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As a Social Entrepreneur and Generational Change Expert, Michelle Dagnino is a keynote speaker on subjects ranging from leadership to workforce development to Gen Y engagement. Her innovative ideas and enthusiasm for her subject matter make her an exciting and inspiring speaker for audiences around the world. A combination of education, professional experience, personal triumphs (and failures!) and passion for her topics have made Michelle one of the top speakers in the country. Her presentations are dynamic and fluid and she is available for pre and post-event consultation in order to ensure your event is a success.

Michelle is currently the Executive Director of Youth Action Network (YAN), a 10,000 member strong national charitable organization dedicated to youth activism and empowerment. Since her teen years, Michelle has been an advocate for social reform. As a high school student, she founded ASPIRE, a community mentorship group that paired young women with community leaders to promote healthy self-esteem and provide exceptional role models. Since then, Michelle has worked tirelessly to promote youth activism, mentorship, empowerment, global awareness and leadership within Canada and around the world. Her nationally recognized founder projects include Aspire; Where is the Love?, a national media literacy program using images and examples from hip hop and pop culture to teach engagement, global issues awareness, and leadership; and YouthActivism.ca, a national portal of youth-lead initiatives and opportunities.

Each of Michelle’s presentations are customized and are designed with the client’s objectives and organization in mind. They combine humour and wisdom to create a presentation that is professional, interactive, educational, and uplifting.

Presentations Include:

Gen Y in the Workforce
Managing and Motivating a Multiple Generation Workforce

One of the most important and prevalent factors affecting the workplace is the diversity of age of workers--from new young workers to baby boomers to individuals on the verge of retirement. In an interesting--and challenging--twist on the multi-generational workforce, you now have the potential of having four generations in your workforce, with each generation having its own expectations, habits, work styles, and beliefs. This presentation delves into ideas and innovations to handle the attitudes, meld the differences, and mold the generations into a cohesive and productive team.

Creating a workplace of creativity and Innovation: Bringing the Best out in Generation Y

Many young professionals exit the academic world lacking the skills necessary for marketplace. They enter the marketplace with high expectations of both themselves and their employers with no clear understanding of how to reach such expectations.

As a result, many young professionals are job hopping and companies are left spending excessively on training new employees. As employers, you have to be extraordinary agile to keep up with today's constantly changing competitive environment. The best way to ensure lasting success is to make sure that everyone in your company is encouraged and rewarded for thinking and behaving creatively.

Gen Y in the Community
Connecting With Youth: Strategies for Meaningful Youth Engagement

Amid stories of disengagement amongst our young people, lack of leadership opportunities in the community and workplace, and the worries about the “brain drain,” we face the question of: how to do we connect with young people? We need to connect with youth on a more meaningful level – how do we involve them as valued members in the decision making process and encourage i and creativity? This workshop reviews the fundamental concepts of youth engagement and considers the ways in which your organization’s capacity-building, outreach and recruitment strategies can contribute to creating access, equity and inclusiveness for all youth.

Waiting on the World to Change: Creating Leadership Now!

Customized for either schools or workplaces, Michelle discusses how to bring passion into our lives, and find purpose in your work – whether it be as a student, entrepreneur, or employee of a non-profit or Fortune 500, Michelle examines how to find happiness by creating situations for ourselves in which we feel we are making a difference. Combining psych studies and organizational theories, with funny, interactive insights into the struggles of everyday life, Michelle’s presentation empowers individuals to find happiness by achieving to their true potential.

Gen Y in School
Engaging the Millennial Learner

Gen Y (aka Millennials) students not only provide a challenge to traditional education learning and teaching, but also provide a rich context for examining new approaches to quality learning. Recent research suggests that this generation’s experiences of schooling are enriched by teaching strategies that have favoured close mentorship relationships, online learning tools and experiential learning. In this workshop discover strategies to increase millennial students' engagement with their school communities and explore their learning needs, allowing educators and administrators to develop its current learning and teaching practices in light of the realities of today’s young learner.

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