The Power of Partnerships in Creating Future-Ready Leaders

Start with the people you know.

Like many great collaborations, the ADVISA / Next Gen Talent partnership started with people.

I have known ADVISA’s CEO, Heather Haas, for years. And I have long admired the ADVISA brand and the team’s commitment to helping leaders understand themselves and others.

Beyond that professional respect, Heather and I share a genuine passion for leadership and talent development—and, importantly, a shared energy for creating fun, engaging, people-centric environments.

When individuals connect this naturally, partnering becomes a logical and inspired next step.

Find where your goals overlap.

From that relationship, it became clear that our organizations’ noble goals overlap in meaningful ways:

• Next Gen Talent equips emerging HR leaders with the business skills, strategic mindset, and community they need to move their organizations forward.
  
• ADVISA brings deep leadership-development expertise and tools like the Predictive Index (PI), which strengthen self-awareness and team effectiveness.

Seeing those synergies sparked the idea to formally collaborate—a true win-win that could amplify both of our missions for the good of the HR profession.

Partner up – and do more, together.

That vision came to life throughout 2025, as ADVISA served as our premier sponsor and played a hands-on role in enhancing the program experience:

• ADVISA delivered PI assessments for our Next Gen Talent participants, helping them better understand themselves and one another.
  
• I participated in a panel of local leaders who each shared insights about recent business trends at ADVISA’s mid-year meeting.
  
• Heather led a dynamic community event titled Future Facing HR: The Humans in the Loop, challenging emerging HR leaders to embrace their role as culture stewards in an increasingly AI-driven world.

Meanwhile, our teams met regularly to share ideas, align on goals, and support one another’s work—modeling the kind of thoughtful collaboration we encourage our participants to practice.

Because the overlap between our missions is so strong, our partnership will continue into 2026. ADVISA will serve as a Community Sponsor next year, again providing PI assessments to help our participants deepen their self-awareness and strengthen the relationships that are foundational to effective leadership.

Our partnership with ADVISA reminds us of a simple truth: when you begin with trusted relationships, recognize shared purpose, and intentionally build on that overlap, you can accomplish far more than you ever could alone. It’s the kind of collaboration that strengthens leaders, strengthens organizations, and strengthens the future of HR.

And we’re just getting started.

When you begin with trusted relationships, recognize shared purpose, and intentionally build on that overlap, you can accomplish far more than you ever could alone.

About Next Gen Talent

Next Gen Talent, a 501(c)(3) non-for-profit organization operating virtually across the nation, equips early career HR and talent leaders with the business acumen necessary to drive change and lead through the challenges that businesses face. Led by seasoned human resources professionals and consultants, and utilizing the expertise of guest speakers who are proficient in various aspects of the business industry, program participants can expect to develop the awareness and skills needed to lead their HR functions with a business-first mindset. The program focuses on building business skills such as sales and marketing, technology, finance, networking, operational excellence and professional speaking. Participants are selected via an application process and, once accepted, commit to the full one-year program. 

---

FURTHER READING

The Human in the Data by Lisa Pettitt

Sage Against the Machine by Heather Haas