LEAD Symposium

The 2026 LEAD Symposium: Navigating Change with Purpose and Vision

Human Resources is pleased to announce the 2026 Second Annual LEAD Symposium at UNC Charlotte. This year’s theme, Navigating Change with Purpose and Vision, reflects the challenges and opportunities facing leaders across our campus.

This is your moment to step boldly into change — guided by purpose, driven by vision and inspired to lead at your highest potential. Connect with some of UNC Charlotte’s brightest minds as we bring together award‑winning, research‑driven presenters who will challenge you to view change not as an obstacle but as an opportunity. Together, we’ll explore how to lead with clarity, inspire meaningful impact and navigate uncertainty while supporting the well‑being of your teams — and yourself.

Get ready to:

Take charge of change and lead with purpose, clarity and vision.
Lock arms with fellow leaders to share real insights, spark new ideas and expand your influence.
Own the outcome by building a culture where purpose drives performance and people thrive.

Who should attend?

Whether you’re an established leader, faculty, or staff, we encourage you to join us. This is also a perfect opportunity for aspiring leaders ready to take the next step in their careers by learning how to lead with empathy and strength.

Don’t miss out on this incredible opportunity to grow and network. Mark your calendars now and get ready for a day of inspiration, collaboration, and meaningful development!

Details

Date: Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026

Location: Cone University Center

Tentative Schedule

8:00 a.m. – 9:05 a.m.	Registration
9:05 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.	Welcome	Deidra Harris-Lumpkins, Associate Vice Chancellor for Human Resources
9:15 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.	Keynote Session	Ready and Resilient: Leadership for a World in Constant Change by: Nolan Nichols
10:50 a.m. – 11:05 a.m.	Break
11:05 a.m. – 12:05 p.m.	Concurrent Sessions 1	Empowered in the Midst of Uncertainty: An Opportunity to Reimagine and Reconnect by: Dr. Kendra Jason Managing Change Fairly by: Dr. Nicole Strah Leading Change with Humanity by: Dr. Jill Yavorsky
12:05 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.	Lunch
1:15 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.	TIAA Presentation
1:30 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.	Afternoon Plenary	Lead at Your Best: Stepping into the Next Great Chapter at UNC Charlotte by: Nolan Nichols
2:45 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.	Break
3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.	Concurrent Sessions 2	Everybody’s Got Something: Seeing People, Unlocking Teams by: Nolan Nichols Change How You Lead One Conversation at a Time by: Dr. Gary DePaul Being Adaptive in Order to Thrive in Our Ever-Changing World by: ComPsych
4:00 p.m.	Closing Remarks

Presenters for the day

Nolan Nichols is a keynote speaker and leadership strategist whose Moments that Matter® framework helps leaders create meaningful experiences that strengthen teams and drive results. With leadership experience at Virginia Tech and the U.S. Travel Association, he equips audiences with practical tools to navigate change and lead with intention. His insights have been featured in Skift Meetings, MPI Magazine, Meetings Today and Smart Meetings.

Morning Keynote: Ready and Resilient: Leadership for a World in Constant Change

In a time of rapid growth and expanding workloads, UNC Charlotte’s leaders play a defining role in what comes next. In this research‑backed keynote, Nolan Nichols equips managers and supervisors with practical tools to lead with clarity, connection and confidence. Using his “Moments that Matter” framework, he outlines five power‑ups that show how disruption can become momentum. This high‑energy session delivers actionable takeaways leaders can apply immediately.

Afternoon Plenary: Lead at Your Best: Stepping into the Next Great Chapter for UNC Charlotte

Small deviations compound over time, and so do small corrections. This closing keynote positions us to leave today and lead at our best tomorrow through the art of recentering, retuning, and recharging. Along the way, Nolan takes on perfectionism, our relationship with failure, and why quitting the right things is a sign of strength. You’ll leave with something small enough to do, and significant enough to be worth doing.

Afternoon Breakout Session: Everybody’s Got Something: Seeing People, Unlocking Teams

Someone on your team is having a much harder week than you realize. Two people can go through the exact same event and walk away with completely different experiences, and from the outside, it’s nearly impossible to tell. This smaller, discussion-driven session is for anyone who influences how other people experience work, with or without direct reports. Nolan explores how to read the story underneath the performance, and which low-cost changes to meetings, recognition, and connection can make an impact. Because everybody’s got something they’re carrying, and everybody’s got something to give.

