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Moving Up Programs build skills for young professionals
BY MARY K. PRATT Two Bentley programs — one with a 16-year track record, one brand new — are at the starting gate to help professionals in the first decade of their working lives. The annual Gearing Up conference is hosted by the Center for Women and Business (CWB) and takes place virtually on June 10. Designed for women and nonbinary individuals, it engages the twin engines of career development: networking and mentoring. “We want people to have the tools and confidence they need to thrive in a long-term career,” says Becky McDougal, CWB’s assistant director of events. Keynote speaker Tiffany Jan is the founder of TMI Consulting and an author of four books focused on diversity and inclusion. The day also includes learning sessions, self-reflection exercises and
opportunities for group exploration. Goal-setting sessions help attendees carry lessons forward. Members of the CWB team will follow up with participants at 30, 60 and 90 days post-conference to check on progress. “It’s action-oriented,” says McDougal. “Our goal is to help people advance and support their aspirations.” MANAGING UP AND ACROSS The second program aimed at young professionals, Strategies for Emerging Leaders, focuses on managing up and across an organization. The skill-building takes aim at one of the toughest moves a business professional can make. “The jump from individual contributor to leader or manager is a key transition. It derails many talented, aspiring leaders,” says Lisa Dinsmore, director of Executive
Education, which launches the virtual program in fall 2021. Over five sessions, participants focus inward and outward. Topics include leveraging your own strengths and communication style to foster team work; strengthening the ability to ask for, receive and provide feedback; and learning to encourage dialogue and action around equity, diversity and inclusion. Participants leave with a five-year career plan based on their insights. “It’s a real challenge to expand your mindset from a focus on individual work,” says Dinsmore. “We want to help people find and own their influence, power and voice in an organization.” Program details, including discounts for alumni, are available at bentley.edu/gearing-up and bentley.edu/emerging-leaders.
Pushing Forward on Racial Justice BY KEVIN WONG In the months since the national response to the Black Lives Matter movement, and campus-based activism inspired by Black at Bentley on social media, the university has made steady progress toward becoming a more actively anti-racist institution. Work is underway across campus to foster diversity, equity and inclusion. Strategic goals developed last summer by the President’s Cabinet jump-started Bentley’s next steps on racial justice. From devising practices that make classrooms and the workplace more inclusive to analyzing diversity within offices and among outside We’re grateful for the activism of our alumni and students. vendors, the initiatives reach It demonstrates the passion we every division of the univer all have for creating a stronger, sity. Many changes are already more united Bentley. in place and updates are posted Katie Lampley ’96, Chief Diversity regularly at bentley.edu/ and Inclusion Officer cabinet-goals.
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Also last summer, 114 faculty, staff, students and alumni stepped up to join the Racial Justice Task Force. Members met throughout the fall and winter, charged with uncovering systemic ways that racism, white privilege and unconscious bias have operated at Bentley. Many also led conversations within their own teams and areas of influence. The task force is developing a document and resources to share this spring with the Bentley community; it will include calls to action to guide the work ahead. The task force shares updates at bentley.edu/racialjustice. Longtime staff member Katie Lampley ’96, who was appointed chief diversity and inclusion officer in August, is encouraged by the progress. “I have seen so much positive change within our community and am looking forward to continuing the difficult work we need to do on the road ahead,” she says. “We cannot lose the momentum that has propelled us to this time in Bentley’s history.” PHOTO BY BBERNARD/SHUTTERSTOCK
