Talent Connect: Shaping the Future Together
Oct 29, 2025
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1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Join the Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development at Talent Connect: Shaping the Future Together on October 29!
This half-day conference is dedicated to exploring the latest trends, challenges, and opportunities in talent development and workforce strategy. Designed for business leaders, HR professionals, educators and community stakeholders, the summit will feature three thought-provoking speakers and networking opportunities.
As Lincoln continues to grow and evolve, the need for innovative talent solutions has never been more critical. Together, we’ll dive into key topics such as Generative AI, expanding your talent pool, and local workforce and population trends. Whether you’re looking to enhance your recruitment strategies, stay ahead of industry trends, or connect with other leaders in the field, Talent Connect is your opportunity to engage with thought leaders and peers, share best practices, and drive meaningful change in our workforce ecosystem.
Registration is $60 per person ($35 for individuals at non-profit organizations)
Are you interested in sponsoring this event? Reach out to Allison Hatch at ahatch@selectlincoln.org to learn about sponsorship opportunities.
Event Agenda
12:30-1:00 PM | Doors Open + Networking
1:00 - 1:10 PM | Welcome
1:10 - 1:55 PM | Caitlin Odame: GenAI: Transforming how Lincoln Finds and Keeps Talent at Work
With Lincoln's unemployment at just 2.8%, finding and keeping talent has never been more challenging. Traditional recruiting methods aren't keeping pace, but artificial intelligence is changing the game. Join Microsoft's Caitlin Odame as she discusses how generative AI is transforming recruiting from a reactive scramble to a strategic advantage. Discover practical AI tools already helping Lincoln employers source better candidates faster, while exploring how AI is reshaping our workforce and creating new skill requirements across industries common to our region. This isn't theoretical, it's happening now. You'll leave with concrete actions you can implement immediately, from specific tool recommendations to workforce development strategies. Don't just adapt to the future of talent acquisition and workforce development--shape it.
1:55 - 2:20 PM | Networking Break
2:20 - 3:20 PM | David Zaritzky Brown: Leveraging Foreign Talent -- a Primer
A wide variety of skills shortages exist in the U.S. today that are only increasing as our population ages and fewer native-born individuals enter STEM fields or labor-intensive industries.
Join us as Founder/Managing Partner, David Zaritzky Brown, leverages his 28 years of experience in business immigration to provide an important overview of the opportunities avaialble for hiring foreign-born talent. Foreign talent plays an important role in tech companies, internal professional roles, and across a wide range of industries. David will explain the visa strategies that allow employers to seek foreign talent, and, as with any key hire or indispensable resource, once you've found them, you don't want to let them go! So, David will also highlight longer term strategies for retention and policy planning to make companies responsive to foreign national recruiting strategies.
Adept in every work authorized visa status and green card strategy, David will highlight a few common scenarios and also take time to answer specific questions.
SHRM credit will be available for attending this session.
3:20 - 3:45 PM | Networking Break
3:45 - 4:30 PM | Dr. Josie Gatti Schafer: Lincoln at Work: Demographics, Talent, and Development Strategies
This session explores the latest population and workforce data shaping Lincoln's talent pipeline. Attendees will gain clear, data-driven insights into demographic shifts and labor market trends that can inform smarter workforce development strategies for the future.
4:30 - 5:00 PM | Closing Remarks and Continued Networking
Event Speakers
GenAI: Transforming How Lincoln Finds and Keeps Talent at Work
Caitlin Odame, Senior Program Manager at Microsoft
Caitlin Odame, Senior Program Manager at MicrosoftCaitlin Odame is a Senior Program Manager at Microsoft, where she is part of a team that leads partner development for Microsoft 365 Copilot. Caitlin's career tells the story of our region's evolution into a technology hub - she started as a Technical Recruiter at Nelnet, led a global recruiting team at Hudl, helping to scale their team to over 600 people, led HR transformation at Speedway Motors, successfully led enterprise customers in their employee engagement journey at Glint and LinkedIn, and now helps organizations worldwide implement AI solutions at Microsoft. With over a decade of experience on both sides of the talent equation - recruiting for technical roles, leading workforce development, and working daily with AI technologies - she's uniquely positioned to help us understand how artificial intelligence is transforming talent acquisition from a reactive process to a strategic advantage.
Leveraging Foreign Talent - a Primer
David Zaritzky Brown, Founder and Managing Partner, Brown Immigration Law
David Zaritzky Brown is the Founder and Managing Partner of Brown Immigration Law, bringing over 25 years of high-level Canadian and U.S. immigration experience. His career has included roles in major metropolitan hubs such as Toronto and Silicon Valley, and his global practice supports leading companies across a wide range of industries—including healthcare, high tech, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, scientific instruments, graphic arts, gaming and special effects, consulting, and financial services.
David is known for cultivating long-term client relationships built on trust, exceptional service, and a collaborative approach. Born in Canada, he moved to the U.S. in 2000 and personally navigated the immigration system, holding TN and H-1B visas, becoming a permanent resident, and ultimately a U.S. citizen in 2008. He’s experienced the immigration bureaucracy firsthand and lived to tell about it…
Lincoln at Work: Demographics, Talent and Development Strategies
Josie Gatti Schafer, Ph.D., Director, Center for Public Affairs Research at the University of Nebraska at Omaha
Dr. Schafer joined the University of Nebraska at Omaha as the Director of the Center for Public Affairs Research (CPAR) in 2018, drawn to its strong history and reputation as Nebraska's go-to source for expert data and analysis, particularly in their role as the State Data Center for the United States Census Bureau. Since then, she has focused on advancing the organization including growing the budget, fueled by cultivating community-engaged research projects, expanding community and professional development events, and committing to a communications strategy that aligns with CPAR's action-oriented approach.