That’s a wrap!
The Wyakin Foundation held the last Professional Development Seminar (PDS) for 2022 on November 15th. Usually hosted on the second Tuesday of the month, Professional Development Seminars are delivered by subject matter experts to ensure our veterans are competitive in the workforce.
This last quarter focused on project management. The class was taught by the Project Management Institute Western Idaho (PMIWIC).
Series 1: Project Initiation
Warriors learned how to charter their projects. This included how to develop a project proposal, identify key stakeholders, and develop a communications plan.
Series 2: Project Planning
Warriors learned how to plan a project based on the project charter. This focused on how to organize their team, develop a capacity plan, and how to execute the plan.
Series 3: Project Execution
The Warriors executed the project plan. They also identified problems and solutions. The Warriors assembled their proposed projects and presented them to the stakeholders. In-person attendees were broken into teams to build projects and online participants played the role of stakeholders.
2022 Professional Development Highlights
We had a great year of Professional Development. Thank you to all of our amazing speakers!
Quarter 1 Presented by Shannon Rush Call with the Strelo Group. Shannon presented a three-part series on managing transitions, building trust, and powerful, productive meetings.
Quarter 2 Presented by Lee Scott with Unleashing Leaders. Lee presented a three-part series on “Leading with or without authority.”
For the first time ever, we had industry guest speakers join us including Tim Kraus formerly with HDMA, Matt Wolfe, and Brandon Woodard with SAF Holland, Clint Whitehead with Western Trailers, Andrew Hofley with Accuride Corp, Carl Mesker with HTI, Doug Dole with Meritor, Joseph Ariaza with St. Al’s, and Jeff Paul with VIPAR.
Professional Development would not be possible without the generous support of Idaho Pizza Company and the Boise School District/Dennis Technical Center. Idaho Pizza provided pizza and salad at every PDS this year. The Dennis Technical Center opened its doors and provided a great space free of charge.
Looking Ahead to 2023!
In 2023, we will continue to offer 15 minutes at the beginning of each PDS for industry speakers to share about career opportunities. If you are interested please contact Alice Pyle at alice.pyle@wyakin.org.
We already have great content planned for 2023, including a two-part series titled “Life on Your Own Terms” by Kristopher Kluver and Mike Taylor. The January industry guest speaker will be Wyakin Foundation partner, Isaac Belden with the Veteran Entrepreneur Alliance.
For more information on Professional Development or the Wyakin Foundation please call us at 208.853.6001 or email info@wyakin.org.