Empower your audience. Together, we can change the world.
Authentic diversity lies at the heart of workplace success.
Everyone belongs, but it doesn’t happen without working to make it happen. Through a combination of storytelling, accessible tools, and actionable strategies, your people will learn the steps to building inclusion for everyone. Whether you want a 3000+ person keynote or a 12-person workshop, I can work with you to deliver a successful session that will resonate with you and your group.
“It was powerful, impactful, and the perfect addition to our internal diversity & inclusion efforts!”
My Speaking Topics
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Join me for an engaging, interactive virtual program that will shift your understanding on the challenges for inclusion in the workplace, and take up the call to action for every individual to build spaces of authentic diversity for all. What does diversity, equity, and inclusion mean? How do we make the business case for diversity? What is unconscious bias all about? How do our colleagues experience microaggressions? How do I stay aware of my biases? How do I interrupt them? And how can I build an inclusive workplace centered on belonging and authenticity for all? With stories, scenarios, and expert insights, I will give you the tools to interrupt bias, build inclusion, and make the work of diversity matter for good.
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The work of inclusion requires all our commitment to deliver real change and we cannot move forward unless we have difficult conversations. But having those conversations without the right preparation can lead to anger, frustration, and the belief that tackling difference is not worth all the conflict it brings. That’s where I come in. Join me as we do a deep dive into how to communicate across identity groups. We will learn a step-by-step framework for communicating, and I’ll lead you through real-life scenarios that happen every day - talking about race, committing microaggressions, discussing current events. Our goal? To build an organization where everyone knows how to communicate with empathy and equity.
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Authentic is the Word of the Year! And yet, in a world of social media bots, Photoshop fails, and generative AI, what does it really mean to show up authentically in our lives and at the place where we spend most of our days, at work? Based on my forthcoming book, I'll teach you my six steps to claiming real authentic success at work - at every level and for every generation. I'll share my own career journey - the highs and lows - and showcase how embracing your identities, values, and life stories is the real secret to career success. Then, I'll teach my six steps to THRIVE at work: Tell Your Truth, High Five Your Impostor, Rewrite Your Road Map, Identify Your Champions, Value Your Self and Your Voice, and Embrace Your Community. Through storytelling, interactive discussions, case studies, and real-life examples, your attendees will leave with the certain knowledge of how to show up authentically and open doors to trust, loyalty, and enduring success in the workplace and beyond.
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What does it mean to be a good ally at work? How can I be an upstander? How can I find a community of support? And how can I ensure people belong here – and thrive? Join me for an interactive discussion on belonging and allyship at work and how we can each use our roles in our organizations to build inclusive workplaces that last. With a mix of stories, scenarios, and practical rules of the road, let me show you how to find the courage to be workplace allies who move from good intentions to real action.
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This one-of-a-kind design thinking workshop will explain the practical steps you can take to build real gender equity at work. From recruiting to feedback to "glamour" work to managing teams to generational conflict to succession planning to promoting the next group of women leaders, you will work with me to build out new habits for real systemic change. What are the challenges we see? What is the root cause of each challenge? How can we best design a solution that works? And how can we get the necessary stakeholders on board to implement our solution? Let's answer these questions and build a workplace that works for women.
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Welcome to the next generation! Join me to learn how we can all successfully navigate generational differences at work. In this highly interactive and engaging program, I use news clips, commercials, music, and cultural touchpoints to navigate attendees through a world of inter-generational communication and changing dialogue. We learn the history of the five generations in the workplace, how each generation puts its own unique stamp on their organization, and how best to recognize, engage with, and grow from the challenges presented by these differences. The goal, as always, is to build a workplace centered on inclusion and belonging for all of us.
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The evidence is clear. If we want to succeed, we need to own our value and thrive in a community together. In this session, I will teach you how to design your own pathway to success right here. With my trademark top ten rules, we will address battling impostor syndrome, finding champions to succeed with you, ensuring your well-being, among many other topics of belonging and inclusion. The goal is to ensure all of us have the right tools to know this truth: you belong here, in a place where you can do more than succeed; a place where you can thrive.
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What does racial equity in the workplace look like? And how can employees and leaders do the work to change the rules of the workplace for good? Join me for a groundbreaking program on what it means to create inclusive and equitable workplaces. We will dive into the real meaning of diversity, equity, and inclusion and will discuss how bias, stereotypes, microaggressions, and systemic racism all interrupt that journey toward inclusion. Get ready to learn the new rules of equity to design an authentic workplace where everyone can belong and succeed. You change the rules, you can change the world.
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Now that you have started your unconscious bias journey, it's time to enter the next phase - diving into the hiring and evaluation biases that arise throughout the recruitment, onboarding, and evaluation processes. Join me for a one-of-a-kind program where you will be challenged to reflect on how you recruit new employees, your checklists for interviewing, what considerations you should have before during and after each conversation, and how we can effectively and fairly advocate for whom we want to bring into our organizations.
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A decade ago, we would never have imagined we would be here: caught between in-person and remote in a world permanently changed by COVID-19. The pandemic has given us new realities of how we work and advance our inclusive workplace culture. What lessons can we learn from the past few years and how can we adjust if the world shifts again? In this unique keynote, I will share how we can RECONNECT in a new hybrid workplace with our multi-generational, dispersed teams. With stories, data, and practical tools to put in place, we will talk through the difficult questions about inclusion, well-being, generational shifts, and building real change that lasts.
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Do you ever walk into your workplace and feel out of place? Do you ever feel that no matter how perfect you do a job, it is never perfect enough? Do you constantly feel that someday, someone, somewhere will stand up, point their finger at you, and expose you for who you truly know you are – a fraud? This is impostor syndrome. But what causes it? How do our workplaces perpetuate it? And what can we do to transform it? I will join you for an interactive, engaging workshop on impostor syndrome. We are going to work together to battle those feelings of exclusion, connect with the values we bring into the workplace, and lean into the absolute certainty that we belong here.
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Are you ready to deep dive into allyship at work? Then let's talk sponsorship. Sponsors, far more than mentors, play crucial roles in giving high profile work, promotions, and a seat at the decision table. But how do you get a sponsor? What tasks should sponsors complete? How can they help top performers stay and succeed? How can junior colleagues ensure continued interest and investment in their careers? I will share how to find a sponsor, how to be a sponsor, and how we can continue building our inclusive organization.
“[Michelle is] a true professional and her passion for what she does and the product she delivers is evident.”
Your audience will leave..
→ Feeling empowered to transform on an individual level.
→ Confident in their initiatives to drive long-term social change.
→ United in the cause to build strong communities.
→ With actionable strategies and proven tools to succeed.
