The conference, hosted by JAYRAMON LLC, a business strategy
and leadership development company, took place Wednesday,
October 25 through Friday October 27, 2017 at the Holiday
Inn French Quarter in Perrysburg, Ohio. Its purpose – to
bring together African-American professionals and allies
from Ohio and bordering states, including Illinois, “for a
unique learning experience centered in the areas of
L.I.F.T. - Leadership, Influence, Focus and Talent.”
This well-attended symposium brought together professionals
from different industries and disciplines into an
interactive learning environment that allowed attendees to
be enriched through short presentations, panel discussions,
intimate Q & A sessions and social networking with vetted
professionals.
The conference kicked off Wednesday evening with an opening
reception and short talk from Adam Levine, Ph.D. associate
director of the Toledo Museum of Art who spoke about talent.
The evening’s highlight was the keynote address from speaker
Lawrence James Jr., PhD, of RHR International (Chicago, IL).
James shared with the audience his work and research
pertaining to the career advancement of African-American
individuals.
Thursday attendees experienced a full day of conference
sessions including an exhibitor hall and evening mixer.
Toledo native Philip Cunningham of McGraw Hill opened the
conference day with a short talk on transformation. Sharing
some of his own experiences of growth, he bridged his
transformative experience into leadership with a call to
action. “There are allies in this room that have act as our
[Leaders] updraft to help us get into the air to soar.”
Local entrepreneur, Deborah Rayford, noted that an impactful
moment was hearing conference host, Jason Daniels, president
and chief operating officer of JAYRAMON LLC, say to the
audience during the keynote address on Thursday that
“Leaders show up!”
“It made the role of leadership that much clearer. No matter
what, as a leader you understand how important it is for you
to pull though. We [Leaders] show up regardless,” said
Rayford.
Thursday morning concluded a focus on allies which included
a talk from Jason Kucsma of Toledo Lucas County Public
Library. Kucsma spoke on inclusion using TLCPL’s community
example. The morning ended with a panel discussion featuring
V Jane Rosser- BGSU, PhD; Terry Awls- La-Z-Boy Inc; Darlene
Slaughter- United Way Worldwide; Jason Kucsma-TLCPL.
Following lunch, attendees heard from Carlos Jackson of the
Cleveland Clinic and Toledo’s own Prakash Karamchandani of
Balance Pan-Asian Grille, who told the room that “failure is
an opportunity to pivot.” The afternoon’s
Power and
Excellence panel discussion moderated by Alesha
Washington of the greater Cleveland Partnership featured Ira
Murry – K. Leroy Irvis Fellow and doctoral candidate at the
University of Pittsburgh, Prakash Karamchandani – Balance
Pan-Asian Grille, Carlos Jackson – Cleveland Clinic, along
with Kelli Daniels – JAYRAMON and conference host. The
afternoon concluded with an address from Terry Awls of
La-Z-Y Boy Inc. and closing discussion. Conference attendees
were then able to network with each other and the speakers
at an evening mixer.
The Champions of Leadership Community Breakfast with
speakers, Kelli Daniels- JAYRAMON; Rodney Eason- Principle
Business Enterprises, INC in Bowling Green, Ohio and Darlene
R. Slaughter- United Way Worldwide, Alexandria, Virginia,
was the culminating event of the three-day symposium. Eason
shared his three keys to success Build, Basic and Balance
while Slaughter let us know that we have to be purposeful
about our leadership, telling a captive audience that
Purposeful Leaders 1. Inspire 2. Achieve and 3. Become. She
shared with the audience that “Being a leader is about
sustained commitment,” that on each individual leader’s
journey “Where you are, is where you are supposed to be,
don’t rush it.” and that as you grow in leadership “Having
different strategies doesn’t equate to selling out.”
Attendees and community members gathered on the last day to
hear from closing speakers who did not come to put an end
the conversation, but actually left attendees ready to jump
in and converse more. Which is exactly what happened after
the official conference closing. For almost two hours
following there were small conversations happening in the
room and even a round table discussion with Darlene R.
Slaughter.
When asked about her conference experience, Ashley Bunn,
senior manager of Curriculum Development at Marco’s had this
to say “Attending the L.I.F.T. Conference was an invaluable
experience. I truly value the lessons and the concepts
provided by the various panelists and speakers. The
connections made and the relationships I’ve built as a
result of the conference will help me to advance my
professional career.”
Geared toward African-American professionals and allies, the
conference had a message that resonated seamlessly from each
speaker through all of the attendees. Jason Daniels,
described it best: “All of our speakers, who joined us, had
a different message but a similar one. I think those
messages were to keep investing in yourself professionally.
Also making sure, for the people that were there, they [the
speakers] were very real in sharing not only research and
data, but they were also real in sharing their experiences
about what it takes to be a solid standout professional at
work and in the community.”
L.I.F.T 2017- Midwest organizers Jason and Kelli Daniels of
JAYRAMON LLC. enlisted a plethora of corporate and
institutional sponsors and supporters. These organizations
include the Toledo City Paper, First Federal Bank, Block
Communications, Inc., Marco’s Pizza, ProMedica,
Owens-Illinois, McGraw-Hill (Columbus, OH), Cleveland Clinic
(Cleveland, OH), The Sojourner’s Truth, United Way Worldwide
(Alexandria, VA), Huntington Bank, Maumee Valley Country Day
School, Area Office On Aging of Northwest Ohio, Inc., Toledo
Lucas County Public Library, Lucas County Offices, Principle
Business Enterprises, Inc. (Bowling Green, OH), NAACP
(Toledo Branch), Lucas County Metropolitan Housing
Authority, Ellis Island Tea (Detroit, MI), The University of
Toledo Minority Business Development Center, JLJ Vision
Outreach, Cleveland Clinic, La-Z-Boy Furniture (Monroe, MI),
Overtime Apparel, Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce,
Bowling Green State University Center for Community and
Civic Engagement (Bowling Green, OH), and conference host
JAYRAMON LLC.
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