Kelly Badal (née Chandaria)’s Post

What are some of the most innovative ways you've discovered to expand your network in your city? Here in Charlotte, NC my favorite one is Charlotte Reciprocity Circles. When you attend, you share a current need you have with the people in your circle. Then they will let you know if they have someone in their network to introduce you to. 🤯 Here's why I love it: 🧡 We all have needs and sometimes we're afraid to express them. Expressing your needs is the whole point of this event! 🧡 It's a way to bring together a wide array of people who are creatives, entrepreneurs, community groups, non-profits, and business community members. 🧡 It's free and there is no barrier to entry (other than registering before it fills up). According to Stanford Sociologist Mark Granovetter, “Your weak ties connect you to networks that are outside of your own circle.” Stanford economist Matthew Jackson believes that "a person’s network shapes their destiny." To me, Charlotte Is Creative recognizes these beliefs and has created an event series that is beautifully constructed and is making a significant difference for the attendees. People are finding collaborators, event spaces, clients, and so much more! Their event description:  "Charlotte Reciprocity Circles (CRC) is a new series of live, facilitated social capital exchange events produced by Charlotte Is Creative and supported by the Infusion Fund and its generous donors. The concept is simple: after a short, inspirational performance by local artists, attendees will be seated in circles for a powerful social capital exchange process guided by trained facilitators. Whether it’s a full-time gig or a part-time passion, countless Charlotteans have creative, entrepreneurial or community projects at various stages of development, or simply waiting to be unleashed. However, too often, those projects don’t succeed because of small barriers — a missing resource, an undiscovered collaborator, lack of local knowledge, a needed contact, etc. CRC is designed to unlock access to such resources and connections to help bring creative projects, initiatives and business ideas closer to reality. And, it does so by mixing individuals spanning the Queen City’s neighborhoods, cultures, sectors and industries. Creatives, entrepreneurs, community groups, non-profits and business community members are invited to participate!"

Women in Auto Care is a community, a network, and a leadership conference that's all about lifting each other up, clearing those paths, and making the world a better place for us in the industry and, ultimately, for all car owners. It's a place where the "little guys" get as much respect as the c suite, where everyone mingles and networks and tries to help each other be the best they can be, and where competitors put aside their sales targets and recognize that we're all better when we're helping each other. I haven't been shy about sharing my experiences attending WiAC, but without the financial support of Jill Trotta and Kathleen Long and a media discount, I would not have attended even a single conference. Paying your own way is nearly impossible for non-corporate-funded people. Between the cost of the conference, hotel, and flight, along with drinks and dinner at networking events, you could easily spend $1,500 on a single conference. This is a deterrent to female mechanics, parts sales folks, service advisors, and everyone else with boots on the ground and no continuing education budget to tap into. If sliding-scale membership and event fees aren't possible, a program modeled after this one by the Women's Industry Network (WIN) would be a good alternative. This way, more "little guys" like me could attend and benefit from the education, community, and networking opportunities. https://lnkd.in/gGcmK-mq

