2016 Diversity Business Symposium and Career Fair bigger, better
June 20, 2016 The 9th Annual Diversity Career Fair and Business Symposium will be held June 22-23 at the Radisson in Merrillville. Once again, the two-day affair will bring the subjects of diversity and inclusion to the forefront of Northwest Indiana, and this year’s symposium will be bigger and better than in years past. The event is hosted by IN Business, Monster.com, and the NWI Times M ...   Read More »
June 20, 2016
The 9th Annual Diversity Career Fair and Business Symposium will be held June 22-23 at the Radisson in Merrillville. Once again, the two-day affair will bring the subjects of diversity and inclusion to the forefront of Northwest Indiana, and this year’s symposium will be bigger and better than in years past.
The event is hosted by IN Business, Monster.com, and the NWI Times Media Company. Major sponsors of the event include BP, NIPSCO, Work One, The Center of Workforce Innovations, HealthLinc, Tradewinds and NWI SHRM.
Additional sponsors and vendors, just to name a few, include Centier Bank, Strack & Van Til, Horizon Bank, Community Healthcare Systems, McDonald’s, JMJ Talent Solutions, City of Valparaiso, Blue Chip Casino, Lake County Library and many more. Please visit nwi.com/diversity for a complete list of participating companies.
The Business Symposium will begin at 8 a.m. on June 22 with registration for HR professionals, hiring managers, and corporate recruiters.
After opening remarks, Violet G. Sistovaris, executive vice president of NIPSCO, will be the keynote speaker. Sistovaris serves as the senior executive at NIPSCO, NiSource’s Indiana gas and electric utility. She is responsible for the operations, regulatory policy and compliance functions at NIPSCO, while ensuring premier service delivery to its 1.1 million customers across the state.
An in-depth roundtable discussion will follow, moderated by Christopher D. Smith. Smith is currently the vice president of Human Resources at NiSource, supporting the NIPSCO Business Unit. NIPSCO is the largest gas and electric provider in the state, servicing Northwest Indiana. The company has approximately 2,700 employees and serves 450,000 electric customers and 785,000 gas customers. Smith has more than ten years of Labor and Human Resources experience across multiple industries and with multiple Fortune 500 Companies.
Guest speaker Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson will also share her story. Mayor Freeman-Wilson is the first woman to lead the steel city of Gary, and the first African-American female mayor in Indiana. She was valedictorian of her graduating class at Roosevelt High School and went on to graduate from Harvard College and from Harvard Law School.
After lunch, breakout sessions will be held, and guest speakers Jonathan Ray and Becky Matanic will discuss veteran and disabled outreach programs, respectively. Ray serves as a Local Veteran Employment Representative (LVER) for Work One, which is part of the Department of Workforce Development for the State of Indiana. Matanic is a U.S. Army Veteran and serves as the Disabled Veteran Outreach Program (DVOP) Specialist at Work One. She holds an associate’s degree in paralegal studies.
Work One will conduct one session on translation of a military resumé, and another session on financial incentives available to companies that participate in diversity and inclusion programs.
Annette Walker, intake specialist from Tradewinds Services, will conduct a session on the benefits of hiring/working with individuals with special needs. Another session will be conducted on why to hire a veteran, taught by Bob Carnagey, employment specialist at Indiana National Guard, and Cyndi Harbin from NWI SHRM.
Day two will be highlighted by a career fair for job seekers on June 23. Registration is available online at nwi.com/diversity. Job seekers will be able to discuss current and future openings with the sponsors/vendors listed within this section. For a complete list of vendors please visit nwi.com/diversity.
NWI SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management), and Lake County Library will conduct resumé critiquing. The sessions are designed to help those who feel the need for modifications to their resumé. The NWI SHRM will also conduct a session on interviewing skills. Those who feel confident will have the opportunity to talk directly to representatives of the many companies on hand.
Over the years, local companies have reached out to job seekers at the career fair, and this year will see over 30 companies on hand. In addition, businesses like Work One, Staff Source, and JMJ Talent represent dozens of other companies looking for qualified and motivated job seekers.
The Times Media Company is proud to be part of a program rich in diverse culture and opportunity.
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