Monthly District Spotlight Featuring District 3
Monthly District Spotlight: District 3 is comprised of SHRM Jacksonville, North Central Florida (NCF-SHRM), and Ocala Human Resource Management Association (OHRMA). Each of these chapters have successfully met the challenges of the last year and are looking forward to their bright futures! It has been an honor to serve these chapters. Traci Hall, SHRM-SCP, SPHR, District Director
SHRM Jacksonville is led by President Heather Cosgrove and a highly dedicated Board of Directors. Their mission is Advancing the Human Resource Profession for the Northeast Florida business community. Their vision is to be recognized as the premier thought leader for impactful Human Resources in Northeast Florida. In 2020 the chapter rolled out a 5-year strategic plan focusing on Chapter Programming, Membership, Volunteers, Marketing and Partnerships with other Organizations/Associations. Strong evidence of their commitment to their mission and vision is the chapter’s receipt of the SHRM Platinum Excel Award, SHRM’s highest award for membership.
In early 2021, the board of directors surveyed the membership to assess their individual needs and expectations. Even during a pandemic, the chapter continued to meet and exceed their goals by increasing the number of high-quality virtual education and development offerings for both membership and the NE Florida business community. Always, taking into consideration the need to provide recertification credits through SHRM and HRCI. This year, they partnered with FSCJ to provide timely and relevant educational courses for HR Professionals resulting in 20 SHRM and HRCI recertification credits. They also hosted an 8-hour People Manager Training to support local leadership.
Recognizing a need to assist those who were in transition, the Workforce Readiness committee partnered with Career Source, NE Florida, and the Jacksonville Urban League to develop a Career Talk Job Seekers series. So far, they have held 4 sessions and had over 275 people register. The board was very excited to host their first in person chapter meeting in nearly 18 months back in July. They welcomed over 45 members and guests to participate in their bi-yearly legal update.
SHRM Jacksonville will celebrate its 65th Anniversary in September and to celebrate, they held a membership appreciation/fundraising event with the Jacksonville Jaguars and raised over $1100 in support of the SHRM Foundation and Special Olympics. They also hosted a virtual Murder Mystery evening with members, guests and the HR Florida EC to raise funds for the SHRM Foundation.
In August, SHRM Jacksonville transitioned to Dual Membership Billing, to provide a smooth and seamless renewal process to their members.
The chapter continues to influence change in the community through their strategic partnerships with local organizations such as, Career Source NE Florida, Jacksonville Urban League, Onward to Opportunity, the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce, and the Jacksonville Business Journal. This year they were honored to partner with the JBJ and Bank of America to create and roll out the Inaugural HR Impact Award in NE Florida recognizing outstanding HR Professionals in their area.
The North Central Florida SHRM Chapter is located in Gainesville, Florida. They serve Gainesville and the greater Gainesville area (Lake City, High Springs, Newberry, and more local communities). NCF-SHRM is considered a small chapter within HR Florida. Kelly George serves as the President and is supported by her Board of Directors and members.
Their board is made up of a variety of professionals who are very dedicated in providing a quality experience to all of our members. Their success includes selecting well qualified and interesting presenters, driving our membership, and staying up to date on the impactful changes facing HR professionals.
The North Central Florida SHRM Chapter is very active and community focused on local HR Professionals. They serve a broad scope of businesses and government entities with many diverse human resource needs and challenges. Engaging with their local HR community and keeping them up to speed on the ever-changing environment has always been their primary focus to assure their success. NCF-SHRM’s mission is “To be THE collaborative resource and advocate for the HR profession in North Central Florida”.
They have continued to host virtual monthly meetings with speakers in 2021 as they continue to deal with the pandemic. The meetings have featured a variety of topics and presenters which have been highly successful. One presenter who is special to all of them was Kate Shockey, President of Volusia/Flagler SHRM. She made a presentation to their chapter about “The Good, The Bad, The Ugly (Ethics for HR)”. This allowed their members to meet the new recertification requirement for HRCI.
In March of 2021, they hosted an outside social gathering at a local establishment. They had a great turn out and everyone was so excited to see each other again. At this gathering they promoted the HR Florida Conference and Expo.
They are excited to return to “in-person” meetings starting with their Annual Seminar, Navigating the COVID Nightmare. It will be held on November 4, 2021. They have several speakers that will present topics related to COVID. Their headline speaker will be HR Florida’s own, Tom Topping, SHRM-CP, District Director, District 7.
NCF-SHRM’s hard work has paid off, as they have been the recipient of the Platinum Excel Award two years in a row (2019 and 2020), SHRM highest award for chapter operations.
They are very proud of the history and success of NCF SHRM Chapter and the footprint they’ve made in Gainesville, Florida, and their surrounding communities. Come visit them soon!! Go Gators!!
OCALA HRM is led by President Donna Healy Strickland, SHRM-SCP, SPHR and, President-Elect Ashley Shorb, SHRM-CP and 15 Board of Directors. The Ocala Human Resource Management Association (OHRMA) has been organized to support human resource professionals by providing quality programs, networking resources and career development opportunities to assist our community.
The chapter has been continuing in-person meetings and has continue to grow in membership. OHRMA changed its meeting location to the local Board of County Commissioners/McPherson Complex last year and that move has proven successful and centrally located for most members.
This year the chapter collaborated with two major players in the Marion County area – Career Source CLM and MRMA (Mid-Florida Regional Manufacturing Association). OHRMA and Career Source jointly hosted the State of Workforce Conference in April of this year. This event was 100% virtual and offered four business credits for HRCI and SHRM. OHRMA and MRMA collaborated with benchmark salary survey and a press release and findings were made available earlier this month.
Donna Healy Strickland was asked to represent OHRMA on a new task force for Affordable Housing for workers of businesses that are coming into the Ocala/Marion County Area such as the new World Equestrian Center. Because of the contacts, the Ocala Housing Authority is now collaborating and using the data in their reports found in the OHRMA/MRMA benchmarking survey!
OHRMA, MRMA and CareerSource have become partners for a Conference in January. The parties have realized that they were all trying to accomplish the same message and the same target audience, so they decided to put all resources together and have a joint event. The planning is underway right now.
The membership of OHRMA is changing – new people are getting involved, new board members are coming on, and the trajectory of the leadership that is forming is positive. These are exciting times for OHRMA.
