Kristen Geez

In this presentation, Kristen Geez will help attendees determine who they are and the legacy/reputation they would like to create. Participants will measure how much of their decisions and how they feel about themselves based on the approval of their peers, insecurities, fears, and social biases. Attendees will learn 4 principles to unleash their inner power, thus relying on internal motivation and not external validation. Unleash Your Power can be presented as a speech or guided workshop to youth and adult audiences. 

Seasoned leaders wanting to manage, inspire, and retain this young, outspoken, independent, eager, and always on a device generation will need to become empathetic leaders. This presentation will assist leaders with tools to help them navigate and build team camaraderie among their young workforce post-COVID-19. This presentation will assist leaders in addressing the hard truths about their leadership style that will need to change to manage a multi-generational workforce by equipping frontline leaders with the tools to coach and mentor their young direct reports to master their current roles while designing stretch assignments that will prepare them for their next position within the organization. 

Keynote speaker Kristen Geez shares her personal experience of being the school bully and how her High School Principal allowed her to establish the first Black History Month Program in her school district. This leadership opportunity motivated Kristen to stop bullying and inspired her to launch a non-profit organization specializing in working with misguided students in K-12 and Higher Education. Kristen shares research and best practices to help practitioners support their more challenging students’ social and emotional well-being. 

Teaching Gen Z & Millennials how to see beyond the darkness that occurred pre/post COVID will be at the forefront of every practitioner’s mind as we transition our most vulnerable student/employees back to school/work. Despite the negative effects of COVID-19, many families gained a better understanding of the work practitioners and managers face daily when managing and guiding the emotions and behaviors of the younger generations. Kristen will assist practitioners in realizing innovative ways to reconnect with students/employees. By guiding practitioners to view themselves as the GLOW that shines in the midst of darkness and how best to model the way forward.

This presentation aims to equip students and entry-level employees to learn what qualities universities, mentors, and employers look for when identifying strong candidates to invest in. Attendees will be given practical tips on selecting the right mentor, college, or employer, ensuring they stand out from the initial interview phase to their first 12-weeks on the job. Kristen will share best practices, communication techniques, and business etiquette for a multi-generational audience to achieve their professional and personal goals.

This presentation targets seasoned women in positions of authority (motherhood, eldest relative, mentor, teacher, manager, tenured employee) to remind them that the next generation of girls is studying how they respond to insecurities, conflict, trauma, and abuse setbacks. This speech rejuvenates women who are often disrespected or under-valued not to become complacent. Kristen will assist the audience in understanding that the young women in their personal and professional lives are influenced by how they respond and prevail through life's difficulties. Please note this presentation can be modified to facilitate authentic "raw" conversations.

Accepting the call to leadership might mean your colleagues, friends, and family may no longer understand, care or support the transformation that has to occur for you to own the responsibility that comes with being a leader. The path to leadership can become lonely and sometimes forces you to reevaluate your circle of influence to develop into the best version of yourself fully. The consequence of not aligning yourself with the right people and proper resources will leave you defenseless when the negative thoughts of imposter syndrome start to creep in. The journey to becoming a Transformational Leader requires individuals to experience mental, spiritual, physical, and intellectual battles which can only be won in insolation and protection. This presentation will guide participants through an interactive activity that will help leaders identity characteristics to look for when determining which relationships can assist or prevent them from growing in their leadership abilities. 

Minorites code-switch when entering an environment they perceive to be restrictive, limited to people who look or share the same belief system. Kristen defines what the term “Codeswitching” means and how it serves as a defense magnesium for minorities to protect themselves and their heritage. This presentation will provide participants with 5 rules that every minority employee was taught as a child to prepare them to survive in any environment outside their own community. Kristen shares her experiences as a woman of color who graduated from a predominantly white high school and a Historical Black College before landing a visible entry-level position serving 756 senior-level leaders at a Fortune 500 company. While this speech is given from a minority perspective, Kristen will assist all DE& I attendees to see how we all are guilty of “Codeswitching” at least once in our lifetimes. 

Gen Z and Millennials have learned to embrace diversity, individuality and can work together to enforce the changes they want to see. Practitioners and leaders who are wanting to teach this generation about DE&I first must monitor their own behaviors. In order to harness the power of inspiring Gen Z and Millennials to be tolerant, accepting, and empathetic young adults will take more than trendy hashtags, branded t-shirts, and DE&I initiatives to make this generation believe that their schools/workplaces are inclusive environments lead by empathic leaders. Inspiring this generation will require leaders to walk the walk and talk the talk to become catalysts for diversity, equity, & inclusion innovators. This presentation will force practitioners and leaders to be brutally honest with themselves by having them evaluate how they personally approach diversity, acceptance, inclusion and how their work environment enables their behavior. This includes practical techniques for attendees successfully leading a multigenerational workforce/ student body with different opinions and viewpoints.