End-of-Year Highlights & Exciting Plans Ahead | IODA Newsletter

A RECAP OF THE ACTIVITIES OF 2023

– NEW TALENT | For IODA, 2023 marked a transition in the leadership of the organization as three new Vice Presidents took on their roles in February. We welcomed Carmina Taylor as VP of Strategic Projects,Lakshmidevi Vasudevan as VP of Membership & Communications andRon Banerjee as VP of Affiliations & Partnerships. They have been instrumental in providing new ideas for the strategic direction of IODA and new projects are in the works that we hope will please our members. 

– IODA CONFERENCE 2023 | We were able to come together at our annual conference in Geelong, Australia, in September. The Conference was an enriching experience that left us with a renewed sense of purpose and a deeper understanding of the evolving landscape of OD. Re-live the event here.

It’s worth mentioning and congratulating again those individuals who, during the conference, won awards for outstanding achievements in the field of OD. Rod Barnett took the Richard Beckhard Award for continued service to OD and Ohnmar Myo Aung won the Saul A. Silverman Award for applying innovative tools and theory towards healing and the resolution of conflict in Myanmar. Read more here.

– 2023 IODA WEBINARS & OTHER EVENTS | During the year we held three webinars for our community. They were attended by 71 participants from around the world (remember, members can watch the recording of most of them in the resources portal on the IODA website. All you need to do is sign in as a member). We also held an interactive members’ meeting in October geared towards our newest members which helped to foster connections for those still less familiar with IODA.

We participated in events organized by other OD organizations such as the ODN Summit, ODN Europe’s Conference, as well as Noble’s Africa OD Network webinar.

We have an exciting events calendar planned for 2024. See below for more details. 

– PODCASTS | Our very own General Vice President, Sasha Farley, as well as member Judy Oyedele, have published many new episodes of their Transformation Horizon Podcast series.Each episodegives people the chance to learn different ways in which OD can be a driver for social progress, so if you haven’t listened to them all, click here

WHAT’S NEW FOR 2024?


– A RICH EVENTS CALENDAR | We want to offer our community a yearly calendar of relevant webinars, workshops and members’ meetings to keep up with global OD trends and be able to meet and interact with fellow practitioners from around the world. Our members told us they wanted to meet more often and we listened; you will notice there will be more Members’ get-togethers this year.

  • JANUARY 27th: we’ll hold our first members’ meeting. SAVE THE DATE! Let’s start the year with a bang and come together. We’ll show you what we have planned for 2024 including the launch of a special project (see below for more details). More info to come. 
  • FEBRUARY: Our members Jim Maddox and Claudia Raffo will hold the first webinar of the year on “So, You Want to be an OD Consultant?” – Contracting and Entering from a Global Perspective. Look out for the exact date and more info very soon!
  • APRIL: the second members’ meeting of the year. We’ll present the process for the upcoming elections and take the opportunity to reconnect with the global community.
  • MAY: Alette Vonk will lead a webinar on the Hofsteder Framework – Part 1
  • JUNE: Alette Vonk will hold Part 2 of the Hofsteder Framework webinar
  • JUNE: We will hold another interactive Members’ Meeting. 
  • AUGUST: A webinar on OD for the Accidental Practitioner – Part 1 by Larry Kokkelenberg and Regan Miller
  • SEPTEMBER: OD for the Accidental Practitioner – Part 2 Webinar by Larry Kokkelenberg and Regan Miller
  • OCTOBER: the much-awaited IODA Conference 2024 Mexico which will take place from October 3rd to 5th. 

– ANNOUNCING IODA WORLD CAFE | The strategic Project Committee is launching two initiatives as part of their 3-year plan! In response to members’ requests for more opportunities to truly engage with fellow IODA members before the annual conference, these two platforms plan to enhance our global impact.

Following the three surveys sent to members within the last year and a half, the Strategic Project Committee is excited to announce a new initiative called the IODA World Cafe which will be launched on January 27th during the scheduled Members’ meeting. This project is a simultaneous live interactive practitioners’ conversation with our members across the globe during which they will share trending practices of their work in an effort to start to build an IODA portfolio of informational videos that will be showcased by June on our website. Stay tuned for more information!

HELP IODA IN 2024 


We are always happy to share interesting OD projects on our platform and there are a few ways for our community to do so: 

– IODA BLOG | If you’re a member and you’ve recently written an article, a book, or if you’re simply interested in sharing your view about a specific topic with our community, we would be happy to publish it in our blog. Get in touch here

– RUN A WEBINAR | If you want to volunteer to hold a webinar in 2024 on a topic that can benefit our community, we’re always on the look out for volunteers. You can submit your event here for consideration. 

We wish our vibrant OD community a New Year filled with innovation, resilience, and continuous transformation. Embrace the possibilities, cultivate collaboration, and ignite growth in the coming year. May 2024 be a year of shared success, learning and positive change. Cheers to a year of fostering stronger organizations together!