March 2024 - 6

| BY CELINA YOUNG AND CINDY WHITT
from americanhort to you
Unearth your potential
Take part in Grow Forward - an essential educational series for young
professionals to nurture a successful career
A new online education series from AmericanHort
has launched this year, specifically built for young and
emerging horticultural professionals. " Grow Forward:
Finding Success Beyond the Plants " is designed to equip
young professionals with tools for success.
During this ongoing series, subject matter experts lead
sessions that provide practical insights, strategies and
actionable tips to succeed in the workplace and beyond.
Attendees will discover personal and professional
development tools to help them cultivate leadership
acumen, communication skills, emotional intelligence,
strategic networking and personal branding. Each
session includes peer-powered learning to foster
engagement and will be moderated by a Generation
Next Community Connector.
" The Generation Next Community Connectors are
excited to give young professionals in horticulture a
place to connect, discuss and learn with their peers, "
said Melinda Knuth, assistant professor at North Carolina
State University, and community leader of the Generation
Next Connectors. " This group has aspired to put together
a program that provides actionable advice in a highly
interactive, engaging way. "
The year has started off strong in January with
Becky Paxton of the Garden Media Group discussing
" Building Your Professional Brand, " followed by Jeanie
Chang from Your Change Provider sharing advice for
" Managing Stress and Preventing Burnout, " in February.
Recordings of both these programs are available for free
to AmericanHort members.
Are you ready to Grow Forward? Join us for our next
virtual program on March 27, " Why Emotional Intelligence
(EI) is Critical to the Green Industry. " Paige Franks from
BEST Human Capital and Advisory Group will work with
attendees to explore the meaning of EI, explain what
makes EI competencies critical relative to leadership
ability, stress management, job performance, employee
retention and interpersonal functioning and provide
resources to implement and measure EI in an organization.
If you're ready to participate in a dynamic discussion
on leveraging your strengths and accelerating your career
6 MARCH 2024 GPNMAG.COM
growth, join us at Cultivate'24 for a special in-person
session with " Grow Forward: Leveraging Your Strengths
in the Workplace. " This session brings together a panel of
accomplished young professionals who have harnessed
their strengths to thrive in their careers. Join us for an
engaging conversation on navigating challenges, seizing
opportunities and cultivating success in the evolving
landscape of horticulture.
AmericanHort is proud to partner with BASF to sponsor
the Grow Forward series. " BASF is proud to be a part of
this new, industry-led program from AmericanHort. We
want to see young people develop themselves within
the horticulture industry ensuring a continued legacy of
passion and expertise. Programs led by green industry
professionals, specifically tailored to those unique
experiences and challenges, are a great way to encourage
the next generation of horticulture, " said Liz Dunbar,
marketing manager for the Greenhouse & Nursery industry.
And the Grow Forward series won't stop here!
Throughout Fall 2024 and into 2025, the Generation Next
Community will host even more programs discussing how
to build trust, credibility and respect between generations,
communicating virtually, how to create a career
advancement plan and much more!
Stay on top of all upcoming installments in this series at
americanhort.org/growforward.
Celina Young is the marketing communications specialist and
Cindy Whitt is the marketing communications manager for
AmericanHort.
http://www.americanhort.org/growforward http://www.GPNMAG.COM
March 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March 2024
