Seasons of Change

Winter 2019

2019 – a year of new initiatives and historic milestones

Stephanie Waite, ACMP Midwest Board President, provided a look back at the many accomplishments of the chapter in 2019. Highlights include:

• Midwest Change Connect (MCC) conference featured a new design and a cutting-edge theme and had more than 150 attendees
• Chapter membership increased and surpassed our goal to 525 active members
• Three PROSCI certification classes were held and 51 change practitioners were certified 
• Chapter newsletter launched
• Created an academic partnership with Northwestern University – Master of Science in Learning and Organizational Change (MSLOC) to create a collaborative community to students and professionals in the academic world
• Held the first ever Change-X-Change to support our ACMP Midwest community in a “hackathon”-themed event
• Developed the 2021 ACMP Midwest Strategy Blueprint – Goals & Values, focusing on increasing visibility, engagement, sustainability.
• Launched a volunteer program (please click the link below if you're interested in volunteering).

“Stay tuned for exciting developments in 2020 such as CCMP study groups, news about the next MCC, and redesigning our chapter development strategy to increase partnerships,” Stephanie Waite, President.

MCC 2019 was a hit!

Approximately 154 people attended the Midwest Change Connect  (MCC) conference in October. With a theme of Humanizing Change in the 4IR: Maximizing Human Connectivity in the Digital Age the conference brought together professionals from across the Midwest to engage in networking opportunities and educational sessions.

New this year was the introduction of a “Connect-a-Thon.” This theory-meets-practice approach provided conference goers with a hands-on opportunity to flex their change management muscles. At this event, participants helped the Far South Community Development Corporation determine a path forward as it works through acquisitions and faces a changing external environment.

Thank you to our sponsors for their significant support of the work of the ACMP Midwest Chapter!

Getting to know the ACMP Midwest Chapter

Seasons of Change sat down with Membership Director Aileen Eaves to find out the inside scoop about the largest ACMP chapter in the world.

Can you give us some background on the Midwest chapter? The ACMP Midwest Chapter was founded in 2014. It is the largest chapter with members primarily from Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, although we do have some members from as far away as Kuala Lumpur! The chapter is constantly growing and we’re always ready to welcome new members as the home for change professionals.

What should people know about ACMP Midwest?​ We are looking for more than just change management colleagues to join us. Instead, we want to connect with those interested in learning more about change management and the industry or wanting to share best practices in leading change  with their employees, employers and clients. We encourage members to invite their change management colleagues to check us out.

What are some challenges and opportunities for the chapter? There is a tremendous opportunity for the chapter to engage all members and build the Midwest change community. To meet member needs, I recruited a rockstar membership committee and created two specific focus areas -- recruitment and retention. Retention is owned by the member experienced team of Adrienne Guerrero, Alex Ibarra and Jennifer Weihmuller. Since we have members mostly in three states, we created a “regional leader” model to help ACMP Midwest respond to members locally. People can reach out to regional leaders directly if they have questions or want to organize a Change Up. The regional leaders are:

• Angela Hall, Indiana
• Mariam Huss, Illinois
• Karen Jahnke, Wisconsin

CCMP™ prep course to be offered in January 

Do you aspire to be an ACMP Certified Change Management Professional™ (CCMP™), but need structure and support to achieve your goal? ACMP Midwest Chapter’s Learning & Professional Development Committee wants to help. In January, a six-week pilot program will help 12 ACMP Midwest Chapter members prepare for the CCMP™ exam.

The CCMP™ Study Group Pilot starts Monday, Jan. 20 at 7 p.m., CST. It will meet for 6 Mondays via online meeting tools. Participants agree to attend all sessions and spend 5 to 7 hours per week preparing, working on the change management toolkit, and studying the ACMP Standard.

For more information, send an email to Gina Hinrichs. Members can sign up here. 

Member spotlight: Namrata Dave

What kind of work do you do? I am a change strategist and organizational effectiveness enabler who is committed to empowering people and organizations to uncover their hidden potential and create sustainable growth and change. I work on continuous improvement implementations, global change and communication initiatives, and coaching leaders to convert their vision into executable plans.

How long have you been an ACMP member and volunteer? I have been working with ACMP for two years. I joined as a volunteer for the content team for the 2018 Midwest Change Connect Conference. This year, I led the content committee and helped to develop the theme and learning tracks, selected speakers, and created the brand-new connect-a-thon sessions!

Why is being a part of the ACMP community important to you? ACMP provides me with professional development and an opportunity to work with a variety of change leaders in the Midwest. It brings together a great community of like-minded professionals to network with and learn from!

What are you looking forward to professionally this year? I am looking forward to developing fun and innovative tools and techniques to successfully lead and drive change. This will create maximum adoption with the least possible disruption!

What do you do for fun? Spend time with friends and family – hiking, biking and camping. On colder Chicago days, I love to spend time reading.

Answer a few questions to be featured in a future edition!

2020 Events

ACMP Midwest

• ACMP Midwest Chapter 

  • 2020 election dates:
  • • February 10: Call for Board of Directors (BOD) nominations
    • April 13-24: Elections
    • June 1: New board in place
  • Annual meeting: May 20

Visit our website for additional chapter-related events. 

ACMP Global Events

• Conference 
• • ACMP Global Conference - Change Management 2020, Anaheim, California, May 3-6, 2020

• The Road to Conference Challenge begins January 2020! Here’s a reminder of the rules:

• • Every Wednesday ACMP sends an email highlighting one of its chapters. 
  • At the bottom of each email, there will be a link to PLAY. 
  • You will then be directed to answer 4 questions about the chapter. 

Resources

ACMP Midwest recordings (must be a member to access)

• Leading Change in the Purpose-Driven Workplace
• Three Agile Tools to Help Managers Stop Worrying and Start Championing the Change

ACMP Resource Library

Check out ACMP’s Resource Library where you can find useful resources to build your change management knowledge from experts around the globe. In particular:

• CCMP coaching call recordings available under "Public Webinars."
• CCMP graduates can accrue PDUs by watching past webinars.

Looking for your next career role?

ACMP's Career Center may have the role you are looking for! Right now, we have a number of director-level job postings in various industries from Louisiana to New York to Canada. Interested? Check out our Career Center and come back often to see what's new. Hiring soon?   Purchase  a job posting. As an ACMP member, you save $60. 

News of interest 

• TED recommends: Choose what TED talks excite you, whether it’s personal growth or shifting your perspective – there’s a whole world of ideas waiting for you.
•  My Coworker Does This Annoying Little Thing: Crucial Conversations Q&A with Joseph Grenny.
•  Beyond Performance 2.0 ‒ A Proven Approach to Leading Large-Scale Change: Scott Keller and Bill Schaninger report evidence that shows that leaders can more than double their odds of success. 
• This Is Your Brain On GRATITUDE! A free e-book on fostering productivity, creativity and happiness through the application of cutting-edge brain science.
• Train Your Brain the Right Way: A blog providing tips to boost brainpower.