GIS-Pro 2026

High-performing GIS programs aren’t just built on technology, they’re built on people, strategy, and the ability to scale impact beyond the core team. This session brings together three perspectives on what it takes to create and sustain successful GIS teams in today’s evolving landscape.

We’ll start at the individual level, exploring how participation in professional communities like the Esri Young Professionals Network and the Geospatial Professional Network helps emerging professionals build skills, expand networks, and accelerate career growth. From there, we shift to the manager’s perspective, introducing a “Moneyball”-inspired approach to assembling and developing a high-performing GIS team by recognizing talent, maximizing strengths, and making strategic people decisions. Finally, we’ll see how these principles come together in practice, with a real-world example of scaling GIS impact across hundreds of events by empowering non-GIS staff with self-service mapping tools.

Together, these presentations tell a cohesive story: when individuals grow, teams strengthen and when teams are designed well, their impact can scale far beyond their size.

Keywords: Professional Development, Networking, Mentoring, Team, Growth, Building to Scale

Turning Community Participation into Career Momentum
Logan Stevens, ArcGIS Enterprise Release Engineer/Esri YPN Advisory Board Member, Esri, Charlotte, NC - USA
Marcus Seepersad, Brand Marketing Specialist, Esri, Redlands, CA - USA

A GIS Manager's Team Development - the Moneyball Approach
Greg Babinski, MA, GISP, EthicalGEO Fellow, GIS Management Consultant, GIS Management Consulting Services LLC, Edmonds, WA – USA

Scaling Event Maps Without Scaling the GIS Team
Nathan Holman, Geospatial Solutions Administrator, American Cancer Society, Decatur, GA - USA