Welcome to the New Year!

Happy New Year, everyone! 2024 is here and I'm so excited to share it with you!

But first, I want to hear from YOU! How are you feeling? What are you dreaming of? What are you working on? What are you grateful for? Please, don't be shy and send me a message or leave a comment below. I'm all ears and I can't wait to connect with you!

I want to share with you some of the fun things I've been doing with AI image generation. It's amazing what you can create with just a few words. But it's not all fun and games. Sometimes, the AI can be very biased and unfair. For example, it's very hard to get it to generate realistic images of women with different body shapes, or people from different ethnic backgrounds. I tried words that describe me including Cherokee (Tsalagi), Delaware (Lenape), Indigenous, and Native American, and the AI often fails to capture the diversity and beauty of my culture. That's why we need to pay attention to what AI generates, and recognize that we have built our biases into the training data and the algorithms.

On a lighter note, I did manage to get the AI to generate a cute Funko Pop image of me. It took a lot of tries, but I think it looks like me. What do you think? Do you see the resemblance? I hope so, because this is how I imagine myself when I go to the beach to read a book. And guess what? I'm going to do just that in a few weeks when I go to Cancun for Brandi Carlile's "Girls Just Wanna Weekend!" I'm so excited! Go #Bramily!

Are you intrigued and thinking about creating your own Funko Pop image ? Give it a try. Sometimes you'll get exactly what you wanted, and other times you'll get something completely different. But that's part of the fun, right? Life is full of surprises. Share your images with me!

While I have your attention I want to point you to a wonderful opportunity with one of my friends and fellow lifelong learners - Emily Grantz.

I met Emily in a group dedicated to continuous learning, collaboration, and relationship building. They and I hit it off and now we talk regularly. I really admire their ability to always put me at ease, not an easy thing when my introvert decides to be contrary. :-) So I suggest you take this opportunity to make your meetings matter with Emily Grantz 's facilitator training. They're joined by skilled facilitator Neetul Parekh to double the fun and learning!

In this cohort-based course, you will learn how to:

1?? Design and deliver meetings that are productive, engaging, and fun

2?? Lead powerful conversations that move your team forward

3?? Manage conflict, uncertainty, and challenges with confidence and grace

4?? Apply what you learn in your meetings, then get input from your peers in the cohort.

Each week, you will join a small group of learners for a live, interactive session with Emily and Neetul. Each week you'll get to practice and improve your skills.

Don’t miss this opportunity to transform your meetings and your career.?Enroll before Jan 8 to get the early bird discount!?Spots are limited, so act fast!

I also have a couple of events coming up - check out my Learn page to stay up to date. I have two online events planned for Boundaries and another event still in the planning phases.

• The first is All I Want for Christmas Is Boundaries with My Boss on January 9, 2024. Yeah, it's after Christmas. You caught me, I procrastinated. Or, as a reframe, I knew that the January timeframe was less hectic and I love that I start singing the song every time I think about the event.
• Next up is a members-only event with Ellevate for Rising Leaders, How to Negotiate for More Than Just Money , on February 8, 2024. You can use your 30-day free trial to sign up.
• And stay tuned for an in-person event in February that combines art, fun, and setting useful intentions! Let me know now if you love Moltenworks and have a specific day you prefer.

Keep an eye on my LinkedIn posts. I'm going to be posting about the "Native Tech Ecosystem" report produced by the Kapor Center and AISES . Together they are working to advance Indigenous people in STEM fields. I'm a citizen of both Cherokee Nation and the Delaware Tribe of Indians and an ex-techie, so the findings in this report are near and dear to my heart. Check out: Native Tech - Kapor Center.

Thanks for listening and I'd love to hear from you! Please message me with your thoughts, questions, concerns, and celebrations.

Enjoy the new year!

Cindy