Keynote Speaker in Riverside, California

Riverside keynote speaker for healthcare, public sector, 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, county agencies, health systems, school districts, and employers across the Inland Empire.

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Why Chris Fits Riverside

Some of your best people are doing a job nobody in their family has ever done. Nobody gave them the map.

Riverside sits at the center of one of the country’s great engines of upward mobility, and that shapes who is sitting in your rooms.

The County of Riverside is the largest employer in the region. UC Riverside has been ranked the number one university in the United States for social mobility, serves a predominantly low income student population, and belongs to a national alliance focused specifically on the success of first generation students. Kaiser Permanente Riverside, Riverside University Health System, Riverside Unified, Riverside Community College District, California Baptist University, and the City of Riverside employ thousands more. The wider Inland Empire holds roughly four and a half million people and a job base weighted heavily toward logistics and manufacturing.

What that produces is a professional workforce in which a great many people are the first in their family to hold this kind of job. They earned the credential and the role, and then arrived somewhere with an entire set of rules nobody wrote down.

Consider what that actually feels like. No one at home can tell you whether it is normal to disagree with your manager in a meeting. Or how promotions really get decided here, as opposed to how the policy describes them. Or whether asking for a raise is expected or insulting. Or, most importantly, that nearly everyone feels lost during their first year and it is not a sign you were a mistake.

So the ambiguity gets read as personal evidence. And the person does not ask, because asking might reveal they do not know something everyone else apparently learned somewhere. Capability was never the issue. The missing thing is a map.

Leaders can simply be the map. Say the unwritten rules out loud, including the unflattering ones. Explain how advancement genuinely works in your organization. Tell someone what a normal amount of struggle looks like at their stage. And go past mentoring into sponsoring, which means saying their name in rooms they are not in. For a first generation professional, one leader willing to do that is often the difference between a job and a career.

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.

First-Generation Workforces

Material for organizations whose people are advancing further than anyone in their family has, without a template to follow.

Public, Clinical, and Campus Rooms

Works for a county agency leadership day, a hospital all-staff meeting, or a district and association event.

Riverside Organizations

Groups Chris speaks for.

Riverside combines county government and a flagship public university with major health systems and large school districts.

  • The County of Riverside, the region’s largest employer, including Riverside University Health System, for agency leadership and in-service days
  • Kaiser Permanente Riverside Medical Center and the region’s hospitals, for nurse leadership, all-staff, and recognition events
  • The University of California, Riverside, the nation’s leader in social mobility, for campus and staff programming
  • Riverside Unified, Moreno Valley Unified, Corona-Norco Unified, and Jurupa Unified, for convocation and staff development days
  • Riverside Community College District and California Baptist University
  • Logistics and distribution employers across the Inland Empire, for shift-repeated crew and supervisor sessions
  • California statewide associations meeting in Riverside, the format Chris works in most often
Beyond Healthcare

Riverside employers promoting people into unfamiliar ground.

Healthcare is where Chris operates, and it moves people into leadership with less preparation than almost any sector.

Healthcare

Clinicians and support staff stepping into charge and manager roles with no roadmap for either.

County and Municipal Government

Agencies where advancement rules are formal on paper and informal in practice.

Education

Districts whose staff often grew up in the same communities they now serve.

Logistics and Manufacturing

Operations promoting from the floor into supervision without a template for leading.

Where He Speaks

Riverside and Inland Empire venues.

  • The Riverside Convention Center and area hotel ballrooms for statewide association meetings
  • County facilities for agency leadership and in-service days
  • Kaiser and Riverside University Health System campuses for nurse leadership and all-staff days
  • UC Riverside and Riverside City College for campus and staff programming
  • District auditoriums for convocation and staff development days
  • Moreno Valley, Corona, Ontario, San Bernardino, and communities across the Inland Empire
Event Types

Riverside events Chris speaks at.

Hospital and Health System Events

Leadership days, nurse recognition events, and all-staff meetings.

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Emerging and New Leaders

Development for people stepping into leadership without a model to follow.

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Association Conferences

Statewide association annual meetings and general sessions, the format Chris works in most often.

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Human Potential and Development

Sessions built on the idea that capability is rarely the thing standing in someone’s way.

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School and District Events

Convocation, back to school days, and staff development for districts and campuses.

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Retention and Frontline Leadership

Supervisor development focused on sponsoring people rather than only supervising them.

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Programs

Keynote topics for your Riverside 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.

Questions

Booking a keynote speaker in Riverside

Has Chris spoken to public sector and frontline audiences?
Yes, regularly. Chris has keynoted state association conferences in eleven states, including LeadingAge Illinois and health care associations in Iowa, Montana, South Dakota, and Colorado. See past speaking events.
Does Chris travel to Riverside?
Yes. Chris is based in Fremont, Nebraska and speaks nationwide. Ontario International Airport is the closest option and travel is handled as part of the booking.
Many of our staff are the first in their family in a professional role. What changes?
Mostly what leaders say out loud. Explaining unwritten rules, how promotion really works, and what normal struggle looks like removes obstacles that have nothing to do with ability.
What is the difference between mentoring and sponsoring?
Mentoring is advice given to someone. Sponsoring is advocacy for them when they are not in the room, and it is the one that changes careers.
Can the session reach multiple sites and shifts?
Yes. Agency, hospital, and district bookings often run the session more than once in a day, or pair an in-person session with a virtual repeat.
What does a Riverside keynote cost?
Fees depend on format, travel, session length, number of repeats, and whether the booking includes a workshop or book copies. Each event is quoted directly, usually within one business day.
Can Chris speak virtually to a California audience?
Yes. Virtual keynotes and webinars are available with no travel cost, which suits multi-site employers, chapter meetings, and member education. See past webinars.
Nearby Cities

Keynote speaking across southern California.

Each city page covers the local employers, the venues Chris speaks in, and the specific workforce pressure leaders there are working on.

Ready to Book

Bring Chris to your Riverside event.

Send your date, location, and audience. You will get availability and a quote back within one business day.

Check Availability

info@chrissund.com · 402-212-5771 · California speaking · All locations


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