WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT SYMPOSIUM 2022

The Workforce Development Symposium allows participants to expand their focal points and gather information that is needed in an organization. Everyone plays a role in advancing workforce development by bringing a number of qualities to the table and understanding the important factors to take action.

This is a great opportunity for Educators, Human Resource Professionals, Executive Leadership and everything in between to come together and learn ways to prepare our organizations to embrace a changing workforce across generations.

We'll hear from our Keynote Speakers and have several "Break Out Sessions" to hold small group discussions on the topics that were presented.
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Keynote Speakers include:

Lisa Imhoff

Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
School of Pharmacy @ The University of Wisconsin–Madison

Talk title: Psychological Safety: Its Role in Fostering Inclusive and Innovative Organizations
Talk/Title description: A critical component in fostering inclusive and innovative work environments is ensuring psychological safety for all employees. Psychological safety is “a shared belief held by members of a company, department, or team that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking." It means employees can provide feedback or ask questions without fear of retaliation, without fear of embarrassment, without fear of exclusion. It means employees can bring their authentic selves to work and know that their ideas and work are valued. In short, a work environment that promotes psychological safety promotes belonging, thereby improving employee engagement and satisfaction.
Link to Speaker title/bio: https://badgertalks.wisc.edu/speaker/lisa-imhoff/

Second Speaker:
Sam Rikkers

Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer for WEDC

Talk/Title description: Sam will discuss the state’s comprehensive approach to economic development and its unprecedented investments in local workforce solutions.
About Sam
Sam has an extensive background in rural development, both in the U.S. and internationally. He served in the White House from 2013 to 2014 as director on the energy and environment team in the Presidential Personnel Office, then was administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Business-Cooperative Service. Before returning to Wisconsin in 2017, he launched and led the Rural Opportunity Initiative of the Georgetown University McDonough School of Business. In Wisconsin, he served as executive director of Tiny Earth, a global initiative based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, harnessing the research of undergraduate students to discover new antibiotics.

Third Speaker:
Bojana Zoric Martinez

Director of the Bureau of Refugee Programs with the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families and Wisconsin State Refugee Coordinator (SRC)

Talk title: Wisconsin Refugee Resettlement Over the Years and a Look Into the Future
Talk/Title description: Bojana will provide the background on US/Wisconsin refugee resettlement, discuss the current state of resettlement and its programs, and talk about what comes next. I will also look back on the last year in resettlement and how it has changed the perspective on traditional resettlement and how that experience is now shaping the future of resettlement. Lastly, I will talk about the in-state collaboration between the state agencies, local officials, refugee service providers, and the community, all working together to help refugees become socially and economically self-sufficient in Wisconsin.
About Bojana
Bojana Zorić Martinez currently serves in two critical roles, one as the Director of the Bureau of Refugee Programs with the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families, and the other as the Wisconsin State Refugee Coordinator (SRC) representing the interests of the State’s refugee resettlement before local and federal partners with whom she regularly communicates and coordinates service provision. She also serves on the Executive Board of the State Coordinators of Refugee Resettlement (SCORR), the national association of state refugee coordinators, administrators, and managers.

Bojana has been serving in the SRC role for over five years. She started her career in refugee work at a Milwaukee resettlement agency in 2000. Bojana then continued to build her educational and professional career in leadership, organizational development, and management. Bojana has extensive knowledge and experience working in refugee resettlement, and as a former refugee herself, she is grateful to have the opportunity to lead and help shape the programs she once advanced from. She believes that her success lies in effective collaboration with federal and local partners across different programs for benefit of refugees and other vulnerable populations.

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT SYMPOSIUM 2022

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