Michele Bordonaro
Expert in grief, leadership, and emotional intelligence, guiding audiences to transform difficult transitions into resilience, meaning, and personal and professional growth.
Key Topics & Expertise
Change, Resilience & Adaptability
Leadership & People Development
Wellbeing, Wellness & Burnout
Topics
Signature Programs
Keynote
From Buried Grief to Beautiful Life:
Understanding What Grief Is Really Doing to Us — and How to Heal
Key Takeaways:
Recognize how hidden grief shows up as burnout, conflict, and disengagement
Understand how emotional suppression fuels stress and exhaustion
Gain practical tools to build resilience and move forward with clarity
Read Description
Grief isn’t just about death. It’s about change, loss, identity shifts, burnout, and unmet expectations. In this powerful keynote, Michele reframes grief as a human experience we all carry — often without realizing it.
Through storytelling, neuroscience-backed insights, and compassionate guidance, she helps audiences recognize how grief silently shapes behavior, leadership, and emotional health. Participants leave with clarity, emotional permission, and practical tools to move forward without abandoning themselves.
Keynote
Leadership Through Loss, Burnout & Transition:
Human-Centered Leadership in High-Pressure Environments
Key Takeaways:
Spot early signs of burnout before performance declines
Lead through change with greater empathy, stability, and clarity
Strengthen trust and psychological safety during stressful periods
Read Description
High performance often comes at a hidden emotional cost. Michele brings emotional intelligence, grief literacy, and leadership development together to help leaders create stability, presence, and clarity — even in complex, high-pressure systems.
This talk supports leaders in navigating uncertainty, emotional overload, and organizational change without losing themselves or their teams in the process.
Keynote
The Emotional Intelligence Advantage:
Why Emotional Literacy Is the Missing Leadership Skill
Key Takeaways:
Improve communication and collaboration through emotional awareness
Support better decisions and leadership presence under pressure
Build a culture of trust and psychological safety
Read Description
Emotional intelligence isn’t soft — it’s strategic. Michele helps audiences understand how emotional awareness drives better decisions, stronger relationships, and sustainable performance.
Through stories and science, she shows how developing emotional literacy unlocks clarity, confidence, and leadership presence.
About Michele Bordonaro
Michele Bordonaro bridges grief, leadership, and emotional intelligence to help people navigate life’s most profound transitions with clarity, resilience, and purpose.
As a Grief Guide, Leadership Coach, and VP of Operations Excellence at Orion Worldwide, Michele combines lived experience with formal training in grief education, leadership development, and Internal Family Systems (IFS). Her work helps individuals and organizations understand what grief is doing beneath the surface — and how to move through it without losing themselves in the process.
Grief doesn’t always look like sadness. