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2024 Virtual Return to Work Conference, May 14-16

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iRelaunch and PowerToFly

About our Partnership

What is PowerToFly?

PowerToFly's mission is to fast-track economic equality by upskilling and connecting underrepresented talent to roles in highly visible sectors.

They achieve their mission daily through connecting diverse talent to free live virtual events with decision makers from companies, whether they're looking to change their career or they’re happy in their current role. They also feature upskilling content and host summits with industry leaders creating diverse, inclusive and equitable workplaces.

They are women-led, intersectional and focus on empowering underrepresented talent across all races, ages, ethnicities, sexual orientations, abilities, veteran statuses and gender identities. They welcome allies.

Learn more about PowerToFly here!

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March 2023

Returnships During Economic Uncertainty: Implications For Employers And Returning Professionals

If there is a 2023 recession, it will be the third recession in 15 years. During this session with Carol Fishman Cohen, Co-Founder & CEO of iRelaunch we’ll discuss the history of returnships in the past two recessions and how that informs us going forward during this period of economic uncertainty. How will the overwhelming layoffs in the tech sector impact the opportunities for returners in the short and long term? Looking very long term, will the expectation of a future 100-year life and 60-year career change the outlook for career reentry programs?

Watch the recording of this session!
February 2023 Power To Fly Employer Session
February 2023

Now is the Time to Propose a Career Reentry Program

With demand for gender and other types of diverse high-caliber talent continuing robustly as we enter 2023, now is an excellent time for visionary Recruiting and HR leaders to propose a career reentry program. Career reentry programs enable employers to tap into the hidden and high caliber pool of mid-career professionals returning to work after multi-year career breaks. iRelaunch refers to this experienced population as "relaunchers." This talent pool is primarily female and consists of those who have taken career breaks for a range of reasons unrelated to their work performance. Join iRelaunch Managing Director Elizabeth Gish to learn key steps to creating a career reentry program and hear about the latest innovations and best practices in programming.

Watch the recording of this session!
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September 2022

Early Career Connections & Mid-Career Pivots: Reflect, Reimagine, And Relaunch: Pivoting Your Career After A Break

Career breaks can be a time to develop new interests, passions and skills. Reflect on these new insights, reimagine your ideal role, and leverage these experiences into a successful career relaunch. This talk, led by one of iRelaunch's Managing Directors, Elizabeth Gish shares success stories and tips on how to apply your new experiences to your elevator pitch, and ultimately, a new career.

Watch the recording of Elizabeth's session!
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July 2022

Tech in India - A Celebration: Relaunching Your Career After a Career Break

Based in Mumbai, Nivedita Joshi Naithani is a Managing Director at iRelaunch and an accomplished global HR leader with over 25 years of experience.

Nivedita's session provides valuable perspective and guidance for professionals looking to relaunch their careers after extended leave for childcare, eldercare, or other reasons. It also includes critical topics which relaunchers want to know: from specific qualities that are looked for during the selection process to advice for the ones who are returning either after a short break or a very long one, you won't want to miss this session!

Watch the recording of Nivedita's session!
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March 2022

The pandemic impact on relaunching careers and on employer career reentry programs

How has the pandemic impacted those who withdrew from the workforce during Covid and those who were on career break before that time? What has been the impact of Covid on employer return to work programs and the experience of relaunchers who are returning to work through these programs or on their own? And what does this mean for future relaunchers: is it a step back or a step forward for them? Hear from Carol Fishman Cohen, the iRelaunch CEO who has been working on return to work programs for nearly 20 years, as she discusses these questions from the relauncher and employer perspectives.

Watch the recording of Carol's session!
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November 2021

Diversity Reboot: Supporting Veterans and Military Spouses Summit

Military spouses are all too familiar with the often frequent stops and starts that mar professional aspirations while living the military life. Veterans know that transitioning out of active duty military service and into civilian employment can be wrought with challenges. The good news is even when a resume contains gaps, stretches of underemployment, arrangements of consulting work and/or time spent volunteering, viable employment opportunities still exist. Tune into this panel of military spouses and veterans to hear them explain their nonlinear professional journeys and how they ultimately landed successful, fulfilling careers.

