March 2026 Newsletter

A Message from Our President

Dear SHRM Howard County Members:

Welcome to March! It’s hard to believe that we’re nearing the end of the 1^st quarter of 2026! At the outset of the year, SHRM identifies top trends and priorities across a number of HR areas. Check these out on the SHRM.org site – go to the site’s search bar and type in either “2026” or “2026 trends”. You’ll find a wealth of knowledge!

I recently attended a webinar for SHRM Volunteer Leaders (a perk of volunteering on the Board!) regarding SHRM’s Top Workplace Policy Issues for 2026. SHRM is actively working to support bipartisan legislation organized under the following topics:

Shifting AI Regulation, Ethics and Workforce Transformation
Strengthening the Education to Employment Pipeline
Escalating Cost and Design Complexity of Benefits
Mounting Workforce Shortages, Talent Gaps and Economic Pressures
Evolving Workforce Compliance in a New Legal Environment
Pressing Future of Caregiving (Childcare and Eldercare) and Workforce Well-being

Within our chapter, we’re addressing many of these subject areas in our upcoming

chapter meetings, activities, and content:

Our February chapter meeting provided great tools for using AI to strengthen communication in the workplace.
Our March 19^th Chapter meeting will equip you to build a HR Strategic Communications Playbook to increase employee wellbeing and proactively provide organizational reputation management.
In March, we’re participating in the following Workforce Readiness Activities:

Mock Interviews: Chapter members are participating in Mock Interviews at area high schools to support Workforce Readiness among High School Juniors.
HR Careers: Our College Relations Committee will present on HR careers at Howard Community College in March.

April: Our Chapter meeting on DEI Trends and Best Practices
May: Our Legislative Affairs Briefing, led by Board Member Aisha Massengill-Jorge, will review updates from the 2026 Maryland General Assembly Legislative Session

Join us for great learning (and recertification credits), great networking, and great community! And remember, our March Chapter Meeting will take place at our NEW location the Maryland Innovation Center, located at 6751 Columbia Gateway Drive Columbia, MD.

We’ll see you there!

April Perry

Chapter President, SHRM Howard County

Chapter Happenings

During our February Chapter meeting, we honored Kimberly Prescott, our current Immediate Past President, for her service to our chapter in 2024-2025. Kimberly returned to partner with Chapter leadership in 2024 and served as our Chapter President during 2025, with the goal of strengthening chapter operations and ensuring our continued success.

Kimberly, who previously served as Chapter President in 2014, has an abiding commitment and deep affection for SHRM Howard County. As our Chapter emerged from the pandemic, we underwent a period in which uncertainty about gathering in person combined with a slow return to pre-pandemic levels of involvement, resulted in lower chapter participation. Kimberly rejoined Chapter leadership, leveraging her network of previous SHRM Howard County leaders and sponsors to provide the chapter with resources and to continue the establishment of a strong operational foundation. As a result, 2025 marked a tremendous year of growth for our Chapter.

As the Chapter award that was presented to Kimberly during the February meeting states, "SHRM Howard County Recognizes Kimberly Prescott - For answering the call to lead once more with clarity and purpose." We're truly glad that Kimberly continues to serve with our chapter as Immediate Past President and look forward to the fruits of her work on our Board. Please join us in recognizing Kimberly's service to our chapter!

News You Can Use

BIG NEWS! VENUE CHANGE COMING!

Starting at our March 19 meeting, we’re changing locations for our monthly chapter meetings. We’ll now be gathering at Maryland Innovation Center (MIC) at 6751 Columbia Gateway Dr, Columbia, MD 21046. Maryland Innovation Center serves as a premier incubator and accelerator fostering entrepreneurship, collaboration, and growth right in the heart of Howard County’s innovation ecosystem.

You’ll find us in the Platinum Meeting Room on the first floor, just past the security check-in desk. We’re excited about this change, as it allows us to accommodate more attendees and better support the continued growth and evolving needs of our chapter.

We’re also proud to share that Maryland Innovation Center will be a Sponsor of our chapter for 2026, and that food will now be provided by Victoria Catering! We know you’ll appreciate the fresh setting and enhanced meeting experience. Mark your calendar and we’ll see you there in March.

