Here's how you can acquire new skills for a social impact career by attending conferences and workshops.

Networking, or what I like to call Community Building, is the name of the game in social impact. There is so much value in taking the time to connect with like-minded people. When you attend events and conferences focused on social impact, you have the opportunity to learn from others, expand your network, learn about new opportunities, engage in thought partnership, build new relationships, stay up-to-date on what is new in impact, and find support from others who "get it". As a social impact career coach, I encourage my clients to spend a significant part of their time building community alongside searching for/applying to jobs. Networking can be an incredibly powerful tool to entering or pivoting within the social impact space.

Identify skills you'd like to develop, and ask others in your team, your colleagues, and people you trust for their recommendations too. Then search LinkedIn and your online communities for courses, subscribe to newsletters from groups you admire who may also post about these skill development opportunities.

Follow interesting people in your sector and see what they're talking about. Follow relevant hashtags and companies that share resources you like. Chat to people online and try to attend at least one webinar or online event every few weeks to help build your skills. You'll meet others interested in the same topics, and can share event invitations and ideas too.

Personal development fosters a growth mindset, encouraging individuals to embrace continuous learning, feedback, and reflection. By adopting a growth mindset, we as social impact professionals can innovate, experiment, and evolve their approaches to create positive change and address evolving social issues effectively.

Practice. Practice. Practice. There really is no point in attending multiple workshops and conferences just to acquire knowledge that you will not use. Make sure that you put your newly acquired knowledge to work via side projects or by integrating the lessons learned in your main job.

Well-being and self-care: Social impact work can be demanding and emotionally taxing, given the nature of the challenges being addressed. Prioritizing self-care enables us to sustain our energy, passion, and commitment to social impact work in the long term. I have identified ways to recharge individually and in community like walking , hiking or going to a fun class to learn something new.