Conscious Coffee: Greening Your Business

Calling all Howard County businesses! Do you want to know the latest ways you to make your business (or any business) as “green” as possible?  Then join us on Thursday morning, August 11 from 9 – 10 am at the Howard County Conservancy’s beautiful property in Woodstock, Maryland,  for “Greening Your Business.”

From plastics to electricity to water usage, hear from Conservancy staff on their ongoing collaborations with local businesses. Afterwards, stay if you’re able, for the optional tour of the grounds (10 – 11 am) that includes gardens, walking trails, historic buildings, and more.


C3MD Networking Event: IN PERSON at Sapwood Cellars

Join us at Sapwood Cellars, 8980 MD-108 Suite MNO, Columbia, MD 21045, on Thursday afternoon, June 16th. We have two special guests, Camille Mazelev of Maze Consulting LLC and Kashonna Marrow of SK Leading Forward and Simply Kashonna, who will be sharing some of their thoughts, experiences, and expert advice about how they incorporate the four pillars in their businesses. You must register to attend this event. Can’t wait to see you in person.


Coffee & Collaboration: Higher Purpose

We want to hear from you! Grab your coffee and join us for a casual conversation around purpose-driven business.

Having a professional purpose and identity “gives your life meaning and motivation,” says Hatice Necla Keles, a professor in the Department of Organizational Management, at Bahcesehir University in Istanbul.  “Nothing gives you more energy than a clear purpose.” Without one, “even just getting out of bed every morning becomes a challenge.”
HBR 2/3/21

David Graeber, when he talks about meaningless work says “The moral and spiritual damage that comes from this situation is profound.  It is a scar across our collective soul. Yet virtually no one talks about it.”  Well, we’re going to talk about it…about how there is a more positive alternative. A more meaningful approach to business and our work lives that revolve around purpose.

Join us as we watch a short video presentation on the topic purposeful business followed by an open conversation and dialog around what it means for us on the ground in our daily lives while working in and leading our businesses and organizations.  Come share your thoughts and stories.


Coffee & Collaboration: Stakeholder Orientation

We want to hear from you! Grab your coffee and join us for a casual conversation (via Zoom) around stakeholder orientation in business.

If being a conscious business means prioritizing purpose beyond profit, then it stands to reason that running a conscious business requires an orientation or world view that looks at the larger picture beyond the bottom line and short-term results. This is where Stakeholder Orientation becomes critically important.

Join us as we watch a short video presentation on the topic of Stakeholder Orientation followed by open conversation and dialog around what it means for us on the ground in our daily lives while working in and leading our businesses and organizations. What does it look like to operate with a stakeholder orientation? How is this defined? Does this deviate from having a Shareholder orientation? Come share your thoughts and stories.

Hope to see you there.


What Does Conscious Leadership Look Like?

Don’t miss this virtual morning event for business owners, leaders, managers and entrepreneurs to ask What does conscious leadership like like? Team C3MD will host and moderate, and YOU get to bring your questions and your insights to this morning discussion. Register today, and we’ll send your zoom link, and a reminder the day before!

Have your coffee ready at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, 11-16. We can’t wait to see you!


Ignite Howard County #6

Ignite Howard County is back! Join us October 25, 2021 at Jailbreak Brewing Company!

5 minutes, 20 slides, 1 passion. What would you say? Ignite Howard County is a high-energy evening where the community comes together to share their passions!

Presenting on a subject of their choice, 10+ speakers have exactly 5 minutes (and 20 slides auto-advancing every 15 seconds) to teach us something, enlighten us or simply inspire. The goal is to create collisions of conversations & collaboration between people in our artistic, entrepreneurial, creative, technical and innovative communities.

For the safety of attendees, speakers, and venue staff, all Ignite Howard County attendees and guests are required to show proof of full vaccination against COVID-19. Refunds WILL NOT be issued for failure to provide proof of vaccine.

Thank you to Luminary Sponsor Maryland Innovation Center!

