Worklab Speaker Series - January
About this Event
Shift Happens: Restoring the Human Experience in Transformation
Organizations don't change. People do. Yet most transformation efforts still focus more on processes and plans than on the human realities that determine success.
In this month’s Speaker Series, our panelists will explore what happens when trust, emotion, identity, and everyday experience become secondary considerations - and how to bring them back into focus. Through honest stories and practical lessons, we’ll examine change through the eyes of the people expected to live it every day. Together, we’ll discuss what works: listening differently, leading with empathy and clarity, reducing friction, and helping people shape the changes that affect them.
You’ll leave with:
- Practical ways to put people at the center of change.
- Questions that encourage more honest, productive conversations.
- A fresh perspective on making transformation something people help shape, rather than simply survive.
Meet our Panelists
Jon Brickner is a global employee experience leader, designer, and speaker who brings 20+ years of insight to shaping better workplaces through human‑centered design with Steelcase. Equal parts strategist and optimist, he believes talent is the only renewable resource organizations have - and that great culture is built with people, not for them. As a home brewer, gardener and dad of three, Jon believes the journey is as important as the destination, and everyday moments are opportunities to show up for ourselves, our loved ones, our organizations and the world we share.
Nadia Johnson is an organizational effectiveness and change leader with more than 15 years of experience helping people and organizations through transformation. Most recently, she founded and scaled a global Change Enablement function, leading global teams through an enterprise ERP and HR systems transformation that affected 4,200 employees. She has guided CEOs and executive teams through acquisition integration, operating model redesign, and a multi-year effort to build trust and psychological safety. Earlier, she led change work at Pfizer and Corewell Health. Nadia holds an M.S. in Organizational Change Management from The New School and is Prosci-certified. She believes transformation works best when people help shape it, not just survive it. So she always asks: what would change if we started with the people who have to live it?
About Worklab
Worklab is a flexible workspace and meeting destination with locations in Ada Village and Downtown Grand Rapids. We offer coworking memberships, day passes, private meeting rooms, and spaces for team meetings, offsites, and events.
Our Speaker Series is one of the ways we bring the local business community together to learn, connect, and share ideas. If you’re joining us for the event, we hope you’ll take a look around while you’re here. And if you’re looking for a productive place to work, meet with your team, or host an upcoming meeting, we’d love to have you back!
Agenda
🕑: 08:30 AM - 09:00 AM
Networking + Breakfast from Terra Kitchen
🕑: 09:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Shift Happens: Restoring the Human Experience in Transformation
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 0.00
