Making It Work is a live interactive series that brings together executives and entrepreneurs offering insight and advice to Maine’s business community.

More than a year and half into a pandemic, Maine’s business community is still grappling with uncertainty. Managing hybrid work forces, shifting safety protocols, inflation and other market forces complicate decision-making as we head into 2022. How can you manage effectively when there’s ambiguity everywhere?

Join moderator Carol Coultas and change specialist Lisa Whited of Workplace Transformation Facilitation and crisis manager Linda Varrell of Broadreach PR for an interactive and lively discussion about performing well despite the question marks.

About the panel:

Lisa Whited, Workplace Transformation Facilitation

Lisa Whited believes in the art of possibility. She has a passion for improving processes and workplaces. Lisa has a holistic outlook on work: it has a ripple effect on our communities, society, and the world. She is a change management strategist who is driven to make a dent in the abysmal Gallup statistic that 87% of people worldwide are disengaged at work.

Lisa has an MS in Organization and Management from Antioch University and holds certifications in mediation, facilitation, and interior design. She has spoken at numerous conferences regarding the future of work and consults with companies large and small, local, and global. Her recent engagements have been helping leaders figure out what the future of work will look like in a post-COVID-19 world.

Lisa is founder and chief transformation officer of Workplace Transformation Facilitation based in Portland, Maine and serves as a Senior Associate to UK-based Advanced Workplace Associates. Lisa’s first book, Work Better. Save the Planet is a guide for building employee engagement through workplace change, with the goal of using resources wisely to positively impact climate change.

Linda Varrell, Broadreach Public Relations

Linda Varrell, APR, is the President and Founder of Broadreach Public Relations (est. 2007). She has more than 25 years of experience in communications, public relations, crisis handling, and project and sales management. As a former vice president and company spokesperson for a publicly traded financial institution, she created and executed external and internal communications campaigns supporting expansive growth, product introductions, mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, financial disclosures, high-visibility construction, and technology projects as well as numerous crises.

She is nationally accredited in public relations (APR), holds a master’s degree in organizational leadership and is regularly tapped to speak at C-level events and industry-conferences. Linda is a member of the Forbes Business Council, instructor for Northern New England School of Banking and serves on numerous nonprofit boards, including Maine Press Association, Institute for Family-Owned Business, USM Foundation and LifeFlight of Maine Foundation; and, previously as President of Maine Public Relations Council.

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