Today's workforce is more diverse than ever, with employees from five different generations working side-by-side. While this diversity can bring many benefits, it can also lead to misunderstandings and tensions between different age groups.
In this Career Coffee, we'll explore the challenges and opportunities of navigating an intergenerational workforce. We'll discuss practical strategies for fostering collaboration and communication between different age groups, including tips for understanding different perspectives, building trust and leveraging the strengths of each generation. We'll also explore the role of leadership in creating an inclusive and supportive workplace culture that values diversity and promotes teamwork.
This event is for anyone who works with people from different generations. Whether you're a Baby Boomer, Gen Xer, Millennial, or Gen Zer, you'll come away from this event with a deeper understanding of intergenerational dynamics and practical strategies for building a more inclusive and collaborative workplace. We hope to see you there!
The Career Coffee series is free for members and $10 for non-members (per session). Space is limited.
Speakers:
Jill Spiekerman Bonham, APR, MA, National Sales Solutions Manager, Purina Dairy Feed Division, Land O’Lakes
Jill Spiekerman Bonham, APR, MA, is the national sales solutions manager for the Purina dairy feed division of Land O’Lakes. Later this month, Jill will transition to full-time teaching as an assistant professor in public relations at the University of Minnesota.
She managed communications programs from both the agency and client side for more than 35 years. She’s worked for three advertising and public relations agencies, leading public relations and strategic planning for a mix of agricultural and consumer clients. Jill was the director of public relations for the Maytag, Hoover, Jenn-Air, Amana and Jade appliance brands, which are now owned by Whirlpool Corporation. During those five years, she led dozens of new product launch events in New York City and continuously worked with the consumer media. She was the director of communications for the world’s largest pork producer and director of marketing for an animal vaccine manufacturer. She edited an agricultural publication and began her career as a freelance writer and newspaper editor.
Jill’s teaching history started at Iowa State University. After serving as the professional liaison to the ISU Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) Chapter for 15 years, Jill began with one class, which soon turned into teaching full-time. At ISU, she taught media ethics, media buying and two sections of public relations techniques and tactics. After moving to Minnesota, she filled in during a one-year sabbatical teaching Organizational Behavior for Minnesota State University in Mankato, college of business, school of management. For four years, she taught Organizational Communications at St. Mary’s University in Winona. While teaching, Jill never stopped working in communications.
After serving a term on the Minnesota PRSA board of directors, Jill transitioned her involvement to the Minnesota PRSA Student Relations Committee.
Jill grew up on a farm in Michigan and graduated with a degree in agricultural communications from Michigan State University. She earned a master’s degree in communication leadership at Drake University. She is accredited in public relations by the Public Relations Society of America and has earned reaccreditation every three years since 1999.
Muna Mohamed, Strategist | Student Ad Summit, AdFed
Muna Mohamed recently graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in strategic communications. She had the opportunity to intern at Tinuiti, which provided the ability to gain real-world experience in the fast-paced marketing and advertising industry. Muna has a deep passion for learning, and she frequently finds herself going back in time to understand the cultural significance of certain developments. She is currently involved in AdFed and is excitedly planning the Student Ad Summit, which aims to promote meaningful discussions and connections among young professionals. In her personal time, Muna also enjoys participating in fashion shows since it allows her to express her creativity while also having a positive impact on her local community.
Alan Newbold, Executive Vice President, Carmichael Lynch Relate
As EVP Public Relations, Alan leads PR strategy for Carmichael Lynch Relate’s food & beverage clients, working closely with the agency’s integrated marketing teams across all disciplines.
He’s honed his craft working with talented teams at communications agencies ranging from large, global, matrixed organizations to small, boutique, specialty shops. But no matter the size of the organization, his objective remains the same: insight-based creative PR strategies that drive media interest, cultivate consumer advocacy, and contribute to client revenue.
He spent his formative communications years in agency strategic and creative planning, facilitating ideation sessions and developing and leading virtual and in-person training modules designed to bring the fundamentals of public relations and creative programming to life for teams and clients.
Building on that foundation, he moved from facilitation and training roles directly into client-facing program strategy and execution across CPG, food & beverage, health & wellness, consumer tech, financial services, home & garden, and travel & hospitality categories – a range of opportunities clearly facilitated by fast-paced agency life.
Throughout his career, he’s had the opportunity to develop and lead integrated marketing and PR programming spanning earned media relations, social and digital engagement, influencer marketing, experiential advocacy, and celebrity and brand partnerships. PR and marketing programs, campaigns and tactics bearing Alan’s creative thumb print have won multiple industry accolades at the national level, including SABRE, PRSA Silver Anvil, and PRWeek awards, among others.
Rachel Oehlke, Senior Account Executive, Curious Plot
Rachel is an account service manager with roughly five years of experience working on behalf of B2B clients, with great knowledge of the agriculture industry, the food industry, the cooperative business model, event planning and campaigns management. Rachel has split her professional time so far between corporate and agency, supporting work in energy and crop inputs. Her time spent both as a client and servicing clients has given her a well-rounded perspective of what it takes to bring work to life.
She got her degree from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities School of Journalism and has previously served professionally as a director on the NAMA regional board and as a director of Ad 2 Minnesota. There was a short stint spent working in and learning about sports marketing as well. She has received some additional higher education certificates in workplace management and strategic branding courses.
Rachel grew up on a hog and row crop farm in a small town in southern Minnesota. She has resided in Minneapolis since coming here for college and greatly enjoys the thriving professional industry of the Twin Cities.
Katie Volney, PR Director, broadhead
Katie is a public relations leader with more than a decade of experience in media relations, corporate communications, influencer and experiential marketing. Katie has serviced clients of all sizes – from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies – and across a variety of industries including CPG, franchise, food service & hospitality and consumer technology. She has been recognized for her work in advancing the advertising and public relations disciplines as a previous recipient of AdFed’s 32 Under 32 award and Minnesota PRSA’s Rising Star award.
Date & Time:
Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023
8:30 am – 9:30 am
Registration:
Members: Free
Non-Members: $10
Session and speaker details are subject to change.
2023 Career Coffee Series Sponsored By:
skcoffeeplease.com