We’d also like to extend a sincere thank you to Cured 18th & 21st for graciously hosting our chapter meetings and for their continued service, partnership, and hospitality. We truly appreciate their support of SHRM Howard County.

Upcoming Events

MARCH MONTHLY MEETING

**note new location**

HR's Strategic Long Game: How Internal Communications Turns Burnout into Buy-In and Creates a Roadmap for Reputation Management

Speaker: Rachael Shackelford Dussuau

Date: March 19, 2026 | 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Location: Maryland Innovation Center

6751 Columbia Gateway Dr
Columbia, MD 21046

About our Program:

HR professionals are expected to navigate constant unpredictability, keep the organization steady, support employees, and protect culture. If even one ball is dropped, it can all fall apart. This session explores HR’s new strategic long game: how internal communications can build organizational buy-in and support reputation management. We will focus on why a clear communications roadmap is essential to reducing unnecessary professional stress.

Participants will leave with practical strategies to:

strengthen morale,
reduce reactive fire drills, and
help employees feel invested in the organization’s success, both in times of calm and during the most challenging moments of change.

APRIL MONTHLY MEETING

**note new location**

DEI Trends and Best Practices

Speaker: Mauricio Velásquez

Date: April 16, 2026 | 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Location: Maryland Innovation Center

6751 Columbia Gateway Dr
Columbia, MD 21046

About our Program:

In today’s evolving landscape, organizations are reexamining what Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) looks like in practice and how it continues to shift. This session will explore what’s happening with DEI today and how to build a resilient, “bulletproof” strategy that can adapt to changing expectations while still driving meaningful impact. We will also move into more advanced concepts, including fostering psychological safety and trust, strengthening emotional intelligence, and proactively addressing workplace toxicity. The session will conclude with an open Q&A to discuss challenges, insights, and practical applications.

MAY MONTHLY MEETING

2026 Legislative Update

Speaker: Aisha Massengill

Date: May 21, 2026 | 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Location: Maryland Innovation Center

6751 Columbia Gateway Dr
Columbia, MD 21046

About our Program:

Save the date for our annual legislative update is happening once again by popular demand! Hear about the 2025 Legislative Session and provide you with tangible actions and information to take back and implement in your workplace.

D.I.Y. - Diversity In You

Being A Workplace Ally

As companies focus on Inclusion and Diversity the need for advocacy amongst underrepresented groups has become imperative. Individuals within the workplace can experience limited access to sponsorship and training opportunities based on gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or disabilities.

Allyship within the workplace can provide a sense of support along with opportunities for learning and engagement. Employees that become allies can help co-workers by providing career nudges, mentorship, coaching, and sponsorship. SHRM highlights 4 simple actions that an ally can take that will have a positive impact on others’ careers:

Provide Development Opportunities - Allies can assist underrepresented groups by identifying employees that would be a good fit for stretch assignments and projects that can potentially increase job satisfaction. In many instances underrepresented groups are often assigned smaller tasks such as taking notes or planning parties.
Put Others In The Spotlight - Recommend members of underrepresented groups for more visible roles. For example, invite them to speak at company events or meetings, organize team training, encourage them to volunteer for daunting projects that can demonstrate problem solving ability.
Promote Fairness - Promoting fairness by evaluating employees on factual and objective criteria. Consistent evaluations should be implemented for all employees in similar positions. Feedback and decision making should always be based on data-driven performance and organizational goals.
Be An Advocate - Speak up for Underrepresented groups! Listen without bias, speaking up against bias, accept feedback with humility, and simply using your privilege to support others. Also, allyship should be continuous and daily process, not a one-time act.

In conclusion, the shift from passive diversity to active inclusion is fueled by intentional allyship. By adopting SHRM’s four pillars of advocacy, providing development, increasing visibility, promoting fairness, and speaking up. Individuals can dismantle the barriers that hinder underrepresented talent. True allyship is not a one-time performance or a badge of honor; it is a consistent leadership competency that transforms the workplace. Allies in the workplace are also able to learn new perspectives, improve their own leadership skills and contribute to a healthier work environment. When allies use their influence to 'nudge' careers forward, they do more than support a colleague; they build a more innovative, equitable, and resilient organization where merit, rather than proximity to privilege, dictates success.