On October 8, 2019, The Lesley H. and William L. Collins College of Professional Studies held its first ever Graduate Student Professional Development Night. This special event featured Lisa Panarello, the founder and CEO of Careers Advance, a multi-faceted professional development firm with a broad array of training specialties, including emotional intelligence, interpersonal communication, leadership savvy, personal branding, and public speaking.
The event was held from 7:00 pm – 9:30 pm in the D’Angelo Center, Room 416ABC and started with a welcome message from Collins College of Professional Studies Dean, Katia Passerini. The keynote speaker, Lisa Panarello followed with an interesting talk about how Emotional Intelligence (E.I.) is the key to leadership potential. She discussed how to develop this intelligence, while simultaneously developing a solid 30-60-90-day plan for transitioning into a new role and maintaining a relevant, sustainable brand in today's competitive landscape. Roundtable discussions followed and were led by some industry professionals including: Marie Shea, Director of Sales & Marketing, Holiday Inn LaGuardia Airport Hotel; Katelyn Werthmuller, Residential Concierge, The Ritz-Carlton Residences, North Hills and Azerean Cameron, RN, MS OB/GYN QA Manager, New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital. Students discussed topics such as surviving week one, surviving month one, handling challenges in the workplace, handing challenges with coworkers, position challenges and first-year challenges.
The purpose of this event was to empower aspiring and recently established professionals to achieve their career goals. The event was a success and the planning for future professional development events is already in the works.