SIM Chicago Technology Leaders Association (TLA) Career Networking Meeting

SIM Chicago Technology Leaders Association (TLA) helps Chicagoland IT leaders develop and manage their careers through trusted intelligence and purposeful connections.

We hold monthly meetings where IT leaders network, share job market insights, and learn from guest speakers covering career strategy, technology trends, and professional development.

Originally established in 2002 as Technology Leaders Association (TLA), the service now operates under SIM Chicago to extend its commitment to giving back to the broader IT community.

Please join us on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, at 5:30 pm CT for our next TLA Networking event. Our speaker is Amanda Felt who will present ”Social Capital: Leveraging Your Peer Advisory Network”.

In this interactive presentation, you will explore how to increase your social capital by leveraging your networks vs networking. You will have the opportunity to do this in real time through a peer coaching exercise.

Date:  Tuesday, September 8, 2026

Where:  Link Logistics, 9550 W. Higgins Rd, Suite 550, Rosemont

Time: 5:30 – 8:30

Cost:  No charge

For reservations, please reply to tla@sim-chicago.org with your name and telephone number.

Reservations must be made before noon on Monday, September 7, with the first 30 reservations accepted. No walk-ins please.

If you have reserved and are unable to attend, please send a note to tla@sim-chicago.org.

Agenda

5:30 pm – 6:00 pm – Open Networking and Check-in (Light food and beverages provided. Arrive early to maximize networking time.)

6:00 pm to 6:15 pm – Successes & Wins!

6:15 pm to 7:15 pm – Structured Networking

7:15 pm to 8:15 pm – Amanda Felt

8:15 pm to 8:30 pm – Q&A, Adjourn

Structured Networking

Structured networking is a technique used at most major executive transition groups. It is meant to be a powerful method of generating ideas that might help each of our searches.

During this process, we will quickly brainstorm potential job lead ideas, gain networking contacts at desired companies, and generate advice from the members by sharing our backgrounds as well as our career objectives.

It is designed to generate ideas, but given the time constraints, not get into immediate detailed discussions. You should plan on following up with anybody who may have had an interesting idea or a good contact.

Please bring handbills (career overview) to share with others.

We will kick off with structured networking, organizing attendees into small tables of up to eight people and rotating tables a couple of times before our speaker begins.

Per rotation: 90 seconds to pitch.

Pitch framework:

1/3 Your Value Proposition (this is not a resume walk-through),

1/3 Your Target Zone – industries, companies, and roles you are targeting,

1/3 Your Ask: how the group can help (e.g, contacts, introductions, or advice).

Speaker Bio

Grounded in behavioral science and her training in positive psychology, Amanda creates the conditions necessary for individuals and organizations to achieve higher levels of sustainable performance.

Her clients have included Aetna, DuPont, The Home Depot, Kiewit, Lazard, Lincoln International, Penske, and the NBA Players Association, to name a few.

Prior to AEI, Amanda led executive education for the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where she designed and delivered global executive education programs for senior leaders around the world. She also served as Director at Chicago Booth’s London campus, where she was responsible for launching its European Executive Education practice.

Amanda holds a master’s degree in professional counseling from the Illinois School of Professional Psychology and a Bachelor of Arts from Arizona State University’s School of Human Communication. She has trained at the Enneagram Institute and with Harvard professor Robert Kegan in the Immunity to Change (ITC) method.

Amanda is an Elder at Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago and previously served as President of the Board for Chicago Lights, a nonprofit organization founded in 1964 that supports children, youth, and adults facing the challenges of poverty in Chicago.