Bakersfield keynote speaker for healthcare, agriculture, and association 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 California associations, health systems, agricultural and energy employers, and organizations across Kern County.
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Whether a supervisor calls the water break before anyone asks tells your crew everything.
A very large share of this workforce does its job outdoors in extreme heat, and that turns an ordinary safety practice into the clearest test of leadership there is.
Kern County is one of the top two agricultural counties in the entire country. Grimmway Farms is the largest agricultural employer here, alongside Bolthouse Farms, The Wonderful Company, and Sun Pacific across carrots, almonds, pistachios, citrus, and grapes. The county is also the center of California oil production, with operations at the Kern River, Midway-Sunset, and Elk Hills fields, plus wind generation through the Tehachapi Pass and major distribution operations around Shafter and Tejon. Healthcare anchors the rest, with Kern Medical, Adventist Health Bakersfield, Dignity Health’s Memorial and Mercy hospitals, and community providers serving a large and underserved valley population.
Summer here is brutal, and most of that work cannot move indoors. Field crews, oil pad workers, drivers, yard staff, and construction crews spend their days in it. Agricultural workers die from heat related illness at many times the rate of workers in other industries, which is why California requires cool water, shade, rest, and restroom access during high heat.
Here is why this belongs in a leadership conversation rather than only a compliance one. Every crew already knows the rules exist. What they are watching is whether their supervisor treats them as real when production is behind schedule. Whether the break gets called at the right time or quietly delayed. Whether someone who says they feel unwell is believed immediately or looked at sideways. Whether the shade structure is actually where the crew is working or parked somewhere convenient for the truck.
People read those decisions as the honest answer to whether the organization values them, and they are right to. Everything else an employer says about caring for its people is tested against what a supervisor does at two in the afternoon in July, and no recognition program survives failing that test.
Which is also the encouraging part. A supervisor who calls the break before anyone has to ask, who knows the names of the people on the crew, and who checks on the person who looked off during the last round, has done more for retention in that hour than most annual initiatives accomplish in a year.
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.
Frontline and Field Audiences
Material built for crews who work outdoors and on their feet, not for a conference room of executives.
Safety and Culture Together
Treats how safety is actually enforced as the most credible signal an organization sends about its people.
Groups Chris speaks for.
Kern County combines national scale agriculture and energy production with the health systems serving the southern Valley.
- Kern Medical, Adventist Health Bakersfield, and Dignity Health, including Memorial and Mercy hospitals, for nurse leadership, all-staff, and recognition events
- Grimmway Farms, Bolthouse Farms, The Wonderful Company, and Sun Pacific, for crew, packing, and supervisor sessions
- Energy operators across the Kern River, Midway-Sunset, and Elk Hills fields, for safety and crew meetings
- Distribution and logistics employers around Shafter, Tejon, and the interstate corridor
- Kern High School District and Kern County government, two of the region’s largest public employers
- Cal State Bakersfield and Bakersfield College, for campus and staff programming
- California statewide associations meeting in Bakersfield, the format Chris works in most often, and community health and long-term care providers across the Valley
Bakersfield employers whose work happens outside.
Healthcare is where Chris operates, and it sits alongside industries where the physical conditions are the job.
Agriculture and Packing
Field and packinghouse crews doing physically demanding work through the hottest months.
Energy and Field Operations
Pad and maintenance crews where safety culture is set entirely by the supervisor present.
Distribution and Transportation
Yard, dock, and driving work with real heat exposure and tight schedules.
Healthcare
Clinical teams treating the heat and injury consequences of everyone else’s work.
Bakersfield and Kern County venues.
- The Mechanics Bank Convention Center and hotel meeting space for statewide association meetings
- Kern Medical, Adventist Health, and Dignity Health campuses for nurse leadership and all-staff days
- Packinghouses, processing plants, and field operations for shift-repeated crew sessions
- Energy operations facilities for safety kickoffs and supervisor development
- Cal State Bakersfield and Bakersfield College for campus and staff programming
- Delano, Wasco, Shafter, Arvin, Taft, and communities across Kern County
Bakersfield events Chris speaks at.
Crew and Operations Meetings
Safety kickoffs, shift meetings, and supervisor development for field and plant teams.
Hospital and Health System Events
Leadership days, nurse recognition events, and all-staff meetings.
Association Conferences
Statewide association annual meetings and general sessions, the format Chris works in most often.
Retention and Frontline Leadership
Supervisor development for crews who judge the company by what happens on the hottest day.
Rural and Regional Healthcare
Sessions for facilities serving large rural populations with limited resources.
HR and SHRM Chapter Events
Human resources conferences and chapter meetings on recognition, safety culture, and retention.
Keynote topics for your Bakersfield 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 Bakersfield
Has Chris spoken to frontline and crew audiences?
Does Chris travel to Bakersfield?
Is this a safety talk?
Can the session be delivered in short formats at a work site?
Can it be repeated for multiple shifts and locations?
What does a Bakersfield keynote cost?
Can Chris speak virtually to a California audience?
Keynote speaking across the Central Valley.
Each city page covers the local employers, the venues Chris speaks in, and the specific workforce pressure leaders there are working on.
Bring Chris to your Bakersfield 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 · California speaking · All locations
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