Natalie Parks

Natalie Parks Speaking Topics

• Embracing Discomfort: The Catalyst for Inclusive Innovation

  Are you ready to step out of your comfort zone and leverage diverse perspectives to drive innovation? In this talk, participants will explore how personal discomfort can be a powerful tool for fostering inclusivity and breakthrough thinking in high-pressure environments.

  Key Components:

  1. The Discomfort Zone: Understanding the link between personal challenge and inclusive leadership
  2. Diversity as a Constraint: Reframing diverse viewpoints as a catalyst for innovation
  3. Simulation Exercise: Leading an inclusive brainstorming session under time pressure
  4. Action Planning: Developing strategies to embrace discomfort and diversity in daily leadership

  Participants will:

  • Recognize how personal discomfort can lead to more inclusive and innovative thinking
  • Learn techniques to leverage diverse perspectives in high-stakes decision-making
  • Develop an action plan for fostering an inclusive culture that thrives on challenges

• Beyond Inclusion: Fostering Authentic Leadership in a Reset World

  This thought-provoking keynote challenges leaders to redefine inclusivity in the context of authentic leadership. Drawing parallels between personal happiness and organizational success, it explores how true inclusion goes beyond diversity metrics to create environments where every individual can thrive authentically.

  Key Points:

  1. The Great Reset: How global changes have redefined leadership and inclusion
  2. Authentic Inclusion: Moving beyond tokenism to true belonging
  3. The Inclusive Leader's Journey: Aligning personal values with organizational culture
  4. Resilience Through Diversity: How inclusive teams weather storms more effectively
  5. The Double ROI: Measuring both return on investment and ripple of impact

  Attendees will:

  • Understand the critical link between personal authenticity and inclusive leadership
  • Learn strategies for fostering an environment where diverse team members can be their true selves
  • Discover how to measure the ripple effect of inclusive practices on organizational resilience

Deconstructing Bias: A Behavioral Science Approach to Inclusive Decision-Making

This session delves into the science behind unconscious bias and its impact on organizational decision-making. Participants will learn cutting-edge techniques to identify, mitigate, and ultimately transform biases into catalysts for more inclusive and effective leadership.

Key Components:

1. The Neuroscience of Bias: Understanding how our brains create and reinforce biases
2. Bias in Action: Recognizing the subtle ways bias influences decisions and interactions
3. The Ripple Effect: Exploring how individual biases scale to systemic inequalities
4. Behavioral Interventions: Science-backed strategies to interrupt and redirect biased thinking and behavior
5. From Awareness to Action: Implementing bias-mitigation techniques in high-pressure situations
6. Measuring Impact: Tools for tracking progress in reducing biased outcomes

Attendees will gain: • Deeper understanding of how unconscious bis operates in organizational contexts • Practical tools for identifying and mitigating personal and systemic biases • Strategies for fostering a culture of conscious inclusivity and equitable decision-making

The Social Justice Ripple Effect: Leveraging Behavioral Contagion for Systemic Change

Based on principles from "The Behavior of Social Justice," this session explores how behavioral contagion can be harnessed to create widespread, sustainable social change within organizations and communities. Participants will learn how to initiate and amplify positive social behaviors to create a ripple effect of justice and inclusion.

Key Components:

1. Behavior Contagion Theory: Understanding how behaviors and attitudes spread through social networks
2. The Tipping Point of Justice: Identifying key behaviors that catalyze systemic change
3. The Power of Micro-Actions: How small behaviors can lead to significant cultural shifts
4. Digital Amplification: Leveraging technology and social media for positive behavioral contagion
5. Sustaining the Wave: Strategies for maintaining momentum in social justice initiatives

Attendees will gain:

• Understanding of how to leverage social dynamics for positive change
• Strategies for initiating and sustaining social justice movements within organizations
• Tools for measuring and amplifying the impact of social justice initiatives

Architecting Choice: Behavioral Design for Equitable Systems

This comprehensive session applies the principles of choice architecture and nudge theory to the design of equitable organizational systems. Participants will learn how to restructure decision environments to promote fairness, inclusion, and social justice, even in high-pressure situations.

Key Components:

1. Choice Architecture Fundamentals: Understanding how environment shapes behavior
2. The Ethics of Nudging: Balancing influencing and autonomy in behavioral design
3. Mapping Decision Points: Identifying key areas for intervention in organizational processes
4. Inclusive Default Options: Designing systems that default to equitable outcomes
5. Framing for Fairness: Using behavioral insights to present choices in ways that promote justice and inclusion
6. Feedback Loops and Reinforcement: Creating systems that sustain equitable behaviors
7. Pressure-Testing Equity: Ensuring fair systems hold up under stress and time constraints

Attendees will gain:

• Skills to analyze and redesign organizational systems for equity and inclusion
• Practical techniques for implementing nudges that promote social injustice
• Strategies for creating resilient, fair systems that withstand high-pressure situations