And to ALL of our sponsors, so far:
Blaze sponsors
The Wendy Slaughter Team at Elevate Real Estate Brokerage


Flame sponsors
Avilar Technologies, Indigo Ink Printing, ReFrame Financial Planning

            

Spark sponsors
insight180 brand consulting & design, Challenging Racism, Kevin T. Howard, CPA, PFS, P.A.

       

Visit the Ignite Howard County website to find out more.


Culture, Collaboration & Cocktails

Let’s continue the conversation on fostering workplace culture. How are you creating a healthy and meaningful workplace culture? What are your biggest challenges? Biggest wins? Bring your ideas, stories and questions to this casual virtual gathering (along with your cocktail of choice!).


Creating & Fostering a Healthy & Meaningful Workplace

Don’t miss this virtual morning event on Creating & Fostering a Healthy & Meaningful Workplace Culture. We’ve invited author, spiritual teacher, and culture builder Kristoffer “KC” Carter to guide us through some steps that you can take to intentionally influence your workplace culture.

KC is the founder of This Epic Life, a website devoted to conscious leadership, which has created a daily meditation practice for thousands. He is the creator of The 4 Permissions™ framework, which guides his coaching of executive leaders at Amazon, AT&T, eXp Realty, Edward Jones, and many more. KC is also a professional songwriter, TEDx speaker, and international retreat leader. He lives in Akron, OH.

As always, members are FREE (enter promo code received in member email, message us if you need a reminder).

Thank you to our event sponsors: insight180 and The Wendy Slaughter Team at Elevate Real Estate Brokerage.

As part of our culture of giving back, we encourage donations to a nonprofit or two if you are able. Please donate to Columbia Community Care, and/or C3MD.

Keep an eye out for event updates on Facebook


Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth (and Heart and Mind) Is

What does it mean to invest in your values?

The decision to include Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) goals in your investment portfolio can be aligned with reducing long-term risks and increasing the chances for returns, but what are the challenges?

C3MD Board Member and Certified Financial Planner™ Tanya Rapacz guided us through evaluating Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG), the three central factors in measuring the sustainability and societal impact of an investment in a company or business.

ESG investing has evolved greatly in the last decade and continues to evolve. We learned more about conscious investing, what’s led to this evolution and growth, how to avoid “greenwashing,” and more.


Coffee and Collaboration

A recent Gallup poll showed that Millennials and Gen-Zs, who make up nearly half of the full-time workforce, put a high value on wellbeing, ethical leadership, transparency, and leaders who support a diverse and inclusive workplace.

We did things a little differently this month. We had a discussion around purpose. We heard your thoughts: What does meaningful work look like for you? Your employees? And what difference does it make for you, your employees, and your organization?


The Power of Purpose in Business

Often “doing good” in business is viewed as an add on – relegated to the area of “Corporate Social Responsibility.” However, what does it look like when meaningful purpose is baked into the very business model of how an organization makes money? Join us for a conversation with the founders of purpose-driven businesses, including Jules Shephard of gfJules, Jordan Darragh of printreleaf, and Holly & George Stone, principals of Clarksville Commons & The Common Kitchen. Learn about what they do and why it matters… how purpose is baked into their business model, how this has impacted their business success and personal fulfillment, and how they are making a positive impact in the world.


Diversifying and Democratizing Philanthropy

For our March event, C3MD hosted a Conscious Coffee about Stakeholder Orientation with the Women’s Giving Circle of Howard County.

The Women’s Giving Circle brings women together to learn about issues that impact women and girls in the community, and pool their dollars to fund programs that address those issues in order to have a greater impact. Giving circles are the epitome of stakeholder orientation and collaboration – every gift matters, no gift is too small.

Speakers:
Buffy Beaudoin-Schwartz, Executive Director, Women’s Giving Circle of Howard County
Candace Dodson-Reed, Grants Committee Chair, Women’s Giving Circle of Howard County


Nonprofit & For-Profit Partnerships, What’s at Stake?

