Dr. Bernard Bull leads a session during last year’s YPWeek Academy. Concordia will again partner with NEWaukee during YPWeek 2017 to offer the free lunch and learns.
Concordia University Wisconsin and NEWaukee announced this week an upcoming professional development opportunity for young professionals throughout Wisconsin, one of multiple program offerings the two organizations have partnered on in order to attract and retain Wisconsin’s best and brightest talent.
For the second year in a row, Concordia and NEWaukee will offer free learning opportunities, called the YPWeek Academy, during YPWeek, April 24-28, in Milwaukee. Through the YPWeek Academy, attendees have opportunity to connect each day over lunch with industry professionals to tackle the topic of failure; how to come to terms with it, learn from mistakes, and grow through it, both personally and professionally.
Each class includes lunch and will be hosted at unique locations throughout Milwaukee. YPWeek Academy topics include:
- Monday: Things you should have learned in Kindergarten: Applying the Elementary Classroom to the Boardroom
- Tuesday: Anticipating Failure
- Wednesday: Pivoting Careers: The Winding Path to Success
- Thursday: Failure as Disruption: Innovation and Experimentation
- Friday: Crafting a Real Work/Life Balance
The YPWeek Academy is the second major partnership Concordia and NEWaukee have forged this year in an effort to provide leadership development skills training to millennials. Earlier this year, they launched a pilot program, called LEADNow Bootcamps, which offers a series of four, two-hour sessions to young professionals throughout the state. The sessions cover topics such as sales, social media, and leadership, and are led by faculty or individuals connected to Concordia.
LEADNow represents how Concordia is diversifying its education offerings to create programming that meets learners where they are at.
“Corporate partnership requires listening to the professional development needs of the business community and adapting our curriculum to meet the leadership needs of today’s up and coming talent,” explains Peter Welch, director of Public Affairs and University Partnerships at Concordia University Wisconsin. “It is our hope to become the go-to resource for businesses looking to develop their talent, and young professionals looking to advance their career.”
The LEADNow Bootcamp is part of NEWaukee’s 72 Initiative, founded in 2016 with the support of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. The primary objective for the project is to reverse the migration of talent for the state of Wisconsin by leveraging and activating Wisconsin’s millennial residents. Currently the initiative features 25 communities, but the goal is to include all 72 Wisconsin counties.
In addition to the LEADNow Bootcamps, the 72 Initiative provides emerging leaders across the state with:
- United Program Offering: world-class and turnkey programs that bring young professionals together.
- Peer Network: digital and in-person connections between leadership across the state.
“The partnerships with Concordia University Wisconsin are immeasurably beneficial for the millennial community in Wisconsin,” says Angela Damiani, CEO & co-founder of NEWaukee. “As our state competes against the world for the best and brightest talent, this type of investment in our current population of young Wisconsinites differentiates both our talent pool and talent pipeline as a best in class location for millennials to live, work and play.”
For more information about the 72 Initiative, please visit: www.72initiative.com.
For more information about the YPWeek Academy, please visit: www.ypweek.com.
For more information about the Concordia University – Wisconsin LEADNow program, please visit:onlineinfo.cuw.edu/bootcamp.
— This story is written by Kali Thiel, director of university communications for Concordia University Wisconsin and Ann Arbor. She may be reached at kali.thiel@cuw.edu or 262-243-2149.
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