TOLEDO – EPIC Toledo will gather emerging and established professionals on Nov. 7 at the Renaissance Hotel Downtown for a day of inspiration and insight at its annual Leadership Summit.
EPIC Toledo is a young professional group that operates through the Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce.
The event brings upward of over 250 young professionals and it is held every year in November.
“We have our leadership summit every November, the first Friday, and it is our biggest event of the year,” said Riley Runnells, manager of EPIC Toledo.
The event brings upward of over 250 young professionals and it is held every year in November. “They [young professionals] are able to listen to a couple of keynote speakers, hear some panels on hot-button topics right now, and find opportunities for them to network with one another,” Runnells said.
From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., the event will feature a dynamic lineup of speakers and panels. There will be two keynote speakers and three panels with four panelists on each.
Karen Eber, CEO Eber Leadership Group Author, and Jameil Aossey, Grammy award winning music producer, will be the two keynote speakers.
The Mental Health panelists will be Dr. Phil Atkins, chief care coordination officer at Harbor, Rosie Best, artistic director at Issue Box Theatre, Marriah Kornowa, executive director at NAMI Greater Toledo, and Carissa Wott, clinical psychologist and co-owner of The Anxiety Treatment Center of Greater Toledo.
The Downtown Development panelists will be Ambrea Mikolajczyk, owner of ARK Restoration and Construction, Stephanie Pilgrim, owner of The Mez, Scott Prephan, President of Prephan Enterprises and Meredith Soleau, President of 424 Degrees.
“We work to serve all of the region’s young professionals through three goals: to introduce young professionals to job opportunities in the area, to introduce young professionals to one another so that they can have a better time making friends locally, and then to introduce young professionals to the community and what’s going on in Toledo,” Runnells said.
She said there will be a time for people to ask questions to the speakers and panelists.
“Our networking happy hour in the afternoon from 3 to 5 will have the option for young professionals to ask any questions they might not have gotten to ask during the program to our panelists and speakers that choose to stay,” Runnells said.
She expressed that it is important to provide different opportunities to young professionals and to make sure they gain valuable insight.
“To have a program like EPIC Toledo where we’re providing our young professionals with these very unique and limited to other community opportunities where they can have face-to-face time with local leaders and leaders from out of our region,” Runnells said.
She said people are able to gain a lot of insight through the professional development series and through all of the member benefits that they get.
“We at the Toledo Chamber and through Epic Toledo believe in investing in our young professionals,” Runnells said.
Event Schedule:
9 a.m.: Leaders and Launchers Coffee Hour
10 a.m.: EPIC/Chamber Opening Remarks
10:15 a.m.: Karen Eber Keynote and Q&A
11:45 a.m.: Lunch
12:15 p.m.: Mentor Panel
1:15 p.m.: Breakout Sessions
– Downtown Development Panel
– Mental Health Panel
2:15 p.m.: Jameil Aossey Keynote
3:00 p.m.: Closing Remarks with Andrew Smigelski
3:05 p.m.: Nonprofit Board Fair/Happy Hour
