Ramifications of the Ukraine Refugees.

 

Lithuanian-American Club of Central Illinois and The World Affairs Council of Central Illinois will be hosting the Associate Professor of Political Science Dr. Laura Dean as she talks about the ramifications of the refugee and displaced person crisis caused by the Russian attack on Ukraine. This free event will be held at the Lincoln Library on Saturday, March 26 at 2 pm.

The greatest humanitarian crisis since World War II has been created as millions of Ukraine civilians have been forced to flee for their lives. Mainly women, children, and the elder have flooded into the neighboring countries, whose resources have been stretched to the breaking point. The overburdened systems have led to uncertainty and confusion abound, making the refugees more vulnerable to human traffickers. Those, who remain behind in Ukraine, face shortages in the basic necessities--food, water, medical attention, and safe shelter. Bodies are buried in mass graves as indiscriminate bombing makes it too dangerous to retrieve them for proper burial.

Currently, Laura A. Dean is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Millikin University. From 2014-to 2016 she was an Assistant Professor at Clayton State University in Georgia. She graduated from the University of Kansas in 2014 with a Ph.D. in Political Science. She also has a Graduate Certificate in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (2013) and a Master of Arts in Political Science (2011) from the University of Kansas, a Master of Arts in International Studies focusing on Russian, East European, and Central Asian Studies (2006) from the University of Washington, and a Bachelor of Arts in World Politics (2003) from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

Dr. Dean researches gender and political issues focusing on public policy, migration, and gender-based violence in the former Soviet Union. Her research has been supported by the American Association of University Women, Social Science Research Council, Fulbright Program, Rotary Foundation, and appeared in The Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis, Human Rights Review, Journal of Baltic Studies, Journal Teorija in Praksa, and Femina Politica, the Feminist Journal of Political Science. In the summer of 2016, She was a Title VIII Summer Research Scholar at the Kennan Institute, part of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

Dr. Dean is the author of Diffusing Human Trafficking Policy in Eurasia forthcoming in 2020 from Policy Press at the University of Bristol and distributed by the University of Chicago Press in the US. She is the adviser of the Model United Nations Club, chair of the Fulbright Committee, and a member of the Gender Studies Committee and the International Programs and Policies Committee. She also serves as head of the Research Committee on the Central Illinois Human Trafficking Task Force and is a Regional Faculty Associate with the Russian, East European, and the Eurasian Center University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Dr. Laura Dean's website

How to successful develop business connections

 

 How introductions make connecting more successful

The new face of networking

Both in-person and online, networking remains an important element of promotion and marketing strategies. The events have been designed to bring people together in a safe, comfortable setting in which they can expand their business network, client base, and find necessary resources.

With most in-person events you are given a name tag as you walk into a sea of people. Other than what is printed on the tag, the attendees know very little about each other. Who do you talk to? What's the best way to approach others? Do you just walk up and start talking? What do you say? What is the best way to meet the people you are looking for? The event becomes little more than a series of cold contacts or the equivalent of a speed dating event with most people standing around feeling awkward.

Most online events start with a summit or seminar in which one person or a small group shares their experience and expertise, while others listen. Attendees usually can private message each other, yet in doing so their attention is diverted from the speakers. Sometimes these events break into small groups, in which the members are more able to share and learn about each other. But this contact venue is only viable during the event. The members must quickly exchange their information or the ability to connect is lost at the end of the event.

In both cases, the art of relationships building has gotten lost in the sea of collecting business cards or contact information as the attendees race against the clock to meet as many people as possible. Under these circumstances, it's impossible to develop long-lasting business relationships.

Catalytic Connections doesn't host large networking events, it arranges introductions. Rochelle Arjmand finds connections the same way she chooses her clients. She learns about their businesses but more importantly, she learns who her clients are as people. What they are passionate about? The information gives her the ability to find who and what they need because she has the same information about the people they are trying to meet. However, she does so much more than send a connecting email with simply bios and the reason for the introduction. She brings them together for three-way calls, zoom chats, or in-person introductions. In many ways, Rochelle Arjmand can be described as a conduit in which others find common ground and reach their goals. Her passion is to bring others together to make positive things happen for all involved. A natural connector, Arjmand is best known for connecting people with others that most think are impossible to reach and then having them work together to create a bigger, better vision.

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