Join Seattle SHRM for our Annual Business Meeting, a year-end gathering to reflect on 2025 accomplishments and share our vision for 2026. Hear updates from board leaders, learn about chapter initiatives, and see what’s ahead for our HR community in the coming year.

This meeting is open to all Seattle SHRM members. Your participation helps shape the direction of our chapter as we continue to advance the HR profession and strengthen our community of leaders and learners.

This is a Virtual Event. Cost: Members- $15 Non-Members $30

Discover how executive presence—the clarity, conviction, and alignment leaders embody—has become today’s workplace currency. This session equips leaders with practical tools to elevate communication, influence, and culture, creating measurable impact for both people and organizations.

3 Key Takeaways:

• Unlock the Currency of Presence
  Learn why presence—not just skills or experience—is the differentiator that shapes culture, accelerates promotions, and depletes toxicity in workplaces.

• Shift from Survival to Strategic Influence
  Through the IMPACT™️ framework, attendees will discover how to move beyond stress and distraction into a state of clarity, conviction, and alignment.

• Embed Sustainable Leadership Habits
  Leaders will walk away with practical tools to cultivate authentic influence, elevate communication, and create cultural ripple effects across their teams.

Attendee Credits
Attendees who participate for the full duration of the educational session will be eligible to earn 1 SHRM and 1 HRCI recertification credit.

Kathryn Ficarra brings over 20 years of executive leadership experience, having held VP roles across start-ups, gaming, and e-commerce. Today, she serves as a transformational architect for high-performing leaders, executives, and entrepreneurs — helping them decode the true DNA of extraordinary leadership.

Through her proprietary IMPACT™ Framework, Kathryn delivers a neuroscience-backed approach to executive presence that goes far beyond traditional leadership training—integrating identity alignment, nervous system mastery, and purpose-driven growth. She pairs this with a custom-built AI bot that supports clients between sessions and a tailored assessment designed to pinpoint readiness gaps and accelerate results. Her focus is working with organizations and bringing this work in the form of an interactive workshop.

She is also a licensed facilitator of the Purpose Assessment, a science-backed diagnostic that helps leaders integrate personal purpose with professional performance — creating fulfillment that drives results.

Kathryn has spoken to a variety of organizations including Starbucks, Dreamworks, Women in Tech, DisruptHR, and Airbnb. Her work has also been featured in multiple publications and spotlighted on Office Hours on Apple TV.

She also has collaborated in several books, including her own title “Your Presence is your Power”. She hosts the Leadership On Purpose podcast, where she showcases leaders who are using their purpose to create meaningful impact in the world. Learn more at www.thecgroupstudio.com

Interested in getting more involved with Seattle SHRM?

Join us for a virtual information session to learn about board service opportunities for the 2026–2027 term. Whether you’re a long-time member or brand new to our community, this session is your chance to explore how your skills, perspective, and passion for HR can help shape the future of our chapter.

We’ll cover:

• Open board positions and what they entail
• The benefits of board service
• What we look for in candidates
• The application process and timeline
• Insights from current board members

Applications will open immediately following the session.

⚠️ Important: Register in advance using the “Register Now” button in order to receive the Zoom link before the session.

You do not need to be a Seattle SHRM member to attend this info session—but you must be a member by the time the board term begins in January 2026 if selected.

Topic: Empathy is Not Dead: It’s Just Tired of Buzzwords

Let’s face it, “empathy” gets thrown around a lot. It’s often performative or misunderstood.

In this talk, I’m cutting through the noise. I’ll show how real empathy, the kind rooted in neuroscience and human connection, is one of the most powerful tools we have. Empathy is more than a buzzword; it’s a business driver. When we use it with intention, we create relationship shortcuts, fuel performance and make better decisions. Empathy works. Not just for people, but for performance. Empathy means business.

Learning Objectives:
By attending this session, participants will:

1. Derive Value & Bust Myths including ROI & Research Trends
2. Investigate Empathy featuring Breakout Experimentation Leveraging Neuroscience
3. Review your Amplification of Empathy Emerging through Shareback & Debrief

Attendee Credits
Attendees who participate for the full duration of the educational session will be eligible to earn 1 SHRM and 1 HRCI recertification credit.

