A pivot is a redirection, not a restart
Most career advice treats a pivot as starting over. This workshop treats it as redirection: identifying the skills that already travel with you, mapping the opportunities one step away, and building a concrete plan to close the gap.
In two hands-on hours, you’ll work through a skill inventory, an opportunity map, and a 90-day plan, then practice telling your pivot story out loud with a partner.
Designed for mid-career Black women in design and tech roles who are weighing a next move: a bigger role, a different function, a new industry, or a stretch they haven’t yet named.
You’ll leave with
- ✓Your portable core: the two or three skills that transfer regardless of title or sector
- ✓Three adjacent opportunities, mapped and ranked
- ✓A build, borrow, or buy strategy for your biggest skill gap, and a 90-day plan to close it
- ✓A 60-second pivot pitch you’ve practiced with another person
- ✓One committed next move for the following 30 days
Your Executive Facilitator
Liz Johnson
Vice President, Business Systems & Strategy
Solutions Division, Enterprise Community Partners
Liz leads the Solutions Division’s operational infrastructure: data and reporting, process, systems and technology, along with governance and divisional budget oversight.
Her own path ran from international tax to ESG and foundation leadership to nonprofit systems and strategy. She opens the workshop with that story, and it sets the frame for everything that follows.
“I never started over. I changed what my skills were pointed at.”
The agenda
120 minutes, mostly hands-on. You’ll do solo worksheet time, two short breakout rounds in pairs, and one live poll. Times below are minutes into the session.
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0:0010 min
Opening story: three pivots, one skill set
Liz shares how she moved across three sectors without starting over.
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0:1010 min
What a pivot actually is
The three kinds of pivot (role, function, industry) and why most people only see the third. Live poll: which one are you considering?
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0:2025 min
Module 1: The skill inventory
Separate what you’re known for, what you actually do, and what you’ve never been paid for but could be. Solo worksheet, then a breakout with a partner.
You leave with: a named portable core -
0:4520 min
Module 2: Mapping next opportunities
The roles and functions one step from where you are, and where demand is moving for mid-career talent: AI fluency, data and systems, governance and compliance, cross-functional operations.
You leave with: three adjacent opportunities, ranked -
1:0510 min
Break
-
1:1520 min
Module 3: Closing the gap
For your top opportunity: what’s missing, and whether to build it (learn), borrow it (partner or stretch assignment), or buy it (credential). Plus where sponsors fit.
You leave with: one gap, one strategy, one 90-day plan -
1:3515 min
Module 4: Telling the pivot story
Connect your past to your next so the move reads as a natural step, not a risk. Draft your pitch and practice it with a partner.
You leave with: a 60-second pivot pitch, practiced once -
1:5010 min
Close: one next move
Name one action for the next 30 days, then open Q&A.
Frequently asked questions
Got a specific question? Reach us at events (at) blackcomputeher (dot) org.
Where does the workshop take place?
Online, on Zoom. Join from anywhere with a laptop or desktop, a stable connection, and a microphone, since you’ll talk with a partner in breakout rooms. We’ll email your link after you register.
Is this for me?
If you’re in a design or tech role and thinking about what’s next, yes. That might be a bigger role, a different function, a new industry, or something you haven’t named yet. It’s especially useful if you’re in transition or actively looking for your next role.
What should I prepare?
We’ll send the Pivot Playbook worksheet (PDF and fillable versions) 48 hours before the session. On the day, have your current resume or LinkedIn profile open in another window; the skill inventory works from it.
When you register, you’ll also see one optional question: What move are you thinking about but haven’t said out loud? Your answer helps Liz choose examples that fit the room.
I missed the sponsorship vs. mentorship session. Will I be lost?
Not at all. This workshop builds on that conversation (the sponsorship session covered who advances your career; this one covers what you bring that’s worth advancing), but it stands on its own.
Why is it only $25?
Because the people who need this most are often the ones between roles or paying their own way. We keep the fee low so cost isn’t the reason you sit this one out, and members attend free.
Can my company pay for my registration?
Yes. Email events@blackcomputeHER.org with the subject Please Send Invoice and the name of each person being covered, and we’ll send an invoice.
Registration
The same two hours and the same workshop, whichever way you register. We’ve kept it affordable on purpose, especially for anyone in transition or actively looking for their next role.
What’s included
- ✓The live two-hour workshop with Liz Johnson
- ✓The Pivot Playbook worksheet, sent 48 hours ahead
- ✓Two partner breakouts to practice with a peer
- ✓Live Q&A
Your Zoom link arrives by email after you register.
Member rate
For Founding Membere of our 2026 pilot. We confirm membership after you register.
Register free
Secure checkout through PayPal. No refunds.
Membership opens to new members in 2027. Join our mailing list to hear first.