ACMP Midwest Chapter upcoming events

Cheers For Change - Indiana (In Person!) (09/03/2026)

Thu, 03 Sep 2026 21:00:00 GMT

Let's get together! The ACMP Midwest Chapter is excited to offer a Cheers for Change event in Indianapolis, IN!

Join us in person at:

The AMP at 16 Tech

1220 Waterway Blvd, Indianapolis, IN 46202

On Thursday, September 3rd from 5-7p.m. EST to connect with fellow change practitioners for an evening of networking, discussion, and camaraderie. Two drinks and appetizers will be provided. Don't miss this opportunity to engage with industry peers in a vibrant downtown setting. See you there!

This event will be free for all members and $10 for non-members.

Location Website: https://theampindy.com/

The Invisible Work of Change: Building Influence Without Authority (09/18/2026)

Fri, 18 Sep 2026 17:00:00 GMT

The Invisible Work of Change: Building Influence Without Authority

Change professionals often find themselves in positions where they must lead transformation without formal power — influencing senior leaders, project teams, and stakeholders through credibility, trust, and presence. This session explores the art and science of “soft power”: the ability to shape outcomes through relationships, emotional intelligence, and strategic influence.

This webinar will unpack the subtle dynamics that make-or-break change efforts — how to read the organizational landscape, surface hidden power structures, and create authentic alliances. Participants will leave with practical tools to strengthen their influence, plus a renewed sense of agency in driving change from wherever they sit.

By the end of the session, participants will be able to:

Identify the informal power structures that shape decision-making in their organizations.
Apply techniques for building credibility and trust with key stakeholders.
Use influence strategies to create alignment and momentum without relying on authority.
Reflect on their own “influence signature” — how they naturally show up and where they can expand their impact.

About the Speaker:

Jennifer Wojcik is a seasoned change management leader with over 12 years of experience guiding organizations through complex transformations across industries including manufacturing, supply chain, sales and finance. Known for combining strategic insight with a human-centered approach, Jennifer has helped executives and teams navigate the uncertainty of change with clarity, confidence, and purpose.

Cheers For Change - Wisconsin (In Person!) (09/23/2026)

Wed, 23 Sep 2026 22:00:00 GMT

Let's get together! The ACMP Midwest Chapter is excited to offer a Cheers for Change event in Milwaukee, WI!

Join us in person at:

3rd Street Market Hall

275 W Wisconsin Ave

Milwaukee, WI 53203

On Wednesday, September 23rd from 5-7p.m. CST to connect with fellow change practitioners for an evening of networking, discussion, and camaraderie. Two drinks and appetizers will be provided. Don't miss this opportunity to engage with industry peers in a vibrant downtown setting. See you there!

This event will be free for all members and $10 for non-members.

Location Website: https://3rdstmarkethall.com/

AI Readiness: An Interactive Lunch Workshop with Advanced Resources (In-person) (09/24/2026)

Thu, 24 Sep 2026 16:30:00 GMT

AI Readiness: An Interactive Lunch Workshop with Advanced Resources

Join ACMP Midwest and Advanced Resources for a two-hour interactive session designed to help change management professionals assess and act on their organization's readiness for AI adoption. Grab a boxed lunch and settle in for a working session built around real dialogue.

The session opens with a fireside chat featuring Kristin Papesh, EVP & Chief Human Resources Officer, Fortune Brands Innovations, who will share firsthand perspective on leading AI adoption at the executive level.

From there, attendees will take part in an AI Readiness Assessment; scoring their own organization across six key dimensions and watching the room's aggregate results emerge in real time. Small-table breakouts will follow, giving participants the chance to unpack the gaps, compare notes with peers, and walk away with practical next steps for their own change initiatives.

Whether you're leading AI-driven transformation or just starting to build the business case, this session offers a candid, data-driven look at where organizations really stand and what it takes to move forward.

Format: In-person Fireside chat, interactive assessment, facilitated table discussions & takeaways

Includes: Boxed lunch

Audience: ACMP Midwest members and non-members

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Kristin Papesh, EVP & Chief Human Resources Officer, Fortune Brands Innovations, Inc.

Kristin Papesh joined Fortune Brands in November 2023, where she leads the global human resources team's strategic initiatives to keep the company competitive for top talent. She brings broad HR experience across global organizations, most recently as SVP of HR Business Partnering at Walgreens Boots Alliance, supporting over 225,000 team members, and previously as VP of HR Mergers and Acquisitions and Corporate Functions there. Earlier in her career, Kristin held roles of increasing responsibility at Pfizer, Hospira, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, and American Pharmaceutical Partners. She holds a BA from Illinois State University and an MBA from DeVry University's Keller Graduate School of Management.

