Metro Milwaukee SHRM upcoming events

September 2026 - Chapter Meeting (September 22, 2026)

Tue, 22 Sep 2026 13:00:00 GMT

Session 1: Data Storytelling for HR Professionals: Turn your People Insights into Action!

HR teams collect a wealth of data—on engagement, retention, performance, DEI, and more—but numbers alone rarely spark change. What if your next presentation didn’t just share metrics, but inspired leaders to take action that improves workplace culture, improve retention, and strengthens the employee experience?

In this interactive session, Kaitlin Henze of storytelling with data will share her personal journey in the HR field and how the skill of analyzing, visualizing, and presenting data has helped her establish credibility with leaders and accelerate organizational change. Kaitlin currently works alongside Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic, best selling author, CEO, and previous leader of the Google People Analytics team. In this session, you will learn five practical techniques to design clear, meaningful, and compelling graphs and communicate people insights that resonate with leaders and peers.

Mastering the superpower of data storytelling will set you apart from other HR professionals by helping you:

Establish credibility and strategic influence with business leaders
Turn analytics into action that shapes culture and employee experience
Stand out in a field where data expertise sets you apart

To wrap up, Kaitlin will share how we can help kids develop life long data skills through Daphne Draws Data, illustrating our broader mission of growing a future talent pipeline of data minded leaders. Check out the Data Detectives program to learn how your organization can participate in this amazing opportunity!

Learning Objectives

Transform HR Metrics into Stories: Learn how to convert complex HR data—engagement, turnover, DEI, and more—into narratives that inspire leaders to act. Discover practical techniques to create clear, impactful charts and dashboards that make trends and opportunities impossible to ignore.

Influence Company leadership: Build credibility and trust with executives by presenting data that connects directly to business priorities and culture goals.

Drive Organizational Change: Gain strategies to move beyond reporting to motivating action that improves employee experience and workplace culture.

Accelerate Your HR Career: Develop a critical skill set that sets you apart in the HR field and positions you as a strategic, data-savvy leader.

Meet the Speaker

Kaitlin brings over a decade of experience in the HR field across many industries. Kaitlin recently transitioned to the data communication space, helping adults and children learn powerful data visualization and presentation skills that inspire people to act. As the Education and Outreach Specialist at storytelling with data, she builds relationships with schools, community organizations, and businesses that are passionate about growing the future talent pipeline of data minded leaders. With a background in relationship development, workshop facilitation, and project management, Kaitlin cultivates relationships to help us fulfill our mission of developing data drawing superpowers in all kids.

Session 2: Influencing Without Authority: Four Practitioner Habits that Build Trust and Drive Change

HR professionals are expected to shape culture, policy, and outcomes across an organization they don’t run. You don’t own the P&L, the org chart, or the final decision —yet you’re expected to move people, change minds, and get initiatives adopted anyway. In this practitioner session, Kristin Strunk draws on 25+ years leading through influence —not title—to share four simple, repeatable habits that build the trust and credibility real influence requires:

Creating psychological safety
Modeling the behavior you want to see
Giving credit generously
Listening more than you talk

None of it depends on your position on the org chart. You’ll leave with specific phrases and moves you can use in your next meeting to build trust, defuse resistance, and get buy-in from people you don’t manage.

Learning Objectives

Build Psychological Safety Without Formal Authority: Use emotional intelligence, consistency, and space for safe disagreement to earn trust from peers and leaders you don’t manage.
Model the Behavior You Want To See: Learn how modeling ethical behavior, honesty, and accountability builds influence that formal authority can’t buy.
Give Credit to Build Capital: Understand why generously crediting others’ contributions—especially when things go wrong—is one of the fastest ways to earn real influence.
Listen More Than You Talk: Practice specific active-listening phrases (“Tell me more,” “What am I missing?”) that invite collaboration and make your influence stick.

