The Healthy Workspace: It's Not a Diet, It's a Culture

Friday, October 26, 2018

Registration is closed. Thank you for your interest.

8:30 - 9:00am - Networking and Coffee
9am - Noon - Workshop

Please note: This workshop will be held on Friday, October 26th at UCAN, 3605 W. Fillmore, Chicago, IL 60624

Half-Day Workshop: $90

About this session: Perhaps you have witnessed this before: an organization has a solid business strategy, top-notch talent, and an interesting work space; yet, turnover remains high and goals unmet. What went wrong?

In this interactive workshop, three professionals explain how your workspace can make or break productive and healthy workplace culture. During our time, we will explore culture as more than an elusive buzzword and instead present practical tips and concrete advice to ensure your workspace is a key consideration in your organizational strategy (no matter what your budget!).

Whether you want to cultivate greater workplace transparency, team collaboration, or create an introvert and extrovert friendly workplace, this workshop will be full of same-day, applicable advice that can have big impact on your teams.

About the Presenters: 

Sandee Kastrul (moderator), President and Co-founder, i.c. stars

Renauld Mitchell, Partner/Director of Chicago Operations at Moody Nolan, Inc.

Ashley Ritter, MOL, Ritter Coaching and Consulting

Jennifer Sobecki, CEO, Designs for Dignity

Sandee Kastrul is president and co-founder of i.c.stars. Founded in 1999, i.c.stars provides opportunities to break the cycle of poverty that limits inner city youth. Through training in technology, leadership and business skills, i.c.stars prepares change-driven, future leaders to develop skills in business and technology for high-level careers in information technology (IT) and community leadership. As a speaker, Sandee is an engaging and inspiring storyteller drawing the connections between creativity, innovation, technology and entrepreneurship. As the founder of a nonprofit and social enterprise, Sandee discusses the powerful result of optimism and raising standards for our communities with a unique perspective on capitalism and civil rights.

Sandee has been working in education and transformation for over two decades. Her career in education has included focused work on cross-curricular integration strategies, diversity training and curriculum development. She worked as a teacher and consultant from early childhood classrooms through adult education affording her a wide perspective in effective project-based learning techniques, leadership development, reverse mentoring and asset-based pedagogy.

A native Chicagoan, Renauld takes great pride in his South Side upbringing. He brings this background and life perspective to his role as a firm partner and director of Chicago/Washington DC Operations for Moody Nolan--the nation's largest African American owned architectural firm.

During an accomplished 23-year career, Renauld has skillfully led the design & construction of several large-scale, complex building programs on project types ranging from higher-education, sports and culture to government, healthcare and K-12 education; serving at different stages in his career as an architect and owner’s project executive. Particularly noteworthy, Renauld served as museum project manager for the Renzo Piano-designed Art Institute of Chicago’s Modern Wing Expansion (completed in 2009) and as Moody•Nolan’s principal-in-charge for both City Colleges’ New Malcolm X College & School of Health Sciences (opened in January 2016) and the new Wintrust Arena (opened in September 2017); co-developed as a public-private partnership (P3) between the Metropolitan Pier & Exposition Authority (MPEA) and DePaul University.

Renauld maintains strong ties to the metropolitan Chicago community – actively serving in his church and professional & charitable organizations such as the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA), SPARK Youth Mentor/Apprenticeship program, and as a prior board member of the Boys & Girls Club of Chicago.

Ashley Ritter, MOL, brings over ten years of people development experience across a variety of industries including nonprofit, higher education and healthcare. She is relentlessly committed to helping workplaces translate their values and policies into practical, people-centered approaches. By doing this, they prioritize culture, maximize outcomes and build what she calls, “every day equity.” Most recently she has served as the director of people for Chicago Scholars, was a member of the human resources team at Swedish Covenant Hospital and directed employer relations for North Park University.  In her roles, she has been responsible for strategic leadership training, coaching, change management, career development, conflict management, recruiting, employee relations and system workflows.

Ashley holds a Master of Organizational Leadership with a focus in human resources and conflict management from North Park University and a bachelor’s degree in intercultural studies from Taylor University. She is a trained Career Development Facilitator from the National Career Development Association and a contributing writer for the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

Jennifer Sobecki is CEO of Designs for Dignity. As the CEO, Jennifer is responsible for all fiscal and operational functions of Designs for Dignity (D4D). D4D provides pro bono design services to nonprofit organizations and leverages the design industry to provide preferred pricing and donated furnishings, fixtures and materials which are redeployed through D4D’s impact grants. Jennifer has overseen the growth of programs from $167,000 in 2004 to over $1 million in impact in 2017. During Jennifer’s tenure, Designs for Dignity has been the recipient of several honors and awards within the nonprofit community via organizations such as Howard Brown Health, EdgeAlliance, Zacharias Center, Boys Hope Girls Hope. Additionally, the organization was awarded runner-up for Contract Magazine’s Inspiration Award where over 400 entries were juried by an esteemed panel of judges for the impact made for the Family Matters project in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago.

Designs for Dignity has completed over 200 projects and deployed more than $7.5 million dollars in donated materials, furnishings and finishes to a variety of nonprofit organizations serving greater Chicago’s most vulnerable.