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Colleague Network Groups

Colleague Network Groups (CNGs) are a great way to build community and connections at Cornell!

Video Transcript

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by having these highway networking

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groups it really showed that cornell

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gets that this is a critical part of

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your identity in a good way and it's an

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asset and a benefit to the institution

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as a whole whether it be your race your

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gender your sexual orientation and your

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disability are always with you creating

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these opportunities for people to find

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one another who share that identity and

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you might not meet each other otherwise

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if it weren't for these groups really

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helps to form a much more solid cohesive

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sense of who our employees are and all

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the different aspects of them the lgbt

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cng

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really helps to welcome new staff and

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faculty to the area and to campus

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connecting them to colleagues they might

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not otherwise work with

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providing a support system and creating

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what i think are friendships that are

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really important beyond the normal work

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environment i think it's important to

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recognize that oftentimes people

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can't find other individuals like them

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and having an organization on campus

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that is supported both by the university

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and from its members is really integral

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to having a good work life balance

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cornell is a

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great institution that brings diverse

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ideas together the group itself allows

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these diverse ideas to come together and

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support the institution but by providing

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feedback it is a great opportunity not

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only to provide feedback it gives us a

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platform to support one another and also

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to network because you want a place

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where you feel like you're supported

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where you feel like you belong it gives

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us a place of just saying this is our

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voice tompkins connect is a young

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professionals organization in tompkins

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county that can help young people

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particularly young professionals and

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especially staff and faculty at cornell

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university break out of their their

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comfort zones meet new people make new

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friends expand their personal networks

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while still giving back to the community

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that they live in

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your personal network becomes one of the

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most important assets you can have and

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and opportunities to build that network

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out of college become kind of

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kind of scarce so this is an opportunity

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to keep expanding your horizons keep

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meeting new people adding people into

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your network you never know what could

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come from it the women of color kali

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network group helps cornell retain

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diverse talent while at the same time

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fosters a sense of community in an

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inclusive and supportive environment

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while we all may identify as women of

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color our lived experiences cultural

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backgrounds and belief systems may be

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different from one another the group

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gives me a sense of community and an

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opportunity to connect with women who

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may share similar interests issues and a

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common bond where we can offer support

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to one another it's such a great

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opportunity to learn about the rules and

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regulations that are out there by being

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able to have the opportunity to get

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together and share information it

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definitely is a win-win the disability

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call week networking group really does

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tell me as an employee that my employers

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employer cornell university recognizes

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and values disability as a part of

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diversity and therefore they recognize

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and value it as a part of my identity

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veteran colleague network group is

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unique because to my knowledge it's the

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only network group of its kind raise

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awareness for veterans on campus there's

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camaraderie there we share a lot of the

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common experiences yet we are a diverse

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group i mean the veterans themselves are

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a diverse group of people there's a lot

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of strength in that diversity and it's

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nice to have a place to identify with

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and a network group is a great place to

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do that you can learn a lot of different

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things it's a great resource for people

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you can get involved and raise awareness

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for veterans issues on campus and

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there's really no better way to feel

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good about your community or the

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environment which you work

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than to get involved it's a great place

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to get involved

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you

There are six CNGs at Cornell: Disability, LGBTQ+, Men of Color, Veterans, Women of Color, and Young Professionals. Learn more about each CNG by clicking on the links below, including signup forms to join.

Membership is open to Cornell employees. You can join multiple CNGs.  

Learn more about the organization and purpose of Cornell's Colleague Network Groups.