Zurich welcomes Chicago nonprofits to SkillShare Summit

Chicago nonprofit professionals invest so much in others. Zurich’s 2019 SkillShare Summit gave them a day to invest in themselves, while providing Zurich employees an opportunity for skills-based volunteering.

The eighth annual Zurich SkillShare Summit in October welcomed approximately 100 nonprofit staff and leaders to Zurich’s Schaumburg, Illinois, headquarters, where Zurich employees led professional development workshops on topics such as how to foster an innovation mindset and how to build your personal brand.

“Nonprofits often don’t have the budget for this sort of training, and giving back to communities is something our employees tell us they value most about working at Zurich,” said Andrea Davis, Director of Employee Experience & Culture at Zurich North America. “Our SkillShare Summit is a win-win for nonprofit employees and our people.”

Networking is a key benefit of the SkillShare Summit for repeat attendee Jordan Friedman, executive director at HandsOn Suburban Chicago, an organization that connects people with purpose through volunteering.

“It’s not often that nonprofits are able to meet one another and interface with a for-profit entity like Zurich,” Friedman said. “Hearing a corporate perspective can whet our appetite to think differently about what we’re doing as nonprofits.”

One SkillShare session, presented by members of Zurich’s legal teams, covered effective interviewing and hiring practices in a time of evolving laws on salary questions and marijuana use. Other sessions encouraged thinking about diversity and inclusion and mentoring in more holistic ways.

Levell Baker, a program manager for YWCA Metropolitan Chicago, said it’s not easy to step away from the normal workday, but he was glad he did.

“It’s kind of like a mini-conference – hitting on key points that normally would be presented over a two- or three-day conference,” Baker said. “I appreciate that as a busy manager. It was very valuable.”