SEPTEMBER 7 • 2023 | 27

N

EXTUp: A 
NEXTWork 
Professional 
Conference, the first annu-
al professional conference 
designed to connect young 
Jewish Detroiters to one 
another and to some of the 
biggest names in their respec-
tive industries, takes place 
Sept. 21 from 6-9 p.m. at the 
College for Creative Studies’ 
Taubman Center in Detroit. 
The NEXTWork com-
munity was founded in 
2013 and is a collaborative 
initiative between Gesher 
Human Services and 
NEXTGen Detroit. The goal 
of NEXTWork is to provide 
young Jewish professionals 
with meaningful resources, 
expertise and networking 
opportunities to help build 
careers in the Detroit area. 
NEXTWork is made possi-
ble through the Hadas and 
Dennis Bernard NEXTWork 
Endowment Fund. 
The event will bring 
together experts to share 
game-changing, career-build-
ing advice that can be applied 
to anyone’s professional jour-
ney.
Keynote speaker Dave Zilko, 
former partner of Garden 
Fresh Salsa and 
CEO of Fuel 
Leadership, will 
kick off the event 
with his presen-
tation, “Turning 
Irrational 
Persistence Into 
Unfathomable Success.”
After the keynote speech, 
breakout sessions will com-
mence, and attendees can reg-
ister for one of the six sessions 
being offered. 
The breakout sessions are 
all based on different topics, 
but no matter the profession 
or background an attendee 

comes from, knowledge can be 
gained from any and all of the 
sessions. 
“That was our goal, where 
anybody in any profession 
can go and mingle and learn 
together from each session,” 
said Rachel Klar, a NEXTGen 
Detroit associate. 
“Our amazing 
speakers leading 
the sessions are a 
really well-round-
ed group of pro-
fessionals and 
experts who can 
teach a skill to anybody in any 
profession.”

BREAKOUT SESSIONS
• Breakout Session A: “3 Key 
Tools to Unlock Your Poten-
tial at Work and in Life” with 
Marty Maddin and Sarah 
Crane, founder/CEO and 
COO, respectively, of Peak 
Performance International, 
a professional coaching and 
training company. 
• Session B: “Reinventing 
Your Career Journey” 
with Sherrie James, Career 

Development Services super-
visor at Gesher Human 
Services, and Phyllis Scripsick, 
counselor at Gesher. 
• Session C: “Everyone Has 
A Story To Tell” with Metro 
Detroit-based publicist Sari 
Cicurel. In this session, attend-
ees will learn how to create 
their own brand identity.
• Session D: “Building Your 
Brand and Getting a Bigger 
Slice of the LinkedIn Pie” 
with Brenda Meller, chief 
engagement officer, Meller 
Marketing. 
• Session E: “How to Run 
a Successful Meeting” with 
Darren Findling, president, 
The Probate Pro. 
• Session F: “Work-Life 
Balance” with Ryan Landau, 
founder of Purpose Jobs, a 
media and events company 
focused on the modern job-
seeker. 
After the breakout ses-
sions, everybody comes back 
together for a strolling dinner 
and drinks and additional 
organized networking oppor-
tunities. The event is expected 

to have around 100 people in 
attendance. Opportunities for 
professional headshots will 
be available throughout the 
evening. 
As a good opportunity not 
only for networking, but also 
for learning and stepping out 
of one’s comfort zone, Klar has 
many hopes for the event. 
“I hope our participants can 
feel professionally supported 
by their Jewish community, 
that they can go back to their 
jobs with more confidence 
and knowledge about how to 
be a better version of them-
selves in the workplace. And 
I hope we’re successful and it 
can continue to be an annual 
conference so we can keep 
bettering our young Jewish 
professionals in the Metro 
Detroit area.”
NEXTUP is powered by the 
Byron and Dorothy Gerson 
Fund. Event co-chairs are 
Erica Dovitz, 
Jacob Gordon, 
Andrew Luckoff, 
Jeremy Rosenberg 
and Josh Sklar.
“NEXTGen is 
known for our 
fundraising and 
social programs, 
but this is the 
first networking 
and professional 
development 
conference we’ve 
hosted, so I’m 
really excited for 
people to see another facet of 
what we have to offer to the 
community,” Dovitz said. 
“I am really looking forward 
to expanding my network 
by connecting with Jewish 
young adults across different 
professions,” Gordon added. 

Registration fee is $60. To learn more 

and register, visit https://jewishdetroit.

org/nextup. 

NEXT DOR

Rachel Klar

Jacob 
Gordon

Dave Zilko

Erica 
Dovitz

NEXTUp

Get career-building advice 
from experts.

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

