CBODN upcoming events

CBODN Networking Night - Pre-Conference Social Event (23 Oct 2026)

Fri, 23 Oct 2026 22:00:00 GMT

Back by Popular Demand: CBODN Networking Night!

After a fantastic turnout last year, we're excited to bring back our Networking Night to kick off the Leadership Conference weekend.

Join us at UPSIDE on Moore in Arlington, VA for an evening of connection, conversation, and community as we kick off the Conference weekend. Reconnect with colleagues, meet new faces, expand your network, and get energized for the day ahead.

Bring your friends, partners, and colleagues—the more, the merrier. We hope to see you there!

Don't miss Saturday's line-up of learning, collaboration, and inspiration. Join us for CBODN CONNECT 2026: Igniting Change Together on October 24th from 9am-5pm!

And, bundle the conference and networking social for even greater savings (to do so, register for the conference and simply select the Networking Night Social add-on during checkout to take advantage of the discounted rate.)

CONNECT 2026 - CBODN Annual Conference (24 Oct 2026)

Sat, 24 Oct 2026 13:00:00 GMT

You won’t want to miss this synergistic, thought-provoking, engaging, and fun day offering plenty of opportunities for learning, collaboration, and inspiration.

CBODN CONNECT 2026: Igniting Change Together celebrates the power of connection as a catalyst for organizational progress. As organizations continue to evolve, so does the work of organization development. Join fellow practitioners, leaders, and change agents for thought-provoking conversations, practical learning, and meaningful connections that will help you navigate what's next.

Connect with People

Network with 100+ OD professionals, consultants, coaches, and leaders
Build relationships with peers who understand the challenges and opportunities of OD work
Engage in a shared experience with a vibrant learning community

Connect with Ideas

Gain insights from an inspiring keynote speaker
Choose from a dozen-plus breakout sessions on timely OD topics
Explore emerging trends, tools, and practices shaping the future of organizations

Connect with Action

Leave with practical strategies and resources you can apply immediately
Discover new approaches to leading change and driving organizational effectiveness
Reignite your energy, purpose, and impact

Plus

Networking Breakfast
Networking Lunch
Meaningful conversations and connections throughout the day

Secure your spot today and join us as we ignite change together!

Don't miss our Pre-Conference Networking Night! Kick off the conference weekend with an unforgettable evening of connection and conversation at a nearby venue. Join us Friday, October 23, 2026 from 6:00 – 9:00 PM at UPSIDE on Moore (1700 N Moore St level m2, Arlington, VA 22209).

WANT THE BEST VALUE?

Bundle the conference and networking social for even greater savings. When registering for the conference, simply select the Networking Night Social add-on during checkout to take advantage of the discounted rate.

If you are interested in attending and the cost of the conference is a barrier, please email admin@cbodn.org. We want to ensure you are able to attend.

Coaching Community of Practice – Learning Leader Journey: Coaching Toward Self-Mastery (27 Oct 2026)

Tue, 27 Oct 2026 23:00:00 GMT

Learning Leader Journey: Coaching Toward Self-Mastery
Introducing the Integrated Leadership Presence Model (Being and Doing Integration)

In complex, high-pressure environments, coaching effectiveness is not defined by tools and techniques alone. It is shaped by the quality of the coach's presence. This 90-minute interactive session introduces the Integrated Leadership Presence Model, an original framework developed by Madhavi Jodhpurkar that reframes leadership and coaching through the integration of being and doing.

Most leadership development emphasizes practice: skills, frameworks and observable behaviors. This model brings forward the dimension that shapes them. Presence is the internal state from which a leader operates, including self-awareness, character, values and emotional regulation. Practice is its external expression. The model asserts a clear and often overlooked truth: the ceiling of doing is determined by the depth of being.

Participants will examine how presence and practice converge into self-mastery, understood not as self-control but as self-awareness translated into conscious choice. The session moves from concept into applied reflection, mapping individual triggers and reactive patterns and practicing the Integrated Leadership Presence Reset, and closes with a personal commitment.