We missed the mark. And because this community is so loving, and holds us accountable - they alerted us to something we didn’t see until it dropped from an event we were scheduled to speak at later this month. And whether intended or not, we own our complicity. Yesterday we were excited to be included as speakers at GoodUnited’s social media virtual event launch announcement. When we first heard the concept, we understood the vision, we loved that it was free to anyone and didn’t come with a sales pitch. But we didn’t ask the question baked into our values - is everyone included? And the lack of diversity in this event hit us smack in the face when it was announced. No excuses. We missed it. And we own it. Since we launched We Are For Good in 2020, we didn’t want DEI to just be a pillar of our work, but rather to be foundational to our work - baked into everything we do. Because at its core - that's community. We believe acknowledging and sharing privilege is the only wholehearted path forward to equity and healing. And because it's the only way to dismantle systems of power. But this situation showed gaps in where our intentions missed our internal systems and checks and balances. And we recognize that the best way to learn is to listen, to sit in the discomfort of hearing how our inaction hurt many we may never know and hurt and disappoint our friends and community that didn’t feel seen in this moment. But again, these can’t just be words. This event will be entirely reimagined moving forward, bringing voices and diversity to the table that should have been there from the start. We’ve received that commitment from GoodUnited, and you deserve that commitment from us. We hope it not only makes you feel safe - but that it’s a more vibrant experience for all. We didn’t honor our core value # 1 - that everyone matters. And in the process of our lack of due diligence and duty of care, we perpetuated harm. We’re truly sorry, friends. We’re sorry we didn’t represent all of us better. We’re sorry we weren’t paying close enough attention or built systems in our own work to ensure we support opportunities where the mic is shared with everyone. You’re going to hear us apologize a lot in this work. We Are For Good is a space for good people to gather and understand how to be better. And hear each other. We welcome stories that help the collective grow. Because there’s a lot of learning, unlearning, healing, evolving + listening that needs to be baked into our culture. And it starts with us. We’re committed to building a space of belonging where conversations keep growing - and where people always serve as our heartbeat. Jon + Becky

Abby first joined CREW in 2015, and the following year joined the Membership Committee. She served on the Membership Committee for two years, before being elected as the Treasurer of CREW Greater Cincinnati in 2018. Continuing her roles, Abby served as President Elect in 2021 and as President in 2022. 2023 was her last year on the Board of Directors, as well as participating as Co-Committee Chair of CREW Network’s Industry Research Committee. She also has been a member of the PPAC committee since 2023. Abby has served in many capacities for CREW. During her involvement in the CREW Network’s Industry Research Committee, the committee spearheaded the Industry Research paper, Turning ESG Intention into Action. As a member and President, she has worked on Habitat for Humanity builds with the Outreach Committee, was part of the Bourbon Ball Committee for the first two years through the Special Events Committee, and worked with Sponsorship in the creation of the One-Ask model that was introduced in 2022 to not just annual sponsors, but to event sponsors as well. Additionally she worked with Programs as Moderator of the Finance Program the last two years. Lastly, she spent two years as CREW Network Foundation Champion at the chapter level where they encouraged Cincinnati members to donate to the CREW Network Foundation. Abby had this to say about serving CREW through her various roles: “Believing in the mission of not only the chapter but also CREW Network is what has driven my passion to participate and help other find their way here locally, and those whom I’ve connected with at the Global level. There is so much to be said about the lifelong connections that CREW has had on me personally. I have met wonderful people from across the country and from other countries that have inspired me to do more, be more and to give back. As a leader, you may not be able to enact the change you set out to right away. Patience is key, and knowing that, you’re able to plant seeds of encouragement, support, or even inspiration. This may take on its own timing that you just don’t get to dictate. I’ve said many times that there are various ways for one to get from point A to point B, and just because that looks different from someone else doesn’t mean it’s necessarily wrong. In fact, there may be a creative way that you did not even think about – however, by just having an open mind, that can be the true difference maker. Our chapter thrives on not just having the same mindset, but also by embracing our diverse and unique perspectives.”

Training alert!! Details below

👉 Have you realized some of your intentions or ideas this year? December is a time for wrapping up and it’s nice to celebrate our inner-led actions and achievements towards our very own concept of a fulfilling life. I spent the end of my week in a large kitchen, cooking a meal for around 50 people with different preferences. I went for Palak Paneer! 👩🍳😋 This year I’ve been realizing one of my intentions about going more into a community-based way of living. It’s been great! 1️⃣ I’m a quite new member of a local dinner collective that’s been around for 30 or so years. Friday was the first time for me to serve - the previous weeks me and my kids have been guests. It’s really convenient and nice, being served dinner Mon-Fri basically every week. Being a parent for nearly 20 years with three boys into basketball, doing big dinners has been a huge part of my day-to-day life (part-time). Every parent can relate... So this is quite a transition. 2️⃣ This summer I opened up our home for three more grown-ups, so now me and my two youngest teenagers run a co-living space. 🏡🌟 It’s been so nice to share more conversations in the kitchen and our common areas – and still have the possibility to choose alone-time in our private spaces. This spring we will realize some permaculture-projects in the garden together. 🌱💦 I love combining these local and personal changes with now being part of a global organization working with sustainable change. My previous week at The Hunger Project Sverige was spent discussing Christmas gifts and partnerships with various companies, as well as planning for 2024. Please join us if you feel a calling to be a part of our global community of champions and change makers. 🙏 #socialsustainability #collective #community #changemaking

