigan and one in Metro Detroit. West Michigan’s group is led by Kaitlyn Lay, Julia Thielbar and Naomi Zwyghuizen. Recent topics have been focused on improving interview skills, and the dos and don’ts of workplace conversations. (Affinity groups are free, informal gatherings that provide learning and connection around common interests for Inforum members and guests. You can learn more about them here.)
Goals for the coming month include content creation targeted toward other young professionals and building partnerships with other local organizations.
Listed here are the inspiring members of the Next Gen Advisory Council. We can’t thank them enough for their work:
West Michigan members:
- Loanna Abreu, Bilingual Psychotherapist, River City Psychological Services.
- Elise Bassi Igoe, West Michigan Chair; Commercial Leasing Advisor, Rockford Construction
- Jamie Belt, Plant Human Resources Manager, Kellanova
- Kaila Bryzgalski, Senior Manager, Product Sustainability Marketing Manager, Steelcase
- Leitaiya King, Business Analyst II, Meijer
- Taylor Grimes, Sales Manager, Gentex Corp.
Southeast members:
- Kasey Codd, Associate, JPMorgan Chase
- Katie CryslerKatie Crysler, Associate Attorney, Warner Norcross
- Heather Hodges, Senior Product Manager, Custom Onboarding, General Motors Co.
- Sarah Idriss, Southeast Michigan chair; Value-Added Products and Services CRM Journey Lead, Ford Motor Co.
- Brooke Scott, Compliance and Economic Development Analyst, Magna International
- Sarah Shears, Instructional Designer, Alteris Group
Want to know more about Inforum? You can check us out at myinforum.org or contact me at [email protected].
Written by Anna Grace, Inforum’s Director of Events and Membership.
Courtesy of Inforum.