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About our host Dina Fiorelli

Dina Fiorelli is President of Advanced Resources, a minority-owned human capital solutions firm connecting top-tier HR and Accounting & Finance professionals with leading organizations. With over 15 years in the staffing industry, she has built Advanced Resources into a trusted partner known for consistent client satisfaction across multiple industries. Outside of work, Dina mentors through SHRM's mentorship program, volunteers with ACMP, and has spent over a decade guiding students at Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep School. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Social Work from Illinois State University and is committed to building inclusive, high-performing workplaces.

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About our emcee Rich Diaz

Rich Diaz is CEO of Advanced Resources, bringing nearly 30 years of experience driving high-growth transformations across private, public, and private equity-backed companies. Under his leadership, Advanced Resources has earned repeated Best of Staffing awards for client and consultant satisfaction, delivering human capital strategies that align people with business goals across manufacturing, food, distribution, and professional services. In 2025, Rich joined the Board of Directors of HF Foods Group (NASDAQ: HFFG). A member of YPO, he also supports community initiatives including the Chicago Public Library and believes leadership is ultimately about making a positive difference in people's lives.

About our sponsor Advanced Resources:

Advanced Resources is a Chicago-based, minority-owned staffing, direct hire, and consulting firm with more than 30 years of experience helping organizations solve their toughest human capital challenges. The firm specializes in Human Resources and Accounting & Finance talent solutions, partnering with clients to build high-performing teams and navigate organizational change.

Advanced Resources is proud to serve as a Platinum Strategic Partner of ACMP, supporting the change management community through events, thought leadership, and shared expertise on the people side of transformation. Learn more: https://www.advancedresources.com/

Perspectives in Practice: Co-Creating Change Across Disciplines (09/29/2026)

Tue, 29 Sep 2026 17:00:00 GMT

Perspectives in Practice: Co-Creating Change Across Disciplines

Change doesn't happen inside a single discipline; it happens at the intersection of leadership, culture, capability, process, and people. September 29th, ACMP Midwest is teaming up with five leading regional associations—PMICI, ATD-CIC, CHIOP, ODN, and IMCUSA—for a lively, moderated debate (not your typical panel) exploring how change is really co-created, led, adopted, measured, and sustained.

Each panelist brings a distinct disciplinary lens: project management, learning and development, I-O psychology, organizational development, and consulting—and they won't always agree. Expect real, yet collaborative, conversation on questions like who actually owns change, whether resistance should be managed or embraced, and what makes co-creation work in practice rather than just in theory.

Join us for this virtual, 90-minute session. We'll open with each panelist's take on the most misunderstood part of their discipline, dive into a moderated cross-disciplinary debate, take audience questions, and close with small-group breakouts on co-creating change with leaders and with employees. Whether you work in change management, OD, L&D, HR, consulting, or project management, this is a rare chance to see how the discipline next door tackles the same challenges you do.

ACMP Midwest New Member Connect (10/09/2026)

Fri, 09 Oct 2026 17:00:00 GMT

We invite you to join the ACMP Midwest New Member Connect, a 45‑minute informal session created to welcome and orient our newest members.

You’ll gain a clear understanding of who we are, how to get involved, and the many benefits available to you.

Connect with other change management professionals and start building your network within our vibrant community.

It’s the perfect first step in your ACMP Midwest experience.

When the Project is the Problem: Managing Change in Poorly Structured Initiatives - Sponsored by Centric Consulting (10/14/2026)

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 17:00:00 GMT

When the Project is the Problem: Managing Change in Poorly Structured Initiatives

Sponsored by Centric Consulting

Not every change failure comes down to resistant employees or a weak communication plan. Sometimes the real obstacle is the project itself...unclear scope, shifting sponsorship, unrealistic timelines, or governance that was never set up to support sustainable change in the first place.

In this interactive training, Mark Paulson, of Centric Consulting's Chicago People & Change practice, will walk through how change practitioners can recognize the warning signs of a structurally flawed initiative early, and what to do when you're brought in (or already embedded) to manage change on a project that was set up to struggle. You'll leave with:

A framework for distinguishing project-structure problems from change-adoption problems
Language and tactics for raising structural red flags with sponsors and leadership
Practical adjustments to your change strategy when governance, scope, or sponsorship is shaky

There will also be time for live Q&A and scenario discussion with Mark

Whether you're a seasoned change lead or newer to the field, this session will help you build the judgment to know when the problem isn't your change plan, it's the project itself.