Looking for events that are happening in the Metro this week that you probably will want to consider as you are growing your network ? 2/29 FuseDSM, Your Chamber of Commerce's Annual Dinner is this night. Sorry if you missed out because it's sold out and you need to get your tickets to the event next year. Trish Flaherty-Barnes & her team but on some fantastic events that are out of the box experience (example: last year's annual dinner was in a flight hanger). 2/29 The Metro Marketing Mixer is 4:30-7:30p at the River Center. Hands down one of the best events in the metro filled with DSM's premier marketing & advertising professionals. But this event is for everyone. As I tell everyone who will listen everyone is a marketer, most are just bad at it. Fantastic networking opportunity in a gorgeous space fill with most of the metro's finest and brightest. Tom Woody does know how to plan a great event. 3/1 Gerri's Wing Meet up with Jason Ring 2-5pm. We are fully committed to just hanging out and eating wings by ourselves, but if you want an excuse to get off work early, grow your network intentionally, or just to eat some phenomenal wings then stop out and say hi. You'll for sure meet someone new. If we've never met before AND you've always wanted to get to Gerri's then this is fate calling your name! 3/1 DSM Children's Museum's Giggle Gala 5:30-11p at the decades event center. Giggle the night away with dinner, dancing drinks, dad jokes (and presumably also dad bods). Money raised goes to support the amazing work of the Children's museum. 3/2 Variety Telethon- Check out We Are Iowa Local 5 at 7p to see the impact and the work that Variety does to support the children across Iowa through grants and mobility equipment. Selfish plug but my link in the the comments if you would consider giving prior to Saturday. #promotepeoplenotproducts #networking #dsmusa #events #reppdesmoines #youngprofessionals #professionaldevelopment #jacobfromlinkedin

Who is organizing an industry event in 2024? I have something for you (and this applies to all industries, not just supply chain). A couple of weeks ago, I asked my network to 'raise your hand' if they're being underrepresented at conferences and would like to speak at more this year. I have an ongoing list of individuals and the topics they're interested in speaking on that I'd like to share with you. If you're interested, let me know in the comments! We need to see more diversity at industry events. And I know it can sometimes be hard for event organizers to find diverse voices, so I want to help connect you. I also know that travel expenses are often a barrier for people to attend these events. That's why I started a nonprofit organization called the Blended Pledge. We offer grants to cover those costs, so more diverse voices can say "YES!" to speaking on stage or being a member of the audience. There are a ton of exceptional people across all industries with unique experiences and knowledge just waiting to be shared. Can I introduce you to them? Let me know 👇 #diversityandinclusion #eventmanagement #speakingengagements

Events are big and important, but they are also fleeting and ephemeral! Let’s make sure you’re snagging all the qualitative bits and fine details to help next year’s planning process, so your event can grow stronger and more effective year over year. Head over to our blog post to learn more! #eventplanning #eventprofs #seattleevents #nonprofitevents #teamsynchronicity

Hey event planners! What does your work look like *after* the event is over? How are you setting "future you" up for success? How are you creating a process for reflection and a method for continual improvement of your event, year after year? Guess what? We have a blog post with some ideas ... : ) #eventplanner #nonprofitevents #fundraisingevents #projectmanagement