What if power at work wasn’t something to navigate, but something we could reshape? Not through volume or authority, but through connection, presence, and the courage to relate. In this virtual interactive session, Maria deBruijn, invites us to explore relational power, the kind of influence that transforms work from something we survive into something we shape together.
Drawing from her work with women leaders and communities like Table 22, Maria sheds light on the often-unspoken tensions women experience in the workplace: emotional labor, invisible contributions, and the pressure to be either soft or strong, but rarely both.
Through story, insight, and facilitated reflection, participants will leave with a deeper sense of personal clarity, new language to describe what they’re sensing, and practical ways to lead and relate in ways that, make space for more trust, inclusion, and shared ownership at work.
Speaker: Maria deBruijn, CEO, Emerge Solutions, Inc.
Maria deBruijn is a communicator, connector, and a lifelong student of what makes workplaces truly come alive. She has dedicated her career to helping organizations reimagine engagement, not as a strategy or a metric, but as a lived experience shaped by how we relate, respond and understand one another.
Maria holds a Master’s degree in Communications and Technology from the University of Alberta, where she researched the impact of technology on engagement. Her recent work centers on a simple yet profound idea: that feeling understood is the most powerful driver of human engagement. It’s this insight that led her to write Understood: The Greatest Human Need and the Key to Engagement, a book that blends research, lived experience, and practical tools to help leaders and teams relate and foster understanding in the moments that matter most.
Maria believes that relational intelligence is the capacity the world needs most right now, and that building it in and around our organizations is key to thriving in times of change and uncertainty. This lens guides her speaking, workshops, and leadership mentoring. She is also the founder of Table 22, a community for senior female leaders navigating leadership with depth and clarity.
Brought to you by the AIIM Women in Information Management (WIIM) Group.
This Community Conversation is approved for 1 hour of CIP Maintenance Credits.