SESSIONS

In traditional Un/Conference form, event attendees are also the session facilitators. Our first call for proposals elicited the engaging conversation topics below, which have been initially accepted for the Un/Conference agenda, to be further refined to ensure clarity of content, lack of duplication amongst other sessions, and clear objectives and outcomes for attendees.

Keep watching this page as more sessions are added!

Citizens League Emerging Leaders
This session will address the topic of workforce transitions/changes. With baby boomers either staying in the workforce longer, or boomers re(entering) the workforce out of necessity – we’ll talk about the impact these trends will have on the workforce. The focus of the presentation would be how knowledge from older adults with many years of work can pass their knowledge down to the emerging leaders. There is a worry that when people begin to retire that the knowledge gained will retire with them, and won’t be shared with future generations. As emerging leaders, we are going to be working for many years – and these changes impact how the job market will influence us, our abilities to lead, and to take on jobs once held by older adults.

Nick Banovetz
A significant subset of MN’s population lives in suburbs. They’re changing dramatically (transportation, diversity, foreclosures). Among many reasons, they’re too easily pegged as being conservative, well-to- do and lacking culture (i.e., cookie-cutter lifestyles). In reality, suburbs are still relatively new – and changing fast. The question is: How do we effectively engage people who live in suburbs? How do we direct their attention away from soccer and sprawl – there I go with the generalizations – to issues/event etc?

Leaders of Today and Tomorrow
What does female leadership mean? Do women lead differently than men? Join The League of Women Voters Minnesota’s Leaders of the Today and Tomorrow (LOTT) Program for a conversation about leading as a young professional women.

This will be a discussion among peers and may touch on the following topics:

* Do women need different support systems to help them fulfill their professional and personal goals?
* What can we learn from previous generations of women and their attempts to balance work, family, and community?
* Does intersection of gender and (perceived) experience impact you?
* How are other women navigating these challenges and opportunities?
* How can we be proactive and create or tap into structures in Minnesota that nurture female leaders and different models of leadership.

Minneapolis Urban League Young Professionals
Reaching Diverse communities: How do you make your organization and events more diverse? What are practical strategies for creating an organization and event that is appealing to diverse communities. In this breakout session, attendees will learn about racial, cultural and class dynamics and how to make their organizations more diverse.  The Minneapolis Urban League Young Professionals (MULYP) is a volunteer auxiliary of the Minneapolis Urban League, who seeks to engage young adults in the Urban League movement to achieve social and economic equality for persons of color through hosting programs/seminars and networking opportunities to educate young professionals on the themes of economic development and financial literacy, civic engagement and leadership, healthcare and quality of life, and civil rights/racial justice.

Real Food MN
How can Minnesota can be become a leader in the growing local/organic/sustainable (real) food movement? We have the strongest co-op scene in the country, a growing number of new and experienced farmers committing to these practices, and a high level of interest amongst consumers in the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota. We not only have the power to nurture a thriving food system in Minnesota, but the opportunity to poise our state as a thought leader in this area. Food is related to many issues important to today’s emerging leaders: health care and the obesity epidemic, workers’ rights and fair trade, building and maintaining thriving rural economies, food sovereignty and security, and community building. Minnesota’s health is dependent upon the health of our local food system, in more ways than one.

Torch Community
How to build a relational community: Board members from TORCH Community will be hosting a mini-TORCH event during this breakout session. Come experience a TORCH-style event. Learn some of the strategies TORCH Community uses to create an engaging and relational experience for event attendees. TORCH Community is a young professional social networking organization in the Twin Cities designed to bring young professionals from all industries together to network, develop professionally and become actively engaged in the community. We are connecting people into existing young professional groups under four values: Career & Leadership Development, Social Responsibility, Diversity and the Arts.

Students Today Leaders Forever
Students Today Leaders Forever (STLF) will present about its unique shared leadership style, the Core Model, which serves as an alternative to the predominant hierarchical model. Over the last seven years, STLF’s Core Model has taken it from a start-up to a nonprofit that’s in a position to make a long-term impact on society. As emerging leaders, this information will be particularly helpful in developing one’s organizational leadership style, or even in the creation of a new organization. Expect to be engaged through discussion, activities and reflection during this lively presentation.

Trista Harris
The traditional model of working for one company for 40 years and getting promoted through time at the desk is over. Young professionals need to proactively manage their careers by developing authentic leadership, branding themselves, growing their network, and planning for balance. The strength of our community will depend the skills and expertise of young professionals being fully harnessed.

Young Nonprofit Professionals Network of the Twin Cities
This session, entitled “Indispensible Me,” is focused on how to develop the self-awareness and emotional intelligence to influence both superiors and peers and how to find opportunities to lead and bring ideas to fruition in our personal and professional lives. Our intention is not only to discuss leadership tactics for the workplace but discuss how we can take these skills into all the communities in which we participate.