Free Events

Frank Chindamo is an award-winning filmmaker and founder of Virtual Film School. His career started in TV working on Saturday Night Live and in film with the movie Ghostbusters. Chindamo has won over 30 awards for his work and has been lauded in pages of Forbes Magazine, LA Times, Wall St. Journal, NY Times, CNN, USA Today, and more.

The Virtual Film School offers the upcoming generation of filmmakers, content producers, and influencers a film school that has been rebuilt. It offers learners in the film and web video industries, online courses using virtual reality classrooms.

“Beyond the Book” Author Series

Frank Chimando, is co-author of the book New Media: How to Create and Monetize Video Content. This unique textbook is a remarkable mix of digital strategies and classic industry tactics to monetize content in an online world. Inside this book you will find details on how to improve your digital identity, and the steps that lead to online video success.

We invite you to join us as Frank shares about a growing number of individuals who are scoring six-and-seven-figure paychecks, studio development deals, book and record contracts because they have harnessed the power of content production, distribution and monetization.

Our free ACT/SAT strategy workshop offers you an introduction to the exam and provides valuable tips and tricks for studying. The workshop focuses on test mechanics, including test administration and scoring, and provide you with ideas about preparing for the exam, either on your own or through a prep course like ours.

Please note: This event is only available to currently enrolled students in an Accelerated Certificate Program (ACP) through our International Programs.

One’s most valuable personal asset is an ability to communicate effectively. To convey ideas and persuade an audience that a product or service is best suited to their needs, it is essential that one be able to speak articulately, in a well-organized, thoughtful, and impressive manner. In addition to a client-based audience, professionals must also be skilled in expressing their ideas and opinions to co-workers, employers, and professional peers. This seminar will provide you an interactive concept review of presentation principles and best practices, followed by feedback and coaching tips to help you engage your audience effectively and with complete confidence.

Speaker: Kathy Salata has over 20 years of professional business experience. She began with Fortune 500 companies in the field of marketing. After earning her MBA from UC, Irvine, she ventured into an entrepreneurial opportunity and also began teaching Marketing and Presentation Skills at UC, Irvine. She looks forward to sharing her experiences with you, and welcomes your participation and feedback during the workshop.

Farah Harris is a psychotherapist, author, and workplace belonging and well-being expert dedicated to disrupting unhealthy work environments. She is the founder and CEO of WorkingWell Daily®, a company that approaches workplace belonging and well-being from a psycho-social and emotional intelligence lens.

Farah has helped individuals and Fortune 500 companies develop healthier workplaces where employees want to stay and thrive because their leaders and teams have grown in empathy, self-awareness, social awareness, and cultural awareness. As a mental health practitioner and consultant, Farah is aware of the intersectionality between well-being, equity, and inclusion.

She is a sought-after expert on mental health, psychological safety, workplace culture, and emotional intelligence. Her work has been featured in media and podcast platforms such as Forbes, Fast Company, Business Insider, Harvard Business Review, Huffington Post, Essence, Good Morning America, Martha Stewart, Thrive Global, and Therapy for Black Girls.

“Beyond the Book” Author Series

In this presentation about the book The Color of Emotional Intelligence , psychotherapist and well-being expert Farah Harris uses personal stories and anecdotes to give you a glimpse of:

• The fundamentals of emotional intelligence and barriers to practicing EQ effectively
• How emotional intelligence is used as a survival skill by marginalized people
• Different types of stressors, including microaggressions, and resulting unhealthy defensive tactics, such as code-switching and masking
• Self-care strategies for handling systemic stressors that affect people from marginalized groups
• Tools everyone can use to elevate their emotional intelligence to address inequities and become better stewards of humanity

Don’t go through life seeing things in black and white. It’s time to see the world in color.

We all have a career path we follow. For some, it’s smooth sailing with few bumps along the way. For others, it’s a stormy journey full of bumps, turns, and switchbacks. In this session, presenters Sarah Neely and Robin Sinclair of Orange Door Consulting will show there is a way to set a strategic career path for yourself with intentional preparation and planning. Starting with the basics, each will share her own unique journey navigating their careers in the nonprofit sector. Together, we will take a look at nonprofit career opportunities and how to identify and target your own career goals. With those goals in mind, we will discuss the best approach to: find great jobs in the nonprofit sector, negotiate salary, keep your job, and become a strong leader. This session is ideal for those who are newly navigating their career paths and for those who may be feeling stuck or uncertain about their career futures. This webinar includes pre-registration advisement for individuals interested in UCI DCE’s fully online Nonprofit Management Specialized Studies Program. To learn more about the program, visit ce.uci.edu/nonprofit

Our free GRE strategy workshop offers you an introduction to the exam and provides valuable tips and tricks for studying. The workshop focuses on test mechanics, including test administration and scoring, and provide you with ideas about preparing for the exam, either on your own or through a prep course like ours.

