While 2020 has been a year with numerous plot twists and massive disruption, it has not been without significant innovations that will most assuredly outlast the COVID-19 pandemic. Lone Star College-University Park will highlight ways that organizations and individuals can thrive during uncertainty with a free, half-day virtual symposium, Living Innovation, on Friday, November 20, from 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Living Innovation features three dynamic sessions that will cover universal issues that all organizations face, such as home and work life balance, collaboration in a virtual setting, and pivoting to new business models when old ones no longer apply. Sessions include:
- “Innovation to Overcome”: Doreen Pei Ching Ng, Vice President, Operations & Compliance, Fulgent Genetics. Ng will describe how a clinical laboratory that was focused on genetic testing strategically pursued innovative COVID-19 testing. Being nimble and flexible allowed Fulgent to defy the odds and provide rapid-turnaround and in-home testing capabilities.
- “Coping in a Pandemic”: Amy Tompkins, Community Outreach Specialist, The Harris Center. Are you, your families, your employees feeling the physical and emotional strains related to the pandemic? Tompkins will cover topics such as self-care, wellness, compassion fatigue and burn-out, providing you with actionable steps to keep your organization – or your family – running smooth.
- “Home & Away – An Education Panel Discussion”: A multi-faceted panel of educators, students and parents will explore solutions for the challenges facing K-12 and higher education, including home and work life balance, educational gaps, needs of students, and virtual learning. Panelists include Jeremy Newman, Director of Public Policy for Texas Home School Coalition; Laurie Mawyer, homeschool parent and professor of political science at LSC-University Park; Alvin Moses, Klein ISD teacher; and representatives from Teachers2B, an innovative teacher preparation program tied to the Associate of Arts in Teaching degree at LSC-University Park.
"This virtual symposium brings together an incredible mix of business, education and health care leaders who are transforming their operational models to serve the public," said Keri Porter, LSC-University Park chief strategist. "It will address new ideas that each attendee can apply to both their work and personal lives.”
Dr. Shah Ardalan, LSC-University Park President, sees the symposium as a natural extension of the college’s ongoing commitment to provide value-added, innovative resources for the community.
“Since LSC-University Park was founded, it has been charged with an invitation to innovate,” he said. “This event builds on that foundation at a time when organizations and individuals must learn to solve problems in different ways."
For more information or to register for the free Living Innovation virtual symposium, visit www.LoneStar.edu/livinginnovation.