TLB #41🧠 Celebrating 5 years of community, curiosity, and growth at L&D Shakers
A bi-weekly inside scoop on all the hottest events, juicy discussions, and oh-so-many other exciting things happening in our dynamic L&D community. 🧡
Hello Shaker,
Here’s all that you’ll experience in today’s issue:
💡Learning Bites: To the soul, spark, heart, and hands of L&D Shakers.
🗓️ Community Calendar: Be a part of Thoughtfully using AI for Connection, Practice and Reflection in our work and many more events and local hub meetups.
🖌️ Community Creations: Announcement of L&D Career Bootcamp.
🔖 Resource Reel: A collection of resources on Facilitation, Experience Design, Feedback and many more.
🎤 Shaker's Stage: This week’s stage is taken by Krista Vaught, Ed.D.
Learning Bites 💡
"Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much." — Helen Keller
This October, L&D Shakers turned five, and I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate than to share a bit of what this community has brought into my life. Every week, L&D Shakers is where inspiration meets action, where curiosity gets a safe space to stretch, and where the beauty of collaboration feels as natural as breathing.
My biggest takeaway? It’s the power of collective curiosity and discovering the art of evolving together. Every interaction here sparks something—whether it’s a shift in perspective, a new tool to try out, or even just the confidence that comes from knowing others are alongside you. Community learning is both the journey and the toolkit itself, with insights that unfold over time. One thing I’ve found especially meaningful is how accessible resources and ideas are within a community dedicated to growth.
To Anamaria—you’re the soul and spark of L&D Shakers. Thank you for creating a space where we can experiment, stretch our thinking, and feel seen. Your vision has given us all a place to connect authentically and learn with purpose. Your dedication and warmth make all the difference—you make L&D Shakers a place where people feel seen and valued.
And to the Core Team—you’re the heart and hands of this community, working behind the scenes with boundless energy and creativity. Every event, every resource, and every conversation feels thoughtful and intentional because of your dedication. You’re the ones who take ideas and make them actionable, who know just how to keep things exciting and relevant, and who make sure L&D Shakers isn’t just a community but a place where we all feel genuinely connected.
Thank you Anamaria and Core Team for curating a space that feels both welcoming and energizing, for staying curious and always raising the bar, and for giving each of us the chance to grow and contribute. Your work has a ripple effect that goes beyond anything we could put into words.
Before I wrap up, here are three fantastic toolkits for anyone interested in building and nurturing their communities:
Community Tool Box: Developed by the University of Kansas, this free, online resource supports community health and social change efforts. It’s packed with practical guidance for assessing community needs, engaging stakeholders, action planning, and even sustaining long-term efforts. Perfect for those looking to make meaningful change with real impact.
Community Design Toolkit: Based on Collaboriamo’s Community Design framework, this toolkit is for those launching or growing a community. It’s designed to help you build structures and approaches that make an organization’s community strategy sustainable and impactful. Ideal if you’re looking to leverage people’s skills and ideas to create meaningful change.
Community-Led Co-design Kit: This toolkit focuses on inclusive, community-led co-design, offering resources like facilitation guides, adaptable tools, and case studies. It’s especially valuable if you’re looking to create collaborative, inclusive designs by working directly with community members.
Here’s to L&D Shakers and the journey we’re all on—lifting each other, trying out new ideas, and growing together.
Coming Up Next
Community Calendar 🗓️
Looking for ways to connect, learn, and grow with fellow professionals?
Check out our list of exciting events happening— from thought labs to local hubs meetups and learning clusters, there's something for everyone— curated by the hardworking Core Team at L&D Shakers for YOU!
Community Creations 🖌️
Ready to dive into L&D? Join our L&D Career Bootcamp!
For those stepping into Learning & Development—or exploring the next steps in your career—our upcoming one-month Bootcamp is here to guide you! This community-powered journey covers the essentials you need to make a confident transition, with 10 interactive sessions on everything from mapping your career path and recognizing your strengths to refining your CV, storytelling, and growing your network.
Here’s how you can make the most of this experience:
Register here - Sessions will be recorded, and a shared Miro board will capture insights you can revisit anytime.