For our February event, C3MD learned from the Howard County Conservancy as they shared their strategy for building strong stakeholder relationships. We explored nonprofit and for-profit partnerships.

Guest Moderator:
Allison Anderson,
Assistant Director, Howard County Conservancy

Panelists include:
L
ouis Meyer, Assistant District Manager, The Davey Tree Expert Company, Chesapeake, MD office
Erica Woods, Principal and Director, Contractor Programs & Philanthropy, Apex Systems & part of Baltimore Techies for Good
Cyndi Gula, Managing Partner at Gula Tech Adventures


Continuing the Conversation on Racial Equity

What a year — 2020 brought Black Lives Matter and issues of diversity, equity and inclusion into the spotlight. As we begin the new year, there’s still much work to be done.

How have you and your business or organization kept Racial Equity an important priority? As a leader, how are you holding up? Have you leaned into discomfort? What did you do to make sure this didn’t slip as a priority? How are you taking action? 

C3MD was delighted to welcome back Wendy Moomaw and Danielle Marshall, co-creators of the Building Racial Equity into your Business workshop, to continue the conversation. 

Danielle Marshall, CDP is a Racial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (REDI) Strategist and Founder of Culture Principle; and Wendy Moomaw, ICF PCC Coach is an executive coach & Founder of the Conscious Collaboratory.


Surviving 2020: Tell Us Your Story

We almost reached the end of 2020. We wanted to hear what helped everyone through this tumultuous time. We laughed, cried, were inspired, and just reflected on this year! In the fashion of “show and tell,” we heard the best stories of the past nine months!

We also shared a recap of C3MD 2020 programming.


Sustainability Management: From Awareness to Business Promises

In 2020, the United Nations declared the Decade of Action (2020-2030) and urged all sectors of society, including businesses and academia, to partner together to end poverty, reduce inequality, and address the climate emergency through the achievement of 17 development goals by the year 2030.

Sustainability Management examines how corporations deliver value to people, planet, and profit while creating and sustaining a competitive advantage.

We discussed Sustainable Business, with special guest, Dr. Hung-bin Ding, Chair of the Department of Management and International Business at Loyola’s Sellinger School of Business.


Building Racial Equity in Your Business

As racial inequities continue to impact the country and the world, Racial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (REDI) Strategist Danielle Marshall and Executive Coach Wendy Moomaw, will host a six-week workshop series through the Conscious Collaboratory. This workshop series, “Building Racial Equity into your Business” is an opportunity for business leaders to explore what racial equity is, discover how it differs from diversity and inclusion, and over time, learn how to infuse the work of racial equity into their organizations. Each week, participants will build upon what they learned, discover shifts that can be made by viewing their decision-making processes through an equity lens, and apply those practices to embed racial equity into their organizations.

For more information, visit the Conscious Collaboratory website.

Visit the Conscious Collaboratory Facebook page, for any updates, to ask questions and to share the event with others.


Conscious Cocktails: Nourishing Office Culture in a Virtual World

The pandemic has greatly affected carefully crafted corporate cultures and remote workers and business owners have been challenged when it comes to maintaining or improving company culture.

By understanding the shifts that have naturally taken place, we’ll discuss how employers and employees can easily shift expectations. Learn how a renewed focus improves both company and team culture as well as customer experience. Hear firsthand how an award-winning large employer has worked to strengthen and maintain a positive culture that doesn’t depend on people meeting face-to-face every day.


Let’s Talk About Racial Equity in Your Business

C3MD is a strategic partner on another talk about racial equity offered by the Conscious Collaboratory. What does it mean to “center race equity?” With so many businesses and organizations talking and posting about the importance of racial equity recently, what does it mean to actually live it? To move the needle to the center? What are you doing within your organization? How can you move beyond conversation into action?