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About our speaker Mark Paulson, Centric Consulting People & Change Practice Lead

Mark Paulson is a veteran practitioner in the OCM space with over 20 years of experience in management consulting. He currently co-leads the Centric Consulting’s Chicago People & Change practice. Prior to joining Centric, Mark spent 13 years at Accenture and 2 years at KPMG. Mark has supported and led multiple engagements involving process and technology driven change management strategy definition and execution, leadership alignment, change leadership, operating model design, organization and job design, workforce planning, talent definition, and HR transformation. When not working, Mark loves spending time with his family (wife, two kids, dog). Mark loves spending time on the water and is usually found glued to the TV during college football season.

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About our sponsor Centric Consulting

Centric Consulting is a management and technology consulting firm recognized annually as one of Forbes' Best Management Consulting Firms since 2016. Centric helps organizations navigate complex transformation through Business Consulting services, including strategy, program management, and People and Change consulting, alongside technology solutions. Centric's Chicago-based People and Change team is an engaged partner in the regional change community, with a long-standing relationship with ACMP Midwest. Learn more: https://centricconsulting.com/

FREE! Members Only: CCMP 6-week Study Group (10/14/2026)

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 22:30:00 GMT

Free! Members Only: CCMP 6-week Study Group

Register by October 9th

Planning to earn your CCMP this year? This study group is perfect for those that have already committed to earning this credential and just need a little extra support before taking the exam. The study group will meet on Wednesday evenings from 5:30 - 6:30 pm from October 14th - November 18th.

The study group will help you become familiar with the ACMP Standard as well as help you prepare for the CCMP exam. These weekly one-hour sessions will feature instruction, peer discussions, and weekly practices quizzes, culminating in a 150-question practice exam.

To be eligible to participate, you must be a member of the ACMP Midwest chapter AND emailed proof of completion of your CCMP exam application by September 30 to lpd.director@acmpmidwest.org.

The sessions will be facilitated by Jeff Bailey, PhD, PMP, CCMP. Jeff lives in downstate Illinois. He passed his CCMP in December 2020 and has shared some of his study materials with other certification candidates in the last year, which inspired him to step forward and help the Midwest Chapter. Jeff has been helping organizations change for 30 years. He has spent the last 15 years facilitating the change process generated by large information system implementations within a variety of public and private sector organizations throughout the US. Jeff also helped a variety of clients in the Chicagoland area as an independent consultant in the 1990s and early 2000s developing learning and performance support solutions. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Northeast Missouri State (now Truman State), his masters from Northern Illinois University, and his PhD from Benedictine University.

From OCM-Driven to Workforce-Led Change Adoption (10/16/2026)

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 17:00:00 GMT

From OCM-Driven to Workforce-Led Change Adoption

Organizations are navigating continuous transformation, yet many still rely on a traditional model where OCM teams are expected to drive adoption, engagement, and readiness for the entire workforce. As the pace and volume of change intensify, this approach is no longer scalable. The future requires a shift from OCM-driven execution to leader-enabled and workforce-led change adoption.

This session presents a modern perspective on rebalancing roles across the organization so that leaders and employees are equipped—not dependent. Attendees will explore how OCM can evolve into a strategic enabler that builds capability, strengthens emotional resilience, and embeds change leadership into everyday work. The session will outline what it looks like when leaders take on “micro-OCM” responsibilities and when employees are empowered to manage their own change experience with confidence.

Through practical examples and a forward-looking framework, the session will help participants rethink how their organizations can prepare for continuous change by shifting ownership, redefining expectations, and building long-term resilience across the workforce.

About the Speaker:

Asel Abu-Alshaeer is a Senior Manager at Yash Technologies specializing in enterprise transformation, change adoption, and capability-building. She helps leaders and teams become confident drivers of change by applying practical, future-ready OCM strategies that strengthen resilience, accelerate adoption, and build organizations capable of leading change from within.

Building a Change Management Center of Excellence - Sponsored by Judge Learning Solutions (11/04/2026)

Wed, 04 Nov 2026 18:15:00 GMT

Building a Change Management Center of Excellence

Sponsored by Judge Learning Solutions

Every change practitioner eventually hits the same wall: individual projects go well, but the organization never builds lasting change capability. The fixes are ad hoc, the lessons don't transfer, and each new initiative starts from scratch...

A Center of Excellence (CoE) is how you break that cycle but only if it's built with intention. Stand it up too fast and it becomes a dusty shelf binder no one opens. Stand it up too slowly and you lose the momentum that made the case for it in the first place.

In this interactive session, we'll work through what actually makes a change management CoE stick, whether you're building one from inside an organization or helping a client build theirs as an outside consultant. Kevin will cover:

How to scope a CoE that matches your organization's actual appetite for change maturity
The first 90 days: what to prioritize, what to skip, and how to show value before you have a track record
Governance structures that support practitioners instead of slowing them down
How the embedded practitioner's playbook differs from the external consultants
Common reasons CoEs stall out after a strong launch, and how to avoid them

This will be an interactive session, not a lecture. Come ready to ask questions, interact, engage, and share what's worked (or hasn't) in your own organization. You'll leave with a framework you can start applying immediately.