Connect on Slack - Join #3-career-bootcamp to exchange ideas, ask questions, get CV feedback, and even practice interview runs with fellow Shakers.
Personalized CV reviews - Starting November 13th, Shakers will offer 1:1 CV reviews from community members to help you polish your profile.
A huge thank you to everyone making this possible:
💛 Workshop Facilitators: Anna Mackenzie, Milly Tamati, Ajay Jacob, Emy Mylona, Szonja Zsiros, Zoe Kenny, Nikolina, Mirna Smidt, Timi Csontos, Sara Huang
🙏 CV review support: Santosh Akella, Supriya Harikumar, Polly Watt, Joost Brouwer, Alejandro Ramirez Mayorga
🤩 Shakers sharing their transition stories: Cristian Popa, Bogdan Nicola
🗺 Curators of the Bootcamp: Judit Osika, Grace Pulsford and Anamaria Dorgo
Cool Stuff You Don’t Wanna Miss Out
Resource Reel 🔖
Non-Formal Education Library by Anev if you are interested in different educational approaches and looking to improve your activities or revive them with new methods according to current trends.
Managing Organisational Change by STAR-E provides essential frameworks and tools for fostering diversity, combining theoretical insights with practical instruments for meaningful organizational change.
The Micropedia of Microaggressions to learn about microaggressions and their impact through the way we make statements in our communication with each other.
Fun Feedback Exercises & Activities to Do With Your Team by Radical Candor if you are looking for the best ways to help teams be more radically candid.
Banish Those Training Design Nightmares by Training Designer’s Club has a collection of 10 free resources to help you tackle the challenges of using AI in training design, improving the transfer of learning, designing blended learning solutions and many more.
Micro videos on Facilitation by Jacinta Cubis on 20 warning signs for any facilitator.
Community Corner:
Shaker's Stage 🎤
Let’s welcome Krista Vaught, Ed.D, Principal Advisor, Employee Experience and L&D at Frontier Design to take the stage.
Who needs more appreciation?
-Administrative professionals! I started my career as an executive assistant and quickly realized how integral administrative professionals at all levels are for keeping executives and organizations running effectively. Admins are often undervalued and overcapacity, and sometimes do not have access to the same development and networking opportunities as folks in other roles. I was lucky to play a role in sparking the development of a community of practice for administrative professionals at my last employer. We hosted a lunch on Administrative Professionals’ Day that was a light lift for the organization and highly meaningful for participants who are usually the ones planning events.
A book that left an impression on you:
-The Art of the Gathering by Priya Parker. I discovered the book when I was already leaning more towards L&D and employee experience. It heavily influenced a new staff welcome event that our staff organization was designing and launching for the first time, and helped us think more deeply about often overlooked aspects of creating a meaningful experience. We didn’t want this to be seen as a typical event and it wasn’t an orientation - it was a unique experience to officially welcome new staff, foster a sense of community, and offer inspiration from leaders. (And it was highly successful!)
What mistake have you made, and what did it teach you?
-I moved into a managerial role with a lot of assumptions about how to motivate and engage employees. I had complex responsibilities to 90+ interested parties across the organization and needed my team and many interested parties on board to move anything forward. It was an uphill battle and I felt like many of the challenges I experienced must have been because of my leadership or my lack of some specific skill. I took the results of my first 360 really hard - it was the first place for my team to vent on paper, including about issues before I joined the org. I spent so much time trying to lessen any perceived weaknesses, instead of focusing on better leveraging my strengths.
Once I engaged in managerial development courses and a leadership development program, I realized I was not alone on the journey. Many of my peers had experienced similar challenges and could offer insights into what worked in their areas. I wish I had access to leadership coaching at that time to more strategically analyze and decide what was useful from my 360 feedback, and how to focus on strengths rather than weaknesses.
What does being an L&D Shaker look and feel like for you?
-I’ve appreciated opportunities to share resources and tools, collaborate on ideas and problem-solving, and make connections with fellow L&D folks across the world. I love how everyone I’ve met is so invested in learning as a default - not just for the programs or learners they work with, but also for themselves.
〜See you soon
Till then, keep spicing up your learning! 🧠🧂
Sejaal
Happy 5-years-community-versary, Shakers! 🥳