Albany keynote speaker for association conferences and state agency events.
Chris Sund is a keynote speaker, Maxwell Leadership Certified Coach, and sitting executive who leads national healthcare staffing organizations. He speaks on workforce motivation, leadership, retention, and human potential for New York associations, state agencies, hospitals, long-term care providers, universities, and employers across the Capital Region.
Response within one business day.
Stability used to be enough to keep people here. It is not anymore, and that happened fast.
Albany has been a government town for generations, and government towns build retention on a particular promise. Stay, do the work, accumulate seniority, and the job will still be here in twenty years. That promise held for a long time, and for a lot of people it still does.
But the labor market underneath it has changed in the last few years in a way that is easy to underestimate from inside an agency. NY CREATES’ Albany NanoTech Complex has become North America’s largest semiconductor research and development facility, a campus running past a million and a half square feet with roughly three thousand research jobs on site. In late 2024 the Commerce Department and Natcast designated it the first National Semiconductor Technology Center research and development facility, making it the country’s EUV lithography center. IBM, Micron, Applied Materials, and Tokyo Electron are all partnered into it, GlobalFoundries continues expanding up in Malta, and more than ten thousand people across the Albany area now work directly in semiconductor research, manufacturing, supply chain, or the specialty construction that supports it.
Those two worlds run on incompatible logic. One offers security and rewards patience. The other offers acceleration and rewards capability, with apprenticeship pipelines that move people into technician roles in months rather than years. When a capable twenty six year old in a state agency or a hospital department looks around this region now, they are no longer choosing between staying and leaving town. They are choosing between waiting their turn and not having to.
That is what makes stability a weaker retention tool here than it was five years ago. What replaces it is not compensation, because most Albany institutions cannot win that either. It is whether people can tell they are getting better at something and whether anyone above them has noticed. Growth is the thing the other side of this market is selling, and it is available to any leader willing to hand it out deliberately.
Chris runs national healthcare staffing organizations and has keynoted state association conferences in eleven states, including LeadingAge Illinois and health care associations in Iowa, Montana, South Dakota, and Colorado.
Operator, Not Consultant
President and COO of national healthcare staffing organizations, still making the hiring and retention calls he speaks about.
Growth Without a Promotion
Material built around developing people through scope and mastery rather than titles, which is the counter to an accelerating market.
Multi-Generational Rooms
Written for audiences where a thirty year veteran and a second year hire both need to leave with something.
Groups Chris speaks for.
Albany holds New York’s state government, its statewide associations, and the Capital Region’s health and research institutions, which makes it the natural place for a statewide workforce keynote.
- State of New York agencies and departments, the dominant employer in the Capital Region, for in-service and leadership development days
- Albany Medical Center and the Capital Region’s hospitals and health systems, for nurse leadership, all-staff, and recognition events
- New York statewide associations in hospital, long-term care, municipal, school board, and education sectors, which convene members and hold advocacy days in the capital
- University at Albany, RPI, and the SUNY system, for campus, faculty, and staff programming, along with Capital Region BOCES and its workforce training programs
- NY CREATES and the Albany NanoTech Complex, plus the semiconductor and advanced manufacturing employers across the region, for leadership and workforce development events
- Albany, Schenectady, and Troy city and county governments and school districts
- Chambers of commerce and SHRM chapters across the Capital Region
Capital Region employers on both sides of the shift.
Healthcare is where Chris operates, but the pull between security and acceleration touches every employer here.
State Government
Agencies whose retention has historically rested on stability, now recruiting against an industry that offers faster advancement.
Semiconductor and Advanced Manufacturing
A fast-growing sector with its own retention problem, since people who move quickly for one opportunity move quickly for the next.
Higher Education and Research
UAlbany, RPI, and the SUNY institutions, where technical and administrative staff are directly recruitable by the complex.
Construction and Skilled Trades
The specialty construction workforce building out the region’s research and fab capacity.
Albany and Capital Region venues.
- Albany hotel and conference space, including the downtown convention venues, for statewide association annual meetings
- The New York State Capitol and the Empire State Plaza office complex for agency in-service and leadership sessions
- Albany Medical Center and Capital Region hospital campuses for staff and nurse leadership days
- University at Albany, RPI, and Capital Region BOCES facilities for campus and workforce programming
- Schenectady, Troy, Saratoga Springs, and Malta across the Capital Region
- Saratoga and the resort venues used for New York board retreats and executive gatherings
Albany events Chris speaks at.
Association Conferences
Statewide association annual meetings, advocacy days, and general sessions, the format Chris works in most often.
Hospital and Health System Events
Leadership days, nurse recognition events, and all-staff meetings.
Retention and Frontline Leadership
Supervisor development for employers whose people are being recruited by a faster moving industry.
Long-Term and Senior Care
Skilled nursing, assisted living, and continuing care conferences and in-service days.
University and Student Leadership
Campus leadership programming, student organization events, and faculty and staff development.
Corporate and Annual Meetings
All-hands gatherings, kickoffs, and employee appreciation events for regional employers.
Keynote topics for your Albany event.
Every session is customized for the audience, the format, and what you are actually trying to change.
See what conference organizers and HR leaders have said after booking Chris.
Booking a keynote speaker in Albany
Has Chris spoken in New York before?
Does Chris travel to Albany?
Our younger staff keep leaving for the tech and semiconductor employers. Can a keynote help?
We are a stable employer. Is that not still an advantage?
Can Chris speak at an advocacy day or association gathering during session?
What does an Albany keynote cost?
Can Chris speak virtually to a New York audience?
Bring Chris to your Albany event.
Send your date, location, and audience. You will get availability and a quote back within one business day.
info@chrissund.com · 402-212-5771 · New York speaking · All locations