Watch the recording of this session!
Power To Fly September 2021 Mid Career Pivot Summit
September 2021

Diversity Reboot: The Early Career Connections & Mid-Career Pivots Summit

Women revolutionized the workforce by entering professions in record numbers, but many stepped off the career track to care for their families. Now, these same women are forging new career paths by proving that they can return to challenging, meaningful careers after a break, and so can you. Back on the Career Track shows you how they are doing it and helps you learn from their successes and challenges. Step-by-step exercises, inspiring stories, sample resumes, and resource lists round out this engaging, well-researched look at when, how, and why women are returning to work after career breaks of a few months or many years. It offers the perfect first step and a handy resource to regularly reference as you successfully relaunch your own career. Did you leave the workforce during Covid or before? Employer return to work programs are effective vehicles for engaging with a wide range of non-traditional professionals to bring diverse talent into organizations. PowerToFly invited iRelaunch CEO & Co-Founder, Carol Fishman Cohen, to educate the audience on the origin of return to work programs as gender diversity initiatives, how they have evolved to address a broader range of diversity goals, and the impact of Covid and tighter labor markets on program eligibility guidelines. Carol also touches on the leadership opportunity open to visionary HR professionals who propose launching an in-house return to work program at their employer.

Watch the recording of Carol's session!
Power To Fly September 2021 Q and A Session Event Square
September 2021

Free and Low Cost Upskilling and Reskilling Resources with PowerToFly's Amy Trappey

Many of our relaunchers want to upskill or reskill but they fall into two categories:

  • those who want to learn the latest office productivity tools, and
  • those who need to upskill in higher level tech knowledge like programming and coding languages, data science, cybersecurity and other technical fields

Join Carol Fishman Cohen for this Q&A session with PowerToFly's Head of Customer Success, Amy Trappey as they walk through each of these categories and discuss specific resources for each.

In this Q&A session, Carol and Amy will discuss the answer to questions such as...

  • What skills are you expected to "come to the table" with vs. what skills can you learn on the job?
  • What is your opinion on setting up and adding to a GitHub portfolio to archive tech projects from coursework?
  • What is GitHub and how does it work? Do you pay for it?
  • Do you have suggestions for other options for archiving and featuring technical projects?
  • Are there any credentials or skills that are especially valuable or in demand with employers?
  • Are there any specific courses or certificates that are highly recommended?
  • And more!
Watch the recording of Amy's session!
What Are Hiring Managers Looking For in a Returnship Candidate
August 2021

PowerToFly Chat n Learn with iRelaunch's Jennifer Howland

Have you taken a career break for any reason? You may be a relauncher and not even know it!

In this chat with Jennifer Howland you'll learn:

  • What a returnship is and why is there a need for them
  • The different kinds of returnships that are available
  • What hiring managers are looking for in returnship candidates
Watch the recording of Jennifer's session!
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June 2021

Fashion, Tech and New Beginnings: The Amazing Career Journey of Anna Nguyen

We presented this talk in partnership with PowerToFly during their Pride at Work Summit, part of PowerToFly's Diversity Reboot Series.

Anna Nguyen is a proud transgender woman, and currently works as an Advisory Engineer at IBM after joining IBM through the 2018 cohort of IBM's Tech Re-Entry Program. Anna took a 3 year career break to explore a personal lifelong passion: fashion, working as a pattern maker for an up-and-coming fashion designer, and modeling in Fashion Weeks in New York City, London, Los Angeles and Kochi, India. We talk to Anna about her amazing journey of self-discovery and share tips for anyone who is looking to pivot or relaunch their career.

Watch the recording of Anna's session!
Power to fly return to work summit march 2021
March 2021

Returning to Work Summit

A Conversation with the Co-Founder of iRelaunch on the Future of Returnships

In March of 2021, PowerToFly hosted Carol Fishman Cohen for a conversation with Lauren Hagerty, PowerToFly's Director of Marketing & Community as part of their Diversity Reboot Series, where the March event focused on Returning to Work. In this chat with Lauren, Carol shares her thoughts on the future of reentry in a pandemic world.

Watch the recording of Carol's talk!