FREE Panel Discussion for: People Leaders & HR Professionals

Navigating Workplace Change & Transition

Helping people feel steadier during change

Date: January 21st, 2026

Time: 1-2pm EST

Location: Online (via Zoom)

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What to Expect

Workplace change is no longer episodic. It’s structural, ongoing, and often outside our control. Back-to-office mandates, mergers, leadership shifts, restructures, and relocations are reshaping how people experience work, sometimes faster than our systems and skills can keep up.

In this panel, we’ll explore how to navigate workplace transitions through a nervous system–informed lens, especially when we’re not personally aligned with the change itself. Together, we’ll examine what change actually asks of people, what it activates in leaders, and how HR and people leaders can create pockets of stability, dignity, and trust even when the larger system feels unsettled.

What We'll Be Talking About

Understanding Structural Transitions

Naming the difference between day-to-day change and structural transition, and why things like RTO mandates, mergers, and leadership shifts land so deeply in people’s bodies, not just their job descriptions.

What Change Activates in the Nervous System

How uncertainty, loss of control, and shifting expectations impact regulation, decision-making, communication, and trust for both workers and leaders.

Supporting People Through Change You Didn't Choose

What it means to hold a supportive role when you’re not a fan of the change yourself, and how to stay authentic without becoming disengaged, cynical, or performative.

Equipping Leaders to Support Their Teams

Practical ways HR and people leaders can help managers create clarity, predictability, and emotional safety during transition, even when answers are incomplete.

The Hidden Load on Leaders

Exploring how leaders absorb pressure from both directions, what often goes unseen, and why leadership support is a nervous-system issue, not just a skill gap.

Creating Islands of Safety

How to identify your sphere of influence and intentionally build meaningful pockets of safety, agency, and connection inside systems you can’t control.

Meet Your Panelists

kim van ryn

Trauma-informed leadership & neurodiversity expert

Kim Van Ryn

Kim (she/her) is a trauma-informed care and nervous system expert with a background in foster and adoptive care, attachment theory, and supporting people with neurodiversities. Her work with The Expert Talk centers on understanding how trauma and nervous system states shape communication, regulation, and support at work.

tiffany smye

human resources expert & consultant

Tiffany Smye

Tiffany (she/her) is a Canadian HR leader with over 15 years of experience designing and leading talent strategies that strengthen culture, leadership capability, and performance. A certified coach and trusted executive advisor, she now partners with organizations to deliver practical, data-informed solutions that align people strategies with business outcomes.

Jill McPherson

collaborative communication expert

Jill McPherson

Jill (she/her) is a former elementary school teacher with nearly three decades of experience, whose work centers on mental health, collaborative communication, and navigating conflict in human systems. Drawing on her training in Nonviolent Communication, she now supports educators, leaders, and teams in building trust, reducing burnout, and creating cultures where people genuinely want to show up.

Jennifer Prendergast

host & ceo of The expert talk

Jennifer Prendergast

Jennifer (she/her) founded The Expert Talk in 2020 in response to the growing need for new approaches to training in areas that surround organizational culture, and interpersonal communication within teams. She has a background in sales and media, and an Honours degree in Communications, Philosophy, and Psychology, as well as her Trauma Certificate – all from Wilfrid Laurier University.

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