Gary DePaul has spent his career asking one deceptively simple question: What helps people do their best work? That pursuit has taken him from university classrooms to conference stages (plus a few workplace situations that taught him what not to do). Author of What the Heck Is Leadership? and Nine Practices of 21st Century Leadership, Gary believes real leadership isn’t about fancy titles; it’s a set of simple, intentional habits that anyone can use to help others grow.

Change How You Lead One Conversation at a Time

What if getting better at leadership didn’t require another academic lecture? In this interactive session, you’ll practice a surprisingly simple (and fun) way to learn from those around you, experiment with new approaches, and keep growing how you lead with purpose. You don’t need a management title or special authority to participate because anyone, regardless of role, can lead. You’ll walk away with a practical way to keep developing long after the LEAD Symposium ends.

Kendra Jason is a Professor of Sociology and Chair of the Department of Public Health and Health Administration. Her specializations include organizational behavior and management, inequality, and work. She has a particular interest in marginalized workers and how their intersectional experiences influence their workability, health, and wellbeing. Her work has been featured at The National Academy of Sciences and in media outlets, including Forbes.com. She is a sought-out speaker on workplace culture and belonging. Dr. Jason is a 2026 TEDxUNCCharlotte Speaker and editor of Race and Social Justice: Building an Inclusive College through Awareness, Advocacy, and Action (2023).

Empowered in the Midst of Uncertainty: An Opportunity to Reimagine and Reconnect

Higher education is facing unprecedented challenges that threaten leadership success including diminishing resources, decreasing staffing retention, declining employee engagement and lack of sense of belonging. These experiences can lead to disappointment, uncertainty, and even grief. This workshop will present strategies to help leaders overcome the impacts of these experiences and offer recommendations to actualize personal and professional success.

Nicole (Nikki) Strah is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Management and an affiliate faculty member of the UNC Charlotte Organizational Science Ph.D. program and Industrial/Organizational Psychology Master’s program. Her research interests revolve around experiences related to justice and fairness in organizations (especially across demographic groups) and the intersection between psychology and equal employment law. She has published her work in journals such as the Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Psychological Science, Human Resource Management, and the Journal of Vocational Behavior. She teaches both undergraduate and MBA courses at UNC Charlotte. Nikki is also part of the interdisciplinary faculty team at the Center for Leadership Science (CLS).

Managing Change Fairly

Employees rely on their managers to ensure they are treated fairly at work, especially during times of change. However, many aspects of organizational change are outside managers’ control. The good news is that managers can still support employees and influence their perceived fairness even when so much is beyond their control. This talk discusses different types of fairness and how managers can act as justly as possible given these constraints.

Jill Yavorsky is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She is also the Associate Director of the Organizational Science doctoral program and a core faculty member of the Center for Leadership Science. She received her Ph.D. in Sociology from The Ohio State University. Her research focuses on U.S. labor market patterns by gender, race, and class; workplace equality, and divisions of labor among parents. Her work has been published in leading social science journals, including American Sociological Review and American Journal of Sociology and supported by national funding agencies such as the National Science Foundation. Additionally, her research has garnered widespread media attention from prominent outlets such as NPR Marketplace, The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, and Fortune, among others. She has served on multiple editorial boards for interdisciplinary and sociology journals and in leadership roles for American Sociological Association, and is currently a board member of the Council on Contemporary Families. Jill is a member of the interdisciplinary faculty team at the Center for Leadership Science (CLS).

Leading Change with Humanity

Navigating change is difficult. Drawing on the latest social-scientific research on organizations, inequality, and the often-invisible mental load employees carry, Dr. Jill Yavorsky explores what it means to lead through uncertainty while treating employees as fully human. She offers an evidence-based, practical approach to making change more inclusive and equitable: communicating honestly, preserving voice and dignity, recognizing hidden burdens, and getting back to the leadership basics that help employees feel genuinely supported through challenging times.

Being Adaptive in Order to Thrive in Our Ever-Changing World

“Because we’ve always done it like that,” may not be the best answer to, “Why do we do the things we do?” In our ever-changing world, we are seeing shifts in our markets and economies, our cultural norms, our behaviors and ourselves. Now is the time to thrive by learning how to be adaptive and to be consistently able to change yourself to accommodate and maximize the benefits of change.

Questions?

Please contact the Learning and Organizational Development team through HR Connect for secure, timely support.