Meet the Speaker

Kristin Strunk helps leaders build trust, engage their teams, and lead beyond their formal authority. With more than 25 years of experience in HR and organizational leadership, Kristin has spent her career influencing outcomes she didn’t control— building credibility with executives, peers, and teams through consistency, not title. Kristin’s practitioner-first approach favors simple, repeatable habits over complicated frameworks, giving leaders at every level concrete moves they can use in their very next conversation. Through coaching and workshops, she helps leaders and their teams perform at a high level, build trust, and leave a leadership legacy. Kristin speaks regularly to HR and business audiences on responsible leadership, feedback, and redesigning legacy HR systems for a faster-moving, less predictable business environment.

All sessions are pending HRCI & SHRM Certification. Stay Tuned!

November 2026 - Chapter Meeting (November 05, 2026)

Thu, 05 Nov 2026 17:30:00 GMT

Preventing and De-Escalating "Crisis Moments" at Work

This presentation will present the “why” of challenging behaviors at work, and will focus on de-escalation skills and practices that will improve worker wellbeing and a more supportive work environment.

Learning Objectives

1. Give an overview to explain why people are more anxious and how anxiety can amplify workplace issues

2. Show how CPI principles, which are grounded in neuroscience research, can help workers understand and better manage workplace violence

3. Provide attendees with an understanding of how to recognize their own signs of dysregulation and quick tactics for getting back to calm.

Meet the Speaker

Susan Driscoll is President and Chief Customer Officer of Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI) and has been with the company since 2017, focusing on growth initiatives, customer insights and global thought leadership. She has extensive experience in both healthcare and higher education training. Founded in 1980 and based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, CPI is the leading global provider of de-escalation and restrictive intervention training to organizations and workers with a Duty to Care. The training focuses on the Care, Welfare, Safety, and Security^SM of staff members and the people they serve with evidence-based, trauma-informed crisis prevention approaches.

All sessions are pending HRCI & SHRM Certification. Stay Tuned!

December 2026 - Winter Social (December 03, 2026)

Thu, 03 Dec 2026 06:00:00 GMT

More Details Coming Soon

All sessions are pending HRCI & SHRM Certification. Stay Tuned!

February 2027 - Chapter Meeting (February 09, 2027)

Tue, 09 Feb 2027 14:00:00 GMT

More Details Coming Soon

All sessions are pending HRCI & SHRM Certification. Stay Tuned!

March 2027 - Chapter Meeting (March 09, 2027)

Tue, 09 Mar 2027 14:00:00 GMT

AI: The Future of Work is More Human Than You Think

Everywhere we look, AI is dominated by tech-first conversations: automated tasks, massive data sets, and rapid efficiency. But behind every algorithm is the organization that must navigate it—and that’s exactly where leadership comes in. Join us for an engaging Program Meeting with Kerry Mitchell, CEO of GYSTiq, as she flips the AI narrative on its head. In this eye-opening presentation, “AI: The Future of Work is More Human Than You Think,” Kerry will challenge the room to look beyond the software. You’ll discover why the rise of AI doesn't diminish the need for strong leadership; instead, it exponentially raises the value of uniquely human traits like judgment, trust, and empathy. Come ready for an interactive discussion, practical leadership strategies, and a fresh perspective on how to guide your organization through the next major shift in modern business.

Learning Objectives

Objective 1: Identify how rapid technological shifts trigger predictable human anxieties and performance gaps within a workforce.

Objective 2: Utilize a five-part core competency framework to lead, realign, and engage teams through major digital transitions.

Objective 3: Implement proactive communication strategies that cut through organizational uncertainty and reduce employee change resistance.

Objective 4: Build change management plans that reframe technological adoption into a clear catalyst for workforce upskilling and development.

Meet the Speaker

Kerry Mitchell is the CEO and Co-Founder of GYSTiq and an executive HR consultant with over 30 years of experience advising CEOs, CFOs, and General Counsel. A specialist in organizational growth and human capital strategy, Kerry helps leaders bring clarity to complex business issues, build high-performing company infrastructures, and drive both margin expansion and positive employee engagement across the private, public, and non-profit sectors.

All sessions are pending HRCI & SHRM Certification. Stay Tuned!

June 2027 - Chapter Meeting (June 08, 2027)

Tue, 08 Jun 2027 13:00:00 GMT

More Details Coming Soon

All sessions are pending HRCI & SHRM Certification. Stay Tuned!