Speaker

Patricia Bravo doesn’t follow convention. She selected career opportunities which gave her an unvarnished, hierarchy-free, direct line of sight into the everyday impact leaders have on teams.
After earning an MBA and working her way up at companies acquired by Oracle and IBM, she landed at Starbucks, making an unusual choice. She turned down a promotion to serve people she cares for most, team members.
While navigating corporate life, she supported hundreds of students through a teaching side hustle. That defiance won her an Instructor of the Year award, landed her an invitation to publish research and opened doors to teaching undergraduates at University of Washington, Bothell and professionals at UCLA Extension.
She bucked convention again, starting her company Bravo For You, where she’s become known for her human-centered empathetic leadership programs with clients like Sony Pictures, T-Mobile, Amazon and more.

Say the Hard Thing: Tools to Shift Tough Conversations

This practical, psychology-informed training is built for HR leaders who are ready to equip their managers with tools to stop avoiding — and start leading —tough conversations. This session addresses the quiet crisis of communication avoidance in the workplace, reframing it not as a personality flaw but as a solvable skills gap. Participants will learn a repeatable framework to approach difficult conversations with clarity, emotional regulation, and strategic listening. They’ll walk away with tools grounded in neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) that reduce conflict, increase accountability, and build cultures where feedback is normalized and trust is rebuilt—instead of lost—through direct dialogue.

Learning Objectives

• Recognize What Makes Conversations Feel Hard—and What to Do Instead
  Help managers identify their personal avoidance patterns and learn simple mindset shifts that reduce fear and hesitation.
• Use a Clear, Repeatable Process to Prepare for and Lead Tough Talks
  Equip managers with a 3-step framework to get grounded, stay focused, and speak directly—without escalating tension or losing control.
• Respond to Emotion Without Getting Derailed
  Train managers to handle pushback, silence, or emotional reactions in real time, using practical language cues and emotional regulation techniques.

Attendee Credits
Attendees who participate for the full duration of the educational session will be eligible to earn 1 SHRM and 1 HRCI recertification credit.

Speaker

Barbara Jenks is a communication strategist and leadership trainer with deep roots in HR and employee relations at Fortune 500 companies like Boeing and 20th Century Fox. A certified NLP practitioner, she equips leaders with tools to navigate conflict, build trust, and lead with clarity. Barbara blends neuroscience, improv, and practical insight to create learning experiences that are smart, engaging, and immediately applicable. Outside the boardroom, she volunteers with a horse-based therapy nonprofit—sharpening her instincts for unspoken signals and leadership blind spots.

Topic: Harnessing the Power of AI in HR: Elevate, Not Eliminate™

The rapid rise of AI has left many HR professionals—leaders and practitioners alike—feeling overwhelmed by an endless stream of tools, buzzwords, and promises. Where do you start? How do you choose the right approach? And how can you ensure AI truly adds value rather than creating more confusion?

This session is different. Instead of lofty theories or overwhelming tech talk, we’ll focus on what HR professionals need most: clarity, practicality, and a roadmap for success. You’ll learn how to use AI to tackle real challenges across the employee lifecycle, from recruitment and onboarding to engagement and retention. We’ll also address the critical issues of security, ethics, and alignment with your organization’s goals—so you can lead with confidence.

Whether you’re shaping organizational strategy or managing day-to-day HR processes, this session will empower you to take control of AI adoption. By learning to navigate the noise and use AI effectively, you’ll not only simplify your work but also position yourself and your team as strategic innovators driving meaningful change across your organization.

Learning Objectives

• Understand how to cut through the confusion surrounding AI to find what works for HR and across the organization.
• Learn practical, real-world applications of AI across the employee lifecycle to address common HR challenges.
• Gain strategies for selecting and implementing AI securely, ethically, and in alignment with organizational goals.
• Discover how to use AI to support teams across the organization while keeping the human element central.
• Build the skills and confidence to position HR as a strategic leader in AI adoption and innovation.

Attendee Credits

Attendees who participate for the full duration of the educational session will be eligible to earn 1 SHRM and 1 HRCI recertification credit.

Speaker

Kari Naimon (Founder, AixHR) is a recognized leader in AI for HR, with a mission to simplify AI for HR professionals and make it accessible, practical, and impactful. As the founder of AixHR, she works with HR leaders and practitioners to integrate AI in ways that elevate their work while ensuring security, ethics, and human-centered decision-making. Known for her straightforward and actionable approach, Kari empowers HR professionals to confidently lead the AI conversation and drive meaningful transformation in their organizations.