Full Transcript

• Introduce yourself.
• Hi, my name is Jen O'Ryan. I'm a consultant and strategist specializing in human and organizational behavior. My background combines a PhD in human behavior with 15 years of experience instigating change at Fortune 100 companies and a few small but mighty startups. I spent most of my career working in the technology sector, designing new experience for customers, leading product launches and bringing teams together to work towards a shared objective. I bring decades of experience leading across groups with competing priorities and working through a way to negotiate forward. I also have extensive experience in building relationships across stakeholders, partner teams, engineering, legal compliance, marketing, executive leadership as examples, and what I've learned along the way is, well, a few things. First, I learned a lot about the complexity of change and how to introduce sustainable change when humans are involved. Second and more importantly, I learned how to lead people through uncertainty and chaotic times. Those experiences really shaped my understanding of how people interact with technology, with each other and with change. Then, almost 10 years ago, I decided to create my own consulting company that would fill the gap between an organization's goals and their capacity to safely introduce effective, measurable and meaningful results. I'm also the author of two books focused on different aspects of designing more welcoming spaces at work. I frequently speak at conferences, events and on podcasts related to the future of organizational health, leading through uncertainty, and influencing change. Outside of work, I am a travel enthusiast and avid runner. I also have a strange affinity for bad eighties music and getting lost in new cities and scary movies. What sets me apart is that my talk really brings together all that I've learned from two decades of leading cross-functional teams through change, whether that change involves launching new products, new customer experiences or cultivating healthy and psychologically spaces in the workplace, and it combines that with a deep understanding of human and organizational behavior. So how humans operate within an organization, and how the structure of the organization influences that. My role in this is to be a trusted guide to those who want to remove barriers and increase their ability to introduce lasting change. My approach is grounded in meeting people where they are, and leading them to what's possible in their environment. I blend humor, storytelling and evidence-based approaches to make what can be difficult and emotionally charged conversations more available. Yes, my signature talk is leading through uncertainty, diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. It focuses on psychological safety in the workplace and demystifying what some of the misconceptions around diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, both the human dynamics behind DEIB and its practical application in the workplace. We also cover what's next for DEIB, navigating the current environment, how organizations can continue to work towards more welcoming environments and a rapidly shaping landscape. The talk is really designed for a variety of audiences, change agents, business leaders and those who really aren't sure why we're still talking about the DEIB in 2025. It's really for those individuals who feel that their workplace could be better, but they're really not sure where or how to start. This talk takes the business problem being solved, how to cultivate more inclusive, welcoming workplaces, and it applies the mechanics of that of introducing change, and especially when that change can be emotionally charged. Audiences learn the eight common themes that can cause even the best initiatives to sputter out or fail. Then I take them through how to spot, prevent and mitigate these influences in their environment or industry. The session also covers how and where to start, those small but powerful incremental changes that lead to more long-term goals. We also talk about the power of language and disrupting old habits, including things to avoid and strategies to bring others along the way. Ways to navigate change within yourself and with others. So whether you are one person trying to make a change, or you have an entire team of resources, there's something here for you.