NEWaukee announced today it plans to add accelerators for professionals in the sales and talent acquisition fields.
The social architecture organization will offer a six-month Sales Network Accelerator consisting of three classes, three field studies, module workbooks and one-on-one coaching from professionals working in the industry. It’s aimed at those new to the sales field.
Angela Damiani, chief executive officer of NEWaukee, said the sales accelerator is similar to NEWaukee’s existing ChooseMKE program.
“That has been targeted towards interns or brand new hires as a way to make sure they feel uber connected to the city,” she said. “People who are in sales have this emphasis on building a network, but there really is no forum for that to take place.”
And NEWaukee’s Talent Acquisition Guild will provide in-depth education on Milwaukee and its professional and lifestyle attributes via a 50-person, yearlong cohort. The Guild would serve as a club for talent acquisition professionals of all experience levels to learn best practices, network with their peers and learn more about Milwaukee. The TA Guild will hold quarterly meetings that include a national keynote speaker and learning sessions on Milwaukee neighborhoods and history; technology and startup ecosystem; Milwaukee quirks; and sports and recreation.
The aim, Damiani said, is to go beyond pointing out Milwaukee’s museums and baseball stadiums, since cities everywhere have those.
“Most of our clients are in the talent acquisition space and we hear all the time that it’s really hard to sell the City of Milwaukee,” she said. ”We just don’t think that should be a thing anymore. I personally have a theory that the folks in talent acquisition are on the front line for us as it relates to the perception of a city.”
The organization, which focuses on young professional talent attraction and retention, has only recently entered the talent accelerator field. NEWaukee also last week announced it will collaborate with The Commons and Startup Milwaukee to host civic accelerator co:lab to apply entrepreneurial thinking to social challenges.
“In some ways it feels like it’s new, but also it’s a natural extension of the things we’re already doing,” Damiani said. “We’re just packaging it in a way that’s intentional for the end user. We have been receiving, in the last year or so, a real intentional request that has been repeated from myriad sources around, ‘I want to do something more. I want to get more involved.’”
The new programs are set to begin early next year.
