In this session, Loeb Leadership’s Joy Stephens, MBA, CCE-Certified Coach, will share strategies for productive workplace dialogue, including understanding defensiveness, visible allyship, empathy-driven conversations, structured feedback, and inclusive meetings. These skills help build supportive, innovative environments and advance collaboration and growth at all levels.
Doing the Right Thing: Prioritizing DEIA as Human Need, not an Office Option. In today’s world, it’s not an exaggeration to say that almost every idea or topic on which people can disagree has become polarized or politicized. This, combined with an aversion to “hot button topics” in the workplace, has led many individuals to feel they can’t fully express themselves, resulting in isolation. Open communication is crucial for fostering connection and morale in organizations.
DEIA—Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility—means more than just a trend; it’s vital for recognizing individual value and promoting equitable treatment. Organizations embracing DEIA see greater innovation, retention, and performance, as diverse teams offer creative solutions and drive success.
She has worked in manufacturing, research and development, quality assurance, sales, sales management, and corporate training. It was her experience in corporate training that helped her find her true passion and ultimately transition into training and coaching full time. Joy believes that empathy and compassion are the keys to better leadership, better communication, and stronger working relationships. She imbues all of her workshop facilitation with the goal of recognizing the humanity in each other.
About the Speaker
Joy Stephens brings a unique and varied collection of work experiences to the table. While possessing dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, as well as a Master’s in Business Administration, Joy spent her 20+ years in Corporate America with companies like Proctor & Gamble and Kimberly Clark. Joy is also a Board-Certified Life Coach, specializing in Career Development. She focuses on executive and individual coaching, specifically around Career Transitions, guiding individuals from one major life pathway to another.
Seeing the need for more in-depth understanding of the impact of empathy and inclusion, she developed a series of workshops in the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion space. In this capacity, she has worked with multiple Fortune 500 companies, colleges and universities to conduct unconscious bias training, facilitate open-forum dialogues around race and privilege, engage in innovative team building, assist in the creation and promotion of Employee Resource Groups and coach leadership teams on inclusivity and communication. To date, she has delivered training to over 18,000 employees across 12 countries. Her reviews routinely report that her participants find her classes refreshing and highly impactful, and her facilitation style engaging and authentic.
This session is one you will not want to miss!
Tuesday, February 10, 2026 | 12:00 – 2:00 p.m.
Empire Steakhouse
The Kimberly Hotel
151 E 50th Street, New York, NY 10022