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What Adena Brings to Your Stage

WHERE IDEAS MEET RESULTS

invite adena to speak
Most keynotes leave audiences inspired for a day. Adena's sessions leave them seeing their organizations differently for good. Drawing from her book Growing Forward, her doctoral research, and two decades inside corporate organizations, Adena brings systems sight to life for HR leaders, executives, and leadership teams in a way that is concrete, practical, and immediately applicable. Every session is engaging, grounded in real organizational experience, and built to give your audience something they can use the next day. Adena has spoken at HR conferences, leadership summits, and professional development events. Her sessions work equally well as keynotes, breakout sessions, and workshops.
"In a five minute "speed round" talk at a recent South Jersey DisruptHR event, Adenda was able to convince me that systems thinking is required to develop enduring solutions to complex problems of all sorts. Adena used the metaphor of solving a complex watershed landscaping issue in her backyard with a systems approach after trying a quick fix. It really drove home that all complex problems, whether they are in your backyard or in your company's HR function, require stepping back and looking at the entire ecosystem that is impacted by a problem."
- Anthony Matejczyk, host of the Irreplaceable podcast.

Three Signature Topics

What If Your Strategy Isn't the Problem?
Building Organizations That Anticipate and Adapt
Seeing What Your Dashboards Can't Show You

Most organizations keep fixing the wrong things because they cannot see what is actually driving their results. This session introduces systems sight and shows leaders how to spot the patterns, connections, and hidden dynamics that determine whether strategy takes hold or stalls out.
Change is not the problem. Reacting to it constantly is. This session draws directly from Growing Forward to show HR leaders and executives how to shift from fixing isolated problems to cultivating organizations with the adaptive capacity to stay ahead.
Every leader wants to do right by their people. But good intentions do not always produce good outcomes. This session helps leaders understand the informal patterns, unspoken norms, and accountability gaps that shape how their teams actually work to achieve the desired results.
Ideal for: HR conferences, leadership summits, executive teams
Ideal for: SHRM chapters, leadership conferences, people leader forums
Ideal for: Executive leadership programs, university audiences, C-suite forums

Flexible for your Event

Keynotes & Conferences
45 to 60 minutes. A big idea your audience will carry with them long after the event ends. Adena opens and closes conferences with a session that shifts how leaders see their organizations. Every keynote is tailored to your audience and designed to spark the kind of conversation that continues well after the room clears.
Learning Sessions
60 to 90 minutes. A deeper dive with interactive elements and practical application. Participants leave with concrete tools and a clearer picture of how to apply what they learned. Ideal for conference breakouts, professional development days, and leadership team gatherings.
Workshops
Half day or full day. Hands-on and highly interactive. Adena designs workshops around the specific challenge your team or audience is facing, drawing from a broad range of topics including systems sight, adaptive talent, leadership development, and organizational strategy.
Custom Experiences
Every organization is different. Whether you are planning an executive retreat, a leadership offsite, or a multi-session program, Adena will work with you to design something that fits your audience, your goals, and your time.

Additional Topics Available

  • HR as Strategic Architect: Enhance Your Systems Leadership Capability
  • Cultivate Your Organizational Culture: Shape the Invisible Forces That Drive Performance
  • Strengthen Your Soil: Build the Trust That Keeps Your Best People During Tough Times
  • Matrix Planting for Talent: Build Adaptive Teams Through Complementary Diversity
  • The PRUNE Method: Coach Business Leaders Through Tough Talent Decisions
Full descriptions and learning objectives available upon request

Let's Talk About Your Event

Invite adena to speak
Adena speaks against jargon. Complex ideas deserve plain language, and every session is designed so that leaders walk away with clarity, not confusion. Whether you are planning a conference, a leadership retreat, or an academic program, Adena would love to talk about what would work best for your audience.
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