AUthor: Cornelius Dowdell, President – ATD Greater Atlanta

Out with the Old – In with the New. Bye-Bye 2020 and WELCOME 2021.

Talent Development Professionals in the Greater Atlanta Area, it is time to MOVE FORWARD. Greater Atlanta leadership have spent the past four-months – Learning by Doing to move forward in the chapter. We did not just discuss and put together strategic plans for 2021. You can now visibly see the efforts produced by your 12 Executive Leadership Team. The relationship formed through the tasks we took on before our roles officially began have brought us together in a way I did not foresee. One task (overall the old website) required ALL-HANDS and they rose to the occasion for YOU.

We asked ourselves “Who Are Our Members?” and we came back with a list from Trainers/Facilitators, HR/OD Professionals, Instructional Designers, Talent Development Managers and Leaders, Learning Technologists and many more. Then we ask, “How can we transform their experience?”

Our Transformation Focus

• Membership Value
• Member Engagement
• Member Empowerment
• Peer Leadership
• Commitment to Diversity

Member Value Proposition
We are committed to providing talent development professionals the community to keep them engaged and empowered through leadership and diversity. Our members leverage cutting-edge technology and tools to advance in their careers, businesses, or organizations. Whether its certification prep, course creation, portfolio building or showcasing your talents, we believe involved members are successful in their professionals’ careers.

Membership Engagement
We have taken the 2020 Feedback request for more opportunities for networking and relationship building. One solution we have implement is our new virtual conference platform – you will experience during our “Meet The Leaders” Event on January 26, 2021. Attendees can interact in real-time by joining a table, have face-to-face interactions making virtual networking feel neutral and fun.

We are striving to communicate with our members differently. Our Marketing team has come up with a new strategy to engage our members not just through emails and newsletters, but blogging, podcasts and social media platforms. So we encourage your to follow us on all social media and explore the value of membership. Members can submit blogs to be posted on the chapter website now (pending approval).

Members can join our ATD Greater Atlanta SLACK Environment and contribute to discussion board, leadership committee meetings and other engagement with vehicles.

Member Empowerment
Your talent development journey is not just in your hands, but in ours as well. We are bringing the tools and resources to you. Authoring tools – You Got It – Chapter owned licenses will be available for practice and use by members in the future. Talent Dev. Certifications – Check out the Calendar for these new certifications to enhance your career. Member-led Events – Done, Peer-to-Peer Leadership – Done in our Mentorship Program.

Peer Leadership
Your executive leaders are your peers. We are here to support your talent development journey and lead you. We encourage member to reach out to us, schedule meetings with us and leverage our connections. A chapter as large as ours – requires intentional efforts on both our parts to connect. We want to build sustainable relationships.

Commitment to Diversity
Talent development is a pool of diverse professions, people, and talent. Our commitment is to continue to provide diverse programming and experiences for our diverse audience. We require your input and feedback to ensure we are meeting this commitment. Feedback is a gift, and we value each and everyone’s feedback.

Just a Few Member Benefits to Mention

• $1,500 Professional Development Scholarship
• Collegiate Internship Opportunity
• Networking
• Portfolio Creation
• Career Development Opportunities
• Chapter Tools/Resources for communication, project management and content authoring
• Awards and Recognition
• Provider Business Directory Listing

The past four months have been exciting and transformations for us as leaders. We want to share this transformation with you through volunteerism, professional development, and relationship building. Excitement for serving you has given us skills and opportunities we did not fathom. When I said, “Learn by Doing”, we learned so much over the past 4 months by doing and built a stronger bond together as Chapter Members.