CAREER DEVELOPMENT ACROSS SECTORS
How Government, Academia, Nonprofit & Industry Are Rethinking Careers in a Changing World
A Workforce Development Month Event | New York City Training Council + ATD NYC
Monday, November 16, 2026 | 5:30 - 8:00 PM | CUNY Amazon 12 West 39th Street
AI, shifting skills, new workforce expectations and changing organizational models are transforming not only how work gets done, but how people build, navigate, and sustain meaningful careers.
In this environment, career development can no longer be viewed simply as upward mobility or an individual employee responsibility. It is increasingly a strategic workforce capability connecting talent, skills, mobility, learning, and organizational change. And with disruption comes opportunity.
Where are new possibilities emerging for talent and workforce development professionals? What might a career in this field look like across sectors? And what can we learn from one another about where the profession is headed next?
A CROSS-SECTOR CONVERSATION
Moderated by Andrea Serbonich, President, ATD NYC, the evening will bring together leaders from government, academia, nonprofit, and industry to explore how careers, organizations, and the profession itself are evolving.
WHAT WE'LL EXPLORE
• How careers are changing. What does career development mean when roles, skills, and traditional career paths are continually being disrupted?
• Where the opportunities are. Where are new roles, career paths, and possibilities emerging across sectors and where is talent development expertise increasingly needed?
• Where innovation is happening. How are organizations rethinking learning, mobility, reskilling, workforce development, and the ways people grow throughout their careers?
• What leaders should be thinking about next. What can we learn across sectors, and what will it take to build the workforce capabilities organizations and communities need next?
FROM CONVERSATION TO CONNECTION
The evening will feature a 50-minute cross-sector panel and audience Q&A, followed by 30-minute facilitated sector breakout conversations across government, academia, non-profit, and industry.
Participants will choose the sector they most want to explore and engage directly with panelists and peers around emerging practices, career pathways, opportunities, challenges, and possibilities for the future of the field.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
Designed for leaders and practitioners across talent development, L&D, workforce development, talent management, and career development - whether you’re leading this work today, considering where your expertise could take you next, or thinking about the capabilities your organization and workforce will need for the future. Audience is ATD NYC members and NYC government employees.