DCE Career Educator Amy Gleason is available to answer your career-related questions. Join her for drop-ins on the second Monday of every month from 12-1pm.

Recognized thought leader Simon Taylor, is the author of Build Smart: A Blueprint for Building a High-Performing Organization

Simon heads Talent Management & Organizational Effectiveness for Athleta (Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic). He has been advisor to senior executives at The Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros., Amgen, and Gap. As a nine-time national champion rower, Simon draws upon principles of elite competition to shape his approach to building high-performing organizations.

“Beyond the Book” Author Series

Build Smart: A Blueprint for Building a High-Performing, by Simon Taylor.

If you are wondering why your organization isn't reaching its potential? You're not alone. Many leaders know something is amiss but can't put their finger on the missing link. Build Smart is the guide you didn't know you needed. With a blend of engaging stories, insightful research, and actionable frameworks, organizational leadership expert Simon Taylor demystifies how the organizational system works and equips you to solve your biggest problems like a pro.

• Find answers to critical questions:
• What is holding my organization back?
• With competing priorities, where should I focus my attention?
• How should I approach areas that need improvement? What specific steps should I take?

If you want to be the best, you’ve got to build smart.

Our free LSAT strategy workshop offers you an introduction to the exam and provides valuable tips and tricks for studying. The workshop focuses on test mechanics, including test administration and scoring, and provide you with ideas about preparing for the exam, either on your own or through a prep course like ours.

Did you know?

98% of recruiters and 85% of hiring managers currently use LinkedIn to find candidates. LinkedIn is the most important online tool for finding a job today. Many people have a LinkedIn?profile, but do not?know?how to?maximize?the power of LinkedIn. Attend this workshop with Amy Gleason, DCE Career Educator to learn proven strategies to be strategic in job search and networking. Whether you are a new job seeker or experienced?professional?making a career change, this?webinar?is for you.

Erika Hayasaki is an associate professor in the Literary Journalism Program at the University of California, Irvine based in Southern California. Formerly a national correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, her feature stories appear in The New York Times Magazine, Wired, The Atlantic, and others.

She is the author of nonfiction book, Somewhere Sisters: A Story of Adoption, Identity and the Meaning of Family and named an NPR Best Book of the Year. I also received a Nautilus Book Award in “Journalism and Investigative Reporting”, honoring books about social and environmental justice.

Her work has also been recognized by the Association of Sunday Feature Editors, the Society for Features Journalism, the American Society of Newspaper Editors, Longform's Best of Science writing of 2016 and 2017, as well as in the Best American Science and Nature Writing book series of 2019 and 2022.

“Beyond the Book” Author Series

Please join us as we hear award-winning journalist Erika Hayasaki as she discuss her new nonfiction book, Somewhere Sisters: A Story of Adoption, Identity and the Meaning of Family.

An incredible, deeply reported story of identical twins Isabella and Hà, born in Viêt Nam and raised on opposite sides of the world, each knowing little about the other’s existence until they were reunited as teenagers, against all odds.

In 1998 in Nha Trang, Viêt Nam, and Liên struggled to care for her newborn twin girls. Hà was taken in by Liên’s sister, and she grew up in a rural village with her aunt, going to school and playing outside with the neighbors. They had sporadic electricity and frequent monsoons. Hà’s twin sister, Loan, was adopted by a wealthy, white American family who renamed her Isabella. Isabella grew up in the suburbs of Chicago with a nonbiological sister, Olivia, also adopted from Viêt Nam. Isabella and Olivia attended a predominantly white Catholic school, played soccer, and prepared for college. But when Isabella’s adoptive mother learned of her biological twin back in Viêt Nam, all of their lives changed forever.

Award-winning journalist Erika Hayasaki spent years and hundreds of hours interviewing each of the birth and adoptive family members. She brings the girls’ experiences to life on the page, told from their own perspectives, challenging conceptions about adoption and what it means to give a child a good life. Hayasaki contextualizes the sisters’ experiences with the fascinating and often sinister history of twin studies, intercountry and transracial adoption, and the nature-versus-nurture debate, as well as the latest scholarship and conversation surrounding adoption today, especially among adoptees.

Join us as Professor Hayasaki discusses this richly textured, moving story of sisterhood and coming-of-age. Somewhere Sisters: A Story of Adoption, Identity, and the Meaning of Family.

Please join us as Isaac Mizrahi, CEO, alma advertising and author, Hispanic Market Power – America’s Business Growth Engine discusses and sheds light on the true potential of this market and its impact on both the economy and American culture.

Isaac Mizrahi is a world-class, award-winning CEO with unique experience ranging from working at the corporate side and as an ad agency leader and consultant for the most significant and more relevant brands in the U.S. Born in Latin America, thought leader and industry champion, speaker at conferences and the press, and considered one of the country’s most relevant voices for multicultural marketing and DEIB.