Who should attend: Change practitioners, OCM consultants, program leads, and anyone tasked with building or scaling change capability, whether you're CCMP-certified, new to the field, or responsible for "figuring it out" as you go.

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About our facilitator: Kevin Rillo, Vice President, OCM Center of Excellence, Judge Learning Solutions

Kevin has over 35 years of experience in human resources, learning development, and organizational change working in large, complex, matrixed organizations. He has led global initiatives and teams to foster greater results through better people performance. Kevin worked for over 17 years with Accenture as both an external and internal human-capital consultant in all areas of Change Management and Talent Development, from strategy to implementation. Kevin joined Judge Learning Solutions in 2014 as an account executive. And since that time, has been focused on driving The Judge Group’s organizational change management capability along with their entire learning solutions. He is active in several professional associations such as ACMP, ODNet, and ATD Chicago. He also served on the Board of Directors for Chicago ISPI. Kevin is a two-time Indiana University alumnus, holding an MBA in Organizational Change and Behavior and an MS in Instructional Systems.

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About our sponsor Judge Learning Solutions

Judge Learning Solutions, part of The Judge Group, an international leader in business technology consulting and talent solutions, specializes in helping organizations navigate change with confidence. With field-tested strategies and custom programs trusted by Fortune 1000 companies, Judge delivers the full spectrum of change management resources: quality talent, cutting-edge technology solutions, and impactful training programs. Ready to lead change, not just manage it? Learn more at Judge.com

Empowering Teams Through Self-Organization (11/16/2026)

Mon, 16 Nov 2026 18:00:00 GMT

Empowering Teams Through Self-Organization

Talk about a change management program— in 2022 my organization embarked on a journey to become less-hierarchical by leveraging self-organization not only in teams, but also at the system level.

From my perspectives as chief of staff tasked with helping to design and implement this change, and as a Northwestern lecturer in the MSLOC program, I will share insights about why such a change matters and how one goes about creating a human-centric approach to organizational change.

Attendees will gain actionable insights into how one might approach a new way of working that requires not only shifts on mental models of what work is now to how to engage with the entire organization to learn, design and experiment with new ways of working.

About the Speaker:

Maggie Lewis is a change leader who specializes in designing human-centered work experiences, empowering teams, and fostering self-organizing, Agile environments. She is a proponent of changing systems through the application of design thinking methodologies which include experimentation and co-creation.

ACMP Midwest New Member Connect (02/12/2027)

Fri, 12 Feb 2027 18:00:00 GMT

We invite you to join the ACMP Midwest New Member Connect, a 45‑minute informal session created to welcome and orient our newest members.

You’ll gain a clear understanding of who we are, how to get involved, and the many benefits available to you.

Connect with other change management professionals and start building your network within our vibrant community.

It’s the perfect first step in your ACMP Midwest experience.

ACMP Midwest New Member Connect (04/09/2027)

Fri, 09 Apr 2027 17:00:00 GMT

We invite you to join the ACMP Midwest New Member Connect, a 45‑minute informal session created to welcome and orient our newest members.

You’ll gain a clear understanding of who we are, how to get involved, and the many benefits available to you.

Connect with other change management professionals and start building your network within our vibrant community.

It’s the perfect first step in your ACMP Midwest experience.

ACMP Midwest New Member Connect (06/11/2027)

Fri, 11 Jun 2027 17:00:00 GMT

We invite you to join the ACMP Midwest New Member Connect, a 45‑minute informal session created to welcome and orient our newest members.

You’ll gain a clear understanding of who we are, how to get involved, and the many benefits available to you.

Connect with other change management professionals and start building your network within our vibrant community.

It’s the perfect first step in your ACMP Midwest experience.

ACMP Midwest New Member Connect (08/13/2027)

Fri, 13 Aug 2027 17:00:00 GMT

We invite you to join the ACMP Midwest New Member Connect, a 45‑minute informal session created to welcome and orient our newest members.

You’ll gain a clear understanding of who we are, how to get involved, and the many benefits available to you.

Connect with other change management professionals and start building your network within our vibrant community.

It’s the perfect first step in your ACMP Midwest experience.

ACMP Midwest New Member Connect (10/08/2027)

Fri, 08 Oct 2027 17:00:00 GMT

We invite you to join the ACMP Midwest New Member Connect, a 45‑minute informal session created to welcome and orient our newest members.

You’ll gain a clear understanding of who we are, how to get involved, and the many benefits available to you.

Connect with other change management professionals and start building your network within our vibrant community.

It’s the perfect first step in your ACMP Midwest experience.