Join Racial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (REDI) Strategist and Founder of Culture Principles Danielle Marshall, CDP and Executive Coach & Founder of the Conscious Collaboratory Wendy Moomaw, ICF PCC Coach, as they discuss how we can start, continue and advance the conversation around centering racial equity.

Conscious Capitalism of Central Maryland (C3MD) and 1776, an inclusive incubator for startups disrupting entrenched industries, are strategic partners for this webinar. Tracy Turner, 1776 Campus Director for the Greencourt Innovation Center and C3MD board member, will introduce the session. 


Conscious Coffee: A Virtual Event

We are so excited to host our first VIRTUAL CONSCIOUS COFFEE on September 1st. Each Conscious Coffee will feature a hot topic or special guest, and we are delighted to have Challenging Racism Executive Director Alicia Jones joining us for this event. The hour is sure to fly by as we talk about Race, Representation, Redlining, and more!


Conscious Cocktails: A Virtual Networking Event

Whether you are a “large” small business who’s working remotely, or a solopreneur, we’re all getting a real sense of what it’s like to be socially isolated. And while we’re also maybe tiring of the virtual meetings, we’d like to invite you to something a little bit different. C3MD’s Conscious Cocktails Happy Hour is back. It’s close enough to the end of the day to pour a cocktail or grab some tea. If you’re able, we encourage you to go outside if your device allows it, or at least switch rooms for a change of pace! We want to check in with our conscious business community to share “news and needs.”

Thanks to our Conscious Cocktails Virtual Happy Hour Sponsor: The Wendy Slaughter Team of Elevate Real Estate Brokerage.


Startup Grind Fireside Chat on Using Data to Power Meaningful Impact at Scale

A Conscious Capitalism Fireside Chat with Catherine Griffin, founder and CEO of Impact.able Analytics and Managing Director of GoodCompany Ventures

Join us for a highly educational virtual fireside chat and webinar with Catherine Griffin, found and CEO of Impact.able Analytics and Managing Director of GoodCompany Ventures, a social entrepreneurship incubator/accelerator in Philadelphia. She is a powerful force in the social entrepreneurship ecosystem, building organizations, and companies that are addressing our biggest global problems.


Got a Business? Make it Conscious. A C3MD 5-Part Workshop Series

As the business and global landscapes shift, what strategies and opportunities are entrepreneurs finding to navigate the waters? Conscious Capitalism is a way of thinking about capitalism and business that better reflects where we are in the human journey, the state of our world today, and the innate potential of business to make a positive impact on the world. What can we learn about the Conscious Capitalism model as we continue to shift.

Explore the foundational principles of Conscious Capitalism in C3MD’s five-part workshop series. Each week, one of C3MD’s leadership team members will focus on a pillar of Conscious Capitalism and share how courageous businesses are evaluating risk and creating value.

MAY 6, 3 - 4:30 p.m.
“To Pivot or ot to Pivot? An Inside Look at Conscious Leadership in Business”
Hosted by: Wendy Moomaw, Board President of C3MD and Founder of the Conscious Collaboratory, Guest Speaker: Dan Simons, co-owner of the innovative Farmers Restaurant Group

Every business owner ponders whether they should pivot and when the timing would be best. In this workshop, we take a closer look at one area of growth opportunity for leadership to both expand their capacity internally and their ability to simultaneously support the external effects on the business from the outside in. Learn from Dan Simons, co-owner of the innovative Farmers Restaurant Group that pivoted their business to help everyone in their communities with food, drink, and the provisions needed to stay healthy, happy, and well-fed.

The recent planetary shift in how we live, work, and lead is accelerating the pivot process for leadership and businesses. This workshop will reveal what matters most in conscious leadership and reveal how one conscious business owner arrived at the decision to pivot and how they led and scaled the pivot to serve their organizations.

