Every year, Goodwill of Central & Southern Indiana hosts Goodwill’s Education and Mission Conference (GEM), a one-day professional development event. Mission and education professionals throughout Goodwill’s central and southern Indiana network have the opportunity to learn from one another and share best practices in their work through presentations and panel discussions.

A theme is designated each year by the organizers; for 2024, the GEM committee chose the theme “Reflecting Inward and Outward.” This theme built on last year’s GEM conference, which concluded with a mission and education participant panel, focusing on their successes, growth and achievements.

“We wanted to expand on that this year and include our own team members from education and mission,” said Ashley Fritsch, one of the co-chairs of the GEM committee. 

By focusing on reflection, GEM attendees were asked to consider methods to recharge, implement self-care, and maintain a healthy work/life balance. They’ll identify resources and practices to uplift teammates and the communities they serve. This theme is centered around encouraging and inspiring others to continue working in a healthy and equitable way.

“As we know the better we are mentally, physically, and emotionally, then the better we are to support those we serve,” said Ashley.

Another prominent aspect of this year’s GEM conference are the many sessions that share resources and best practices on teaching and serving the multilingual and immigrant communities. From 2020 to 2022, Indiana’s immigrant population has increased by nearly 100,000 people. 

“We are seeing more of a need for education on these topics across mission and education,” said Ashley. “We are excited to not only see many sessions on this, but also how quickly people registered for them.”

Goodwill of Central & Southern Indiana serves 40 counties across the state, changing lives in diverse urban and rural communities that experience varying levels of socioeconomic barriers. Having Goodwill’s education and mission staff come together each year to learn and share with each other strengthens the network, the resources we have available, and the opportunities we offer to the communities we serve.

“Whether it’s from a session, making a new connection or both, our mission and education team members can better serve our participants, students and graduates,” said Ashley.

The GEM Conference provides professional development for the staff of mission and education programs like The Excel Center®, Goodwill Nurse-Family Partnership®, Indianapolis Metropolitan High School and more. To learn more about Goodwill’s mission and education programs, visit goodwillindy.org.