leadership keynote speaking

Overview

According to new research in Harvard Business Review, 89% of knowledge workers have reported a decline in their workplace wellbeing since the start of COVID-19. Meanwhile, loneliness (one outcome of a lack of belonging) is on the rise, with staggering effects on business.

Given this landscape, leaders are focusing more than ever on workplace wellbeing. Increasingly, effective wellbeing strategies are including a focus on fostering employees’ sense of belonging – an accumulation of day-to-day experiences that enable a person to feel safe, foster genuine connections with others and bring their full, unique self to work so they can thrive.

Learning Objectives

1. Learn what belonging at work is and what current research is telling us about why it matters to employee wellness and wellbeing.
2. Understand how diversity, inclusion and equity contribute to belonging.
3. Gain easy to implement best practices to build belonging in your meetings to support daily wellbeing among employees.

Organizations today consist of multiple generations, each bringing unique perspectives, needs, and expectations. These differences can sometimes lead to tensions among employees. Effective intergenerational collaboration is not just beneficial, but essential for reducing friction, enhancing innovation, boosting employee satisfaction, and improving retention—ultimately driving overall business success. To achieve this, understanding and addressing these generational dynamics is crucial for fostering a cohesive, inclusive, and productive work environment.

In this interactive learning session, we will explore (and debunk) common stereotypes of how each generation shows up at work. Through online polling and discussions, we’ll delve into preferences across generations regarding work values and styles. Participants will gain practical inclusive leadership skills, along with tips and tools to better understand, appreciate and bridge across these differences. This ability will foster a culture of collaboration and innovative thinking within teams.

Key Takeaways

1. Understand Generational Traits: Identify and describe the defining traits, communication styles, and work preferences of different generational cohorts, such as Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z.

2. Learn Inclusive  Practices: Apply inclusive leadership practices to improve understanding and collaboration between members of different generational cohorts.

3. Develop Action Plan: Develop an action plan to apply inclusive practices and use an intergenerational engagement guide to create a work environment where all generations feel valued, respected, and empowered to contribute effectively.

We often hear the phrase “bring your full self to work,” but what does it really mean—and how much should we truly bring? Many of us struggle to find the right balance between being authentic and fitting in with workplace norms. This interactive workshop is designed to help participants navigate that challenge, striking a balance that allows us to be true to ourselves while being flexible enough to foster a culture of belonging for others.

Objective: To explore how we can align personal authenticity with workplace cultural norms to contribute to a more inclusive and supportive work environment, using the concept of “Empowered Alignment.”

Key Takeaways:

• Balancing Authenticity and Adaptation: Gain clarity on what it means to “bring your full self to work” and learn how to strike a healthy balance between authenticity and adapting to workplace norms.

• Exploring Personal Adjustments: Understand the aspects of ourselves we commonly adjust at work, how these adjustments impact us, and how to align our personal and workplace values to foster belonging.

• Navigating Competing Values: Learn practical strategies, including a case study, to balance competing values within a team, creating an environment where everyone can thrive.

As organizations race to adopt AI and new digital tools, many are discovering a new form of fatigue — AI burnout. The speed of technological change can leave employees feeling anxious, disconnected, and overwhelmed. When the human side of change is neglected, even the most advanced systems underperform, and well-intended transformations stall.

This session explores how to close that gap. Through real case studies from organizations that have navigated digital transformation well — and others that haven’t — I’ll share what happens when the human experience is either ignored or intentionally built into the process. Participants will learn practical ways to balance technology investment with human investment: trust, connection, psychological safety, and purpose.

Designed for executives and HR leaders driving organizational and culture change, this session delivers real-world lessons, best practices, and actionable strategies drawn from years of hands-on experience leading technology transitions that stick.

Key Takeaways:

• Understand AI burnout and human barriers to change: Learn what causes resistance and exhaustion during digital transformation—and how to prevent it.
• Learn from real success and failure stories: Hear specific case studies illustrating what goes wrong when culture is overlooked—and what works when belonging and communication come first.
• Apply a proven, human-centered framework: Gain practical, everyday leadership actions that foster trust, ownership, and resilience—so innovation drives both performance and wellbeing.

This session offers a forward-looking leadership and culture model that helps managers respond thoughtfully to the strain rapid tech transformation places on the workforce—ensuring their investments not only deliver ROI, but also fulfill the promise of technology to make work and life better by empowering people to shape what’s next.

AI doesn’t have to be overwhelming, expensive, or intimidating. In fact, nonprofits are uniquely positioned to benefit from AI—if leaders understand how to use it thoughtfully, ethically, and in ways that support their mission and their people.

This interactive working session helps nonprofit leaders build clarity and confidence around AI’s real utility. You’ll learn best practices, explore use cases that actually fit your organization, and work in small groups to apply ideas directly to your day-to-day work. The goal: empower you and your team to evolve with AI—together, with confidence. 

You will:

1. Identify the Right Places to Invest in AI. Explore where your nonprofit has the biggest opportunities to “do more with less,” including grant writing, donor engagement, reporting, admin tasks, communication, and program delivery.
2. Clarify What Should Be Automated vs. Human-Led. Use a simple framework to determine what work AI can take off your plate, what AI should only assist with, and what remains fully human.
3. Build Guardrails for Ethical, Responsible AI Use. Learn nonprofit-friendly safeguards to protect data, reduce risk, and ensure trust—then create your own set of practical guidelines.
4. Set Up a Sustainable Learning Loop. Design a lightweight process for questions, sharing wins, and updating workflows so your staff stays confident, curious, and aligned as AI tools evolve.

As AI takes on more technical and analytical work, leadership success increasingly depends on human skills—how leaders communicate, listen, and navigate emotions in everyday moments. At the same time, leaner teams, rising expectations, and growing complexity at work require managers who can build trust, align people, and engage teams without adding more meetings or pressure.

This practical workshop helps organizations move empathy from a vague ideal to a set of observable leadership behaviors that strengthen performance, engagement, and inclusion. Participants learn how to build empathy in ways that fit into existing workflows—without lowering standards or overloading managers.

Grounded in research and real-world application, this session equips leaders with simple, sustainable habits they can apply immediately.

Take-Aways:

1. A clear, practical definition of empathy at work
   Learn what empathy actually looks like in leadership behaviors—what it is (and isn’t)—and why it directly impacts trust, engagement, innovation, and retention.

2. Three core behaviors that strengthen empathy in real time
   Discover how curiosity, listening, and understanding show up in everyday conversations—and how small shifts in these behaviors lead to stronger alignment and better decision-making.

3. A simple, low-lift approach to build empathy as a habit
   Gain a step-by-step method to baseline empathy, align as a team, and practice one shared habit using short check-ins—so empathy becomes a muscle, not a one-time training topic.