Join Love on this episode of the FedUpward podcast as she chats with Shawn Welsh, Founder and Co-Host of the VET S.O.S. podcast. A retired Army veteran with over 20 years of intelligence experience, Shawn shares his journey from military service to content creation and the founding of VET S.O.S.

Shawn and his team are dedicated to connecting veterans, transitioning service members, and military spouses with critical support organizations and resources. With advanced leadership expertise and a passion for helping others, Shawn's mission is to empower the veteran community and their families. Don't miss this inspiring conversation!

https://vetsospodcast.com/

Shawn's a prolific LinkedIn poster, so follow him there!

https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawnwelsh00/

John Hatton, Staff Vice President of Policy and Programs at the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) joined me on the podcast to discuss what NARFE is, does and how it can help you. He also discussed the ups and downs of this year's FEHB open season.

https://www.narfe.org/membership-who-can-join/?utm_source=7M6&utm_campaign=NARFE_GoogleAds_Join_Search_09262023&gad_source=1

Kevin Moss of Consumers'Checkbook is on the show to talk about the major changes in health insurance options. It's open season, y'all! Even if you love your plan, shop around. Open Season ends on December 9th.

His organization offers an amazing calculator that can help you make the best choice for your family. Listeners of the podcast get a discount using the code FedUpward to get 20% this already well-priced tool!

Find the calculator here.

Virginia Blaser, former senior Department of State official, walks feds through her tips for managing the performance appraisal cycle. She literally wrote the book on questions to ask employees throughout the year to help them develop and achieve their goals. You can find it here.

Watch the video of our conversation here.

Working with folks 20 years older, 20 years younger and all ages in between? Dr. Russell Robinson of American University's Key Executive Leadership Program and Amplified Research

talks about working with SO MANY different generations of folks. Listen to Russ' wisdom and how you can learn more at Key.

Robyn Kehoe, executive director for the Federal Employee Education and Assistance Fund joined me on the podcast to discuss how FEEA supports federal employees in need of disaster relief assistance. FEEA provides small grants to feds who need immediate cash infusions to get shelter, beds, clthing, etc. Get more dteails about applying and donating here:

https://feea.org/our-programs/disaster-relief/

Robyn also covers the other great services FEEA offers including tutoring for children of feds and scholarships for feds and their families.

Meet Sean Michael Newhouse. He's a reporter for GovExec and put out videos recently about the Hatch Act that are far more entertaining than our normal annual training. You can catch that content here. In this episode, he explains the basics of the Hatch Act and what it's like working for GovExec.

Learn more about his GovExec work at this link. And here's his latest story.

On September 11, 2024, Jackie Garrick and team will host the Workplace Promise Instittute. Jackie founded Whistleblowers of America, nonprofit organization assisting whistleblowers who have suffered retaliation after having identified harm to individuals or the public. Her experience as a federal employee led her to create a network of support for whistleblowers. The conference on the 11th will explore legal protections, resources available to whistleblowers and a chance to network with people who have been through the process.

Learn more about WOA here.

Register for the conference at this link.

Meet Kris Saling. a leader in the Army's recruiting command and analytics guru. She joined me on the podcast to talk about her new book, Data-Driven Talent Management and federal agencies and deparmtents can leverage better tools and processes to improve employee experience. She combines HR and data savvy to yield results.

Get the book at this link.

Here's what the listing on Amazion says about Kris new book:

Data-Driven Talent Management is a practical guide for HR professionals which answers these questions. It outlines effective data collection and analysis methods as well as showing how to develop metrics and key performance indicators to support employee experience. It also provides guidance on how to build a comprehensive talent database by understanding different employee experiences, attributes, skills and journeys. In addition, there is also essential advice on how to leverage data to improve motivation and employee engagement, use data to assess different thought and work styles in the workforce and use the results to build a diverse and inclusive organization that allows all employees and the business to thrive. Full of tools, tips and frameworks and written by a professional who is implementing a data-driven approach to talent management for the US Army, the world's largest employer, this is essential reading for all mid-level and senior HR practitioners.

https://iabpia.org

I love connecting listeners with professional organizations literally made for them! Enter Black Professionals in International Affairs! President Alexandria Maloney discusses membership, upcoming events, mission and how you can get involved in this episode.

BPIA upcoming events: https://iabpia.org/events

Alexandria Maloney's site: https://www.alexandriamaloney.com/