How do we build a culture where people stay, belong and do their best work?
What gets measured gets managed. What gets felt, gets remembered.
Watch · the keynote trailer
A culture where people stay, belong and do their best work — retention and engagement that show up in the numbers.
Conference keynote · Leadership away-day · All-hands
About this keynote
Culture is not a poster on the wall or a policy in the handbook. It is the sum of every interaction, every decision, every moment when someone feels seen — or doesn’t. Most organisations are quietly running two cultures at once: the one they believe they have, and the one their people are actually experiencing.
This keynote is about closing that gap. Grounded in over nine years of frontline inclusion work and in the lived reality of navigating workplaces as a transgender woman, it gives a room the honest language to talk about what is really happening — and the confidence to do something about it.
What we explore
The distinctive angle is the move from diversity to belonging: representation tells you who is in the room, but belonging tells you whether they feel safe enough to speak, disagree, contribute and stay. I pull on why so many well-meaning inclusion programmes stall — usually because culture has been handed to HR as an initiative rather than owned by leaders as a daily responsibility — and on how inclusion gets embedded into ordinary decisions rather than added on as a campaign. It is warm, direct and deliberately non-preachy: I don’t lecture audiences on what they should believe, I invite them to examine what they actually do, and then show them the gap.
Think, feel and act differently
Think differently — belonging, not headcount, is the real measure; culture is what people experience, not what we intend.
Feel differently — relief and permission to talk honestly about where it’s falling short, without blame or defensiveness.
Act differently — own one everyday behaviour or decision where inclusion either happens or quietly doesn’t.
Naming the gap, feeling the honesty, and choosing one concrete change — that is how the room moves from awareness, through understanding, to action.
Who this is for
Leadership teams, all-staff conferences, HR and people functions, and sector events where the room includes decision-makers who can actually drive change. It scales comfortably from 50 people to 5,000.
Go deeper
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Explore →How do the words we use — about others, and about ourselves — shape who belongs?
The Power of the Words "I Am"
Explore →Bespoke to your audience — but well-trodden. Delivered for LEGO · NHS England · Unilever · John Lewis · lululemon.
“Joanne recently joined the lululemon EMEA collective for a talk on inclusion, focusing on storytelling and how to be better allies. Every attendee was deeply moved by the courage she displayed in sharing her personal journey. Her passionate storytelling provided us with a profound understanding and practical ways to act as allies in the workplace. We've received outstanding feedback, and the talk has spurred ongoing discussions about fostering inclusive environments.”
