Harvesting Ideas - Oregon

Join your Oregon association peers during the season of gratitude, connect with colleagues, exchange ideas, and enjoy an afternoon of professional development and community. 

Beyond Mentoring: Better Judgment, Growth & Impact in a Complex World

For decades, professionals have been told that success comes from excellence, hard work, and independence. Yet organizations everywhere are discovering a paradox: even highly capable people can remain underutilized, disconnected, and unsure how to grow.

In this engaging and thought-provoking keynote, Lisa Z. Fain challenges the myth that excellence alone drives career success. Drawing on decades of experience, research on developmental networks, and stories from the workplace, she reveals why growth and leadership development depend on something deeper: intentionally designed ecosystems of learning and connection.

Instead of relying on a single mentor or informal relationships, Lisa shows how developmental networks, peer mentoring, and mentoring ecosystems create the conditions where insight travels, judgment improves, and leaders develop faster.
At the center of the keynote is Lisa’s Mentoring Ecosystem Alignment Model, which shows how organizations unlock human potential when individual agency and organizational structure work together by design rather than by chance. Beyond Mentoring Keynote Draft…

Through story, humor, and practical frameworks, audiences discover how to move from development by accident to learning ecosystems by design.

You will learn how to:
•    Shift from independence to intentional interdependence
•    Build and activate developmental networks that expand perspective and judgment
•    Recognize why traditional mentoring models are too limited for modern workplaces
•    Use peer mentoring and cross-level learning to accelerate development
•    Design learning ecosystems that unlock human potential
•    Move from development by chance to development by design

Lisa Z. Fain, CEO
Center for Mentoring Excellence

Lisa Z. Fain is a world-class keynote speaker and CEO of the Center for Mentoring Excellence®, widely recognized for her expertise in mentoring, workplace connection, and
inclusive leadership. With high energy, sharp insight, and relatable storytelling, Lisa engages audiences from the C-suite to the front line—leaving them inspired, empowered, and ready to take action.

As a former employment attorney and corporate Diversity & Inclusion leader, Lisa brings a
unique blend of legal, cultural, and leadership expertise to her work. Her keynotes are
grounded in real-world experience and filled with practical strategies that make a measurable impact on culture, engagement, and performance. 

She has trained thousands of leaders across industries to create healthier, more connected workplaces through the power of developmental relationships. Lisa is co-author of Bridging Differences for Better Mentoring and the 3rd edition of The Mentor’s Guide, two of the most trusted resources in the mentoring field. She serves as President of the International Mentoring Association and holds both a J.D. and B.S. in Social Policy from Northwestern University.