Over the past ten years Issac has been at Alma Advertising, a leading multicultural strategy and advertising agency, working with corporations like McDonald’s, PepsiCo, Molson Coors, CVS Health, Lilly, Google, Intuit among others. He also has a monthly online column on Forbes.com where he writes about Multicultural Marketing in America for thousands of readers.

“Beyond the Book” Author Series

This book is created by a marketer for other marketers and business leaders looking to succeed in the U.S. Isaac Mizrahi, one of the country’s leading voices in multicultural marketing uses his unique experience as a corporate executive, agency CEO, and industry leader to help businesses grow by leveraging the booming Hispanic consumer segment to drive sales.

The U.S. Hispanic segment represents the most prominent demographic growth in the country, and a huge and untapped business opportunity for companies willing to move away from preconceived notions and market effectively to Hispanic customers. Hispanic marketing is not marketing translated into Spanish – it is recognizing the complexity of Hispanic culture and understanding the cultural significance of business.

We invite you to join us because now more than ever, corporations operating in the US should see the Hispanic population at the core of their existing and future strategies.

Our free LSAT strategy workshop offers you an introduction to the exam and provides valuable tips and tricks for studying. The workshop focuses on test mechanics, including test administration and scoring, and provide you with ideas about preparing for the exam, either on your own or through a prep course like ours.

DCE Career Educator Amy Gleason is available to answer your career-related questions. Join her for drop-ins on the second Monday of every month from 12-1pm.

How can you get a job when employers expect experience? New grads and career changers often have more skills than they realize. Learn how to identify and communicate your transferable skills to employers, as well as strategies to build more transferable skills as a student.

Please join us as best-selling author (An)Drew Tarvin, discusses The Skill of Humor Playbook: How to Unlock Your Humor Persona to Create Stronger Connections, Increase Productivity, and Relieve Stress

He has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Inc, and FastCompany, and was named a ‘Visionary Under 40’ by the P&G Alumni Network. His TEDx talk on the skill of humor has been viewed more than twelve million times, only half of which were by his mother. He loves chocolate and prompting ChatGPT to write puns.

Andrew Tarvin is the CEO of Humor That Works, a leadership development company that teaches professionals how to use humor to achieve better business results. He has partnered with top organizations–including IBM, NASA, and the FBI–to solve human challenges with humor solutions.

(An)Drew is a Humor Engineer, Best Selling Author and Former Project Manager at Procter & Gamble

“Beyond the Book” Author Series

In his latest book, The Skill of Humor Playbook , (An)Drew Tarvin shows us a way to access what we already know to be true. We know that humor helps, humor heals, and humor works. Humor is a skill, which means it can be learned. So, the question isn't, "are you funny?" The question is: "what kind of funny do you want to be?"

You may have heard that laughter is the best medicine, but did you know it could also be a secret sauce for success in business?

The power of humor is often underestimated in the world of suits and ties.

As someone who's trained the biggest companies in the world, (An)Drew can tell you it's not just about cracking jokes during coffee breaks.

Humor is a tool, a perspective, a way of seeing things.

We invite you to join us as (An)Drew discuses The Skill of Humor Playbook. He’ll share about unlocking the 7 Humor Personas ! There's a reason it's called a playbook-it contains strategies and techniques as opposed to just knowledge (book book) or just exercises (workbook). Plus, it's all about bringing a bit more play to your life.

Everyone has heard the term ESG (Environment, Social and Governance), but what is it really and why is it something you should know more about? Small, medium and largel companies, nonprofits and even small firms have knowingly or unknowingly made forays into the world of ESG. Environmental sustainability, equity and inclusion, and solid oversight policies have become the norm in today’s business world. Consumers demand and employees prefer to be associated with organizations that share their values. Those values often include efforts to preserve the environment, treat people fairly and equitably and have the credibility to back up what they say and do. This webinar will give you a foundational understanding of just what ESG is, a brief history, how it is applied, measured, validated and reported by organizations worldwide. Tod Gimbel, Head of ESG Launchpad, former senior executive at companies including Herbalife Nutrition, Levi Strauss & Co., Citibank, and Kraft Foods, will walk you through the basics illustrated by his many real life insights and experiences in the ESG world. Whether you want to explore ESG as a career, add value to your current organization or just learn more about a fast moving, very relevant topic, this webinar should be right up your ally.

As you explore a new career as a paralegal, we'd like to invite you to join our panel of seasoned paralegals to learn more about their careers and the experiences that led them to where they are today. Also, meet program staff who will a introduce you to the program requirements, discuss the flexible course options, and help you with any questions.

DCE Career Educator Amy Gleason is available to answer your career-related questions. Join her for drop-ins on the second Monday of every month from 12-1pm.

Did you know? 8 of 10 companies are willing to negotiate but only 3 of 10 job candidates ever try! Before you get a job offer, understand why salary negotiation is important, build your self-confidence, strengthen your skills and learn strategies that will increase your success in the art of salary negotiation.