Speaker: Gretchen Moore, Executive Director, Women in Manufacturing Education Foundation
Gretchen Moore: Hi, my name is Gretchen Moore, and I'm the Executive Director of the Women in Manufacturing Education Foundation.
Why did you engage Second City Works?
Gretchen Moore: Second City was recommended to me by a colleague in my network who knew that we were looking to host a fun and educational activity at our annual conference. She had worked with Second City at their conference and said that it was by far the most popular and memorable activity that they had done. In partnering with Second City, we wanted participants to develop durable skills required of leaders in the workplace. Things like communication, teamwork, active listening, and problem solving.
Tell us about the process leading up to your engagement.
Gretchen Moore: The development process was actually quite simple. We had an initial meeting with the Second City team
Gretchen Moore: as an opportunity to share our goals.
Gretchen Moore: As we got closer to the event, we had a follow up meeting to discuss the actual design of the workshop, in order to ensure that our goals and Second City's training strategies were aligned.
Tell us about the experience at your engagement.
Gretchen Moore: For our engagement with Second City, we held three, 90-minute workshops with fifty (50) participants at each workshop. Our facilitators, Megan and Tamara, were absolutely amazing. They took the time to understand our audience, what our goals were, and they designed a program that was relevant and impactful and unlocked skills that could be put to use right away.
What impact has our work had on your organization?
Gretchen Moore: The engagement with Second City helped us think differently about how we approach professional development and the skills that are needed to lead and succeed in our modern world. We live in this time of rapid digital transformation, which is really exciting, but it also puts into sharp relief the need to invest in our human skills. Things like communication, or teamwork. Empathy, active listening, critical thinking, problem solving. All of those skills. With the Second City workshop, we had a platform to develop those durable skills in a way that is equally engaging and effective.
Why is a Second City engagement different from other professional development engagements?
Gretchen Moore: People show up differently for an engagement with Second City. They expect that they're going to have fun, and perhaps try something new, maybe step out of their comfort zone a bit and that creates an environment that immediately connects everyone in the room. Second City's talented facilitators created a safe and inspiring space for our participants to try something new. To learn, and collaborate, and to build real connections with one another. The room was pure energy for 90 minutes. I've never experienced another professional development workshop where people were so engaged, and so open, and so connected while also having fun and learning. It was, it was an incredible experience.
