Strategic Networking for Professionals: Turning Conversations into Collaborations

Professional Development Session 1

Collaborating across units helps us solve problems, access resources, innovate, and better support the broader mission of Public Service and Outreach. These collaborations often start with a spark generated by a simple exchange of information; the casual one-on-one conversations we take for granted can be powerful tools.

Designed for staff, this session will help you explore clear, approachable ways to talk about your work, make meaningful connections across roles and units, and notice opportunities for collaboration. We will also have time for some low-pressure, structured networking so that you can immediately put workshop content into practice.

Learning outcomes:

Explain how casual one-on-one conversations can support your day-to-day work, including problem-solving, resource sharing, and coordination across units
Describe your role in a clear, concise way that helps others understand how your work connects to the Public Service and Outreach mission
Use simple, practical strategies to start and carry a one-on-one conversation in conference, meeting, or event settings
Recognize and respond to potential points of connection across roles, units, or projects during these conversations
Identify methods to follow up and stay connected after an initial conversation, without adding a heavy burden to their workload

Speaker:

Sayge Medlin, Public Service Associate, J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development

Medlin designs and implements capacity-building strategies for regional and statewide nonprofit organizations. She specializes in facilitating groups of all sizes through consensus-building and results-driven decision-making processes, including strategic planning, organizational change, and board development. She also leads interactive, research-based training focused on community engagement, change management, collaboration, and the evolving roles of leaders across the organizational life cycle. Medlin brings more than 25 years of experience working with nonprofit and community-based organizations. Before joining the team, she served as director of strategy integration for the Georgia Family Connection Partnership, a statewide nonprofit that provides data, research, training, and technical assistance to a network of 159 collaborative organizations.

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Session 1

Session 2

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