By the end of this session, participants will leave with:

A working understanding of the Integrated Leadership Presence Model and the distinction between being and doing.
Insight into how internal state shapes coaching practice under pressure.
A practical framework for recognizing and regulating reactive patterns in real time.
Clarity on your own growth edge and a defined commitment toward self-mastery.

About the Presenter: Madhavi Jodhpurkar

Madhavi Jodhpurkar brings more than 20 years of management experience to her work as an organizational development consultant and coach. She has led teams of 15, 30 and 60 people, and she consults from that lived leadership experience rather than from theory alone. She holds a BS in Leadership Development and an MS in Organizational Development and Knowledge Management from George Mason University, where she was recognized as a GMU Kindness Ambassador, and she maintains a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt along with a range of coaching and assessment credentials.

Her practice spans for-profit and non-profit organizations, government contracting, international development and financial services, at both national and global scale, and she currently serves as an Organizational Development Expert at Bechtel Corporation. Across these settings, her work centers on leadership development, team effectiveness, executive coaching, change navigation, and psychological safety and wellbeing. A systems thinker who works well in conditions of change and ambiguity, she is known for a grounded presence and an inclusive, outcome-oriented approach.

Coffee & Connections: A CBODN Social Hour (01 Nov 2026)

Sun, 01 Nov 2026 15:00:00 GMT

Join fellow CBODN members for a relaxed, informal gathering at Panera Bread in Vienna, VA!

Come sip your beverage of choice and build connections with practitioners from across the field. This is a no-pressure social catch-up—perfect for networking, idea swapping, and just enjoying good conversation with peers who “get” the work. All OD and OD-adjacent professionals are welcome—whether you’re a seasoned consultant, internal practitioner, researcher, or student exploring the field.

The event is open to all CBODN members and guests interested in OD practice, organizational development, change management, and related domains. If you’re new, consider this a welcoming entry point to the community!

Address: Panera Bread (8365 Leesburg Pike, Vienna, VA 22180)

Metro: Spring Hill Metro

DC Area OD Practitioners CoP — Reading the System Through the Three Brains: A Diagnostic Lens for OD Consultants (05 Nov 2026)

Fri, 06 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Reading the System Through the Three Brains: A Diagnostic Lens for OD Consultants

Most of us know the head/heart/gut framework as a tool for personal decision-making — but it's just as useful, and less commonly applied, as a diagnostic lens for reading client systems. In this session, you'll explore how teams and organizations get "stuck" in one brain: over-analyzing without buy-in (head-locked), managing morale while avoiding hard data (heart-locked), or reacting without reflection (gut-locked) — and how naming that stuck state points directly to the kind of intervention that will actually land. We’ll walk through what each pattern looks like in real engagement dynamics, gain a short diagnostic question set you can use in your very next client conversation to identify which brain is dominating and design toward integration, and see the framework in action through a live case example drawn from somatic/embodied facilitation work. This isn’t just conceptual — it’s something you can put to use immediately.

What you'll take away:

A practical diagnostic tool for identifying which "brain" a client system is stuck in, and how to design interventions accordingly.

Presenter — Marc Stoecker

Marc is an ICF-accredited coach (ACC), certified Co-Active coach, and Positive Intelligence® practitioner with over 20 years of experience in learning and development and adult education. He is the founder of Prism of Purpose Coaching & Training, where he designs and facilitates soft-skill and technical-skill experiences that help individuals and teams build resilience, clarity, and purpose during times of change.

Marc’s work blends evidence-based coaching, experiential learning, and embodied practices to create spaces where people can think clearly, reconnect with their worth, and take meaningful action. He supports professionals across corporate, nonprofit, government, and association settings throughout the United States.

DC Area OD Practitioners CoP — Follow the Lines, Not the Boxes: Mapping the Social Architecture Where Change Takes Root (03 Dec 2026)

Fri, 04 Dec 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Follow the Lines, Not the Boxes: Mapping the Social Architecture Where Change Takes Root

When a client reaches for the org chart, OD practitioners can offer a better question: who do people actually turn to when the formal channels don't work? The answer reveals an organization's social architecture, the web of relationships, trust, and influence where work actually gets done and where change either takes root or withers.

