Gilbert keynote speaker for healthcare, education, 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 Arizona associations, health systems, school districts, and employers across the East Valley.
Response within one business day.
Turning down a promotion is not a lack of ambition. In this town it is usually a decision.
Gilbert’s workforce is shaped by why people chose to live here, and that changes what a reward actually is.
Gilbert has the highest percentage of family households in Arizona, and roughly thirty percent of residents are between twenty five and forty four, which is to say early and mid career with young children at home. It is consistently ranked among the best places to live in the state, and the three districts serving the town are all ranked among Arizona’s strongest. Gilbert Public Schools is the largest employer in town, followed by Banner Health across Banner Gateway and Banner MD Anderson, Mercy Gilbert Medical Center, and the Town of Gilbert itself. Deloitte runs one of only three United States delivery centers here, alongside Northrop Grumman, GoDaddy, Silent-Aire, Footprint, and a growing manufacturing corridor.
People did not end up in Gilbert by accident. A large share moved here deliberately, for the schools, for the neighborhoods, for a specific kind of family life. Which means a meaningful part of this workforce has already optimized their choices around something other than maximum career velocity.
Most organizations still reward good work in exactly one currency. You do well, so you get promoted, which means more scope, more meetings, more evenings, and a phone that does not stop. For a parent who arranged their entire life around being at the four o’clock game, that is not a reward. It is a tax on something they specifically bought.
Then someone declines, and it gets read as a lack of drive. That employee gets quietly moved off the list of people worth investing in, which is how organizations lose the steady, excellent, deeply competent person who was never going to leave and could have anchored a team for fifteen years.
The better approach is unglamorous. Ask what someone actually wants before assuming you know. Build ways to reward people that do not require accepting more hours, like depth and mastery, real influence over how work gets done, first choice on schedule, and being the person others are sent to learn from. Wanting a life is not the same as not wanting to be excellent, and the leaders who understand that difference keep people other employers give up on.
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.
Family-Centered Workforces
Material for employers whose people value schedule and proximity as much as advancement.
Clinical, School, and Corporate Rooms
Works for a hospital leadership day, a district convocation, or a company all-hands.
Groups Chris speaks for.
Gilbert combines a large education and health care base with a growing technology and manufacturing corridor.
- Gilbert Public Schools, the largest employer in town, along with Higley and Chandler district campuses serving Gilbert, for convocation and staff development days
- Banner Gateway Medical Center and Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center, for nurse leadership, all-staff, and recognition events
- Mercy Gilbert Medical Center and the region’s clinical and cancer research facilities
- The Town of Gilbert, including public safety and municipal departments
- Deloitte, operating one of three United States delivery centers here, along with Northrop Grumman, GoDaddy, and Morgan Stanley
- Silent-Aire, Footprint, and the Gateway area manufacturers, for shift-repeated crew sessions
- Arizona statewide associations meeting across the East Valley, the format Chris works in most often
Gilbert employers competing for the same parents.
Healthcare is where Chris operates, and its scheduling demands collide hardest with family life.
Healthcare
Clinical teams where advancement often means less schedule control, not more.
Education
Districts whose staff chose the calendar as much as the classroom.
Professional Services and Technology
Employers where the promotion track quietly assumes availability people have not agreed to.
Municipal and Manufacturing
Operations where shift choice is worth more to many employees than a title.
Gilbert and East Valley venues.
- Gilbert hotel and conference facilities and Heritage District venues for association and corporate meetings
- Banner Gateway, Banner MD Anderson, and Mercy Gilbert campuses for nurse leadership and all-staff days
- District auditoriums and high school venues for convocation and staff development days
- Corporate offices and delivery centers for company all-hands
- Manufacturing facilities in the Gateway corridor for crew sessions
- Chandler, Mesa, Queen Creek, and communities across the East Valley
Gilbert events Chris speaks at.
Hospital and Health System Events
Leadership days, nurse recognition events, and all-staff meetings.
School and District Events
Convocation, back to school days, and staff development for districts and campuses.
Retention and Frontline Leadership
Supervisor development on rewarding people in the currency they actually value.
Association Conferences
Statewide association annual meetings and general sessions, the format Chris works in most often.
Emerging and New Leaders
Development for people deciding whether leadership is the path they want.
Corporate and Team All-Hands
Company meetings, kickoffs, and leadership summits across the region’s employers.
Keynote topics for your Gilbert 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 Gilbert
Has Chris spoken to health system and district audiences?
Does Chris travel to Gilbert?
Our best people keep declining promotions. Is that a problem?
Does this discourage ambition?
Can the session run for multiple shifts or campuses?
What does a Gilbert keynote cost?
Can Chris speak virtually to an Arizona audience?
Keynote speaking across the 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 Gilbert 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 · Arizona speaking · All locations
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