MAY 13, 3 - 4:30 p.m.
“Stakeholder Orientation as a Strategic Catalyst”
Hosted by: Onyemaechi Nweke Dr.P.H., MPH, Principal, Triconcepts International, LLC, Guest Speaker: Nneka Chiazor, Regional Vice President Government and Public Affairs, Cox Communications

Two distinguishing factors for conscious capitalists are their appreciation for the extent of the ecosystem within which they exist, and a way of thinking and doing that is about creating value for all stakeholders. This workshop examines the tenet of stakeholder orientation and explores how businesses can integrate the needs and interests of all stakeholders while doing what they do best.

MAY 20, 3 - 4:30 p.m.
“Harnessing Purpose Amidst Change”
Hosted by: Wendy Baird, Owner, insight180 Brand Consulting & Design; Sandy Young, PE, CCM, LEED AP; Construction Manager and Secretary, C3MD
Guest Panel: Josh Massey, COO & Co-Founder, Ortus Academy; Liz Richardson, COO/Co-Founder, Indigo Ink; Wendy Slaughter, President/Owner, The Wendy Slaughter Team of Elevate Real Estate Brokerage


Why does your business exist beyond making money? What impact do you wish to have? A great purpose acts like a powerful magnet that can align all stakeholders, whether a large corporation or small business. Join our small business guests as we discuss purpose, alignment, shifting and more.

MAY 27, 3 - 4:30 p.m.
“It’s Alive! It’s Alive!”
Hosted by: Eboni Adams Monk, Director Marketing – W.R. Grace and Vice President C3MD; Guest Speaker: Christopher Fischer, Director Ag Retail Talent Management – Land O’ Lakes, Inc., Arden Hills, MN

How does culture impact an organization’s success? How will our business cultures change as a result of our new normal? In today’s changing environment, organizational culture is an important key for businesses to thrive. Join C3MD and our guest speaker to learn about how small businesses, corporate leaders and professionals can shape and evolve their organization’s culture.

JUNE 3, 3 - 4:30 p.m.
Hosted by: Wendy Moomaw, Onyemaechi Nweke, Wendy Baird, and Eboni Adams Monk

To finish out our five-part Conscious Business Workshop Series, Conscious Capitalism Central Maryland (C3MD) will explore each of the four pillars and recapped the prior four workshops. The four pillars and workshop themes are: Higher Purpose, Stakeholder Orientation, Conscious Culture, and Conscious Leadership.

Starting a business? Building a business? Shifting what you do in business? Make a conscious decision to make it Conscious. And join us for the series.

1776 is a strategic partner for C3MD’s 5-Part Workshop Series: “Got a Business? Make it Conscious.” 1776, a network of entrepreneurial incubators, that exists to help entrepreneurs succeed and reach maximum potential, hopes these workshops will bring a sense of connectivity and engagement. 1776 has a vast resource of mentors and virtual programs to help entrepreneurs work remotely and safely. Thank you, 1776!


Rehumanizing the Workplace Panel

Join the Conscious Capitalism Twin Cities Community virtually on Tuesday, March 24 to celebrate and launch Rehumanizing the Workplace. We are honoring social distancing while practicing conscious convening by changing our quarterly in-person event to a virtual gathering as we launch the new book, “Rehumanizing the Workplace” by Dr. Rosie Ward and Dr. Jon Robison. Rosie will set the stage for how the principles in the book are even more relevant with our global pandemic and will interview a panel of 7 incredible humanistic leaders about how they’re adapting and leading in these uncertain times.


Startup Grind Fireside Chat on Conscious Capitalism

A Conscious Capitalism Fireside Chat with C3MD Executive Director Wendy Moomaw and members of the Conscious Collaboratory

Conscious capitalism…What is it and why does it matter? How can startup businesses both thrive and focus on elevating society, partners, investors, customers, employees, and the environment? Join us as we explore the concept with Wendy Moomaw, CEO of Wendy Moomaw, founder of the Conscious Collaboratory, and Executive Director of Conscious Capitalism of Central Maryland.

Join Startup Grind and C3MD for this great event.

**Note: C3MD members can attend for 50% off. When you renew your membership, or join via the website, a 50% registration code will automatically be sent to you.