In this interactive virtual session, Dr. Liz Scott, author of The Ripple Effect, moves from why reorganizing rarely fixes the culture to how to work with the networks that do. Participants will map a real client system and locate the connectors, problem-solvers, and culture carriers already shaping it. They'll practice bringing those people into a change effort before it launches, not after it stalls.

Come ready to draw, annotate, and work in small breakout groups. Have pen and paper and a current or recent client in mind.

Participants will leave able to:

Shift a client conversation from "what's the right structure?" to "who do people actually turn to?"
Run a quick, low-tech network scan using five diagnostic questions.
Identify the connectors, problem-solvers, and culture carriers in a client system, and know how each one spreads or stalls change.
Build a "starting lineup" of the five to seven people to engage in the first thirty days.
Use a one-page network mapping template with their next client.

Presenter — Dr. (Liz) Elizabeth Scott

Dr. Scott is the founder and CEO of Brighter Strategies, a women-owned organizational development firm that serves nonprofits, associations, and mission-driven organizations. For nearly two decades, she has helped leaders make their organizations' relational dynamics visible and actionable, working at the intersection of network analysis, culture change, and leadership development. She holds a PhD in Human and Organizational Systems and is the author of The Ripple Effect: How Social Sector Leaders Transform Organizations Through Relationships, which shows how lasting change spreads through relationships, not mandates.

Coffee & Connections: A CBODN Social Hour (05 Dec 2026)

Sat, 05 Dec 2026 15:00:00 GMT

Join fellow CBODN members for a relaxed, informal gathering at Java Nation in Silver Spring, MD!

Address: Java Nation (1010 Wayne Ave, Silver Spring, MD 20910)

Metro: Silver Spring Metro Station

DC Area OD Practitioners CoP — Frontline Workers and Lewinian Change (07 Jan 2027)

Fri, 08 Jan 2027 00:00:00 GMT

Frontline Workers and Lewinian Change

The front-line workers are the people doing the physical work, directly serving the customers, writing the code, providing social services to a targeted population, etc. Lewin's action-research validated that involving people on the front lines is the key to successful and sustainable change, whether within organizations or in pursuit of broader social change. The how of his model is simple and effective, yet rarely practiced by management or even OD practitioners. The presenter will cover the how and the why, using case studies from his most recent book, Leadership and the Frontline Workforce: Lessons from the Targets of Change.

What you'll take away:

Change the way Lewin wanted it practiced
True stories of moving from polarization to collaboration
Applications to organizational and social change

Presenter — Gilmore Crosby

Gilmore is an organizational development practitioner, author, and professor of social science at the Leadership Institute of Seattle (LIOS). His work centers on applying the methods of Kurt Lewin—the founder of modern OD and group dynamics—to leadership, change management, and team performance. Crosby's career began in 1984, building on his father Robert P. Crosby's OD practice, which dates to 1953 and to Lewin's immediate circle of students and collaborators.

Planned Change: Why Kurt Lewin's Social Science Is Still Best Practice for Business Performance, Change Management & Human Progress lays out the argument that animates Crosby's work: that Lewin's methods remain the most reliable foundation for change. While embracing the past, Crosby experiments in the present, conducting T-group learning in organizations, online T-groups, and various uses of new technology, including AI. His mission, inspired by Lewin’s, is to help create a better future for humanity—by keeping Lewin's social science alive and in active use as a practical instrument for social and organizational change.

Coffee & Connections: A CBODN Social Hour (23 Jan 2027)

Sat, 23 Jan 2027 16:00:00 GMT

Join fellow CBODN members for a relaxed, informal gathering at Teaism at Dupont Circle.

Address: Teaism (Dupont Circle) - 2009 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20009

Metro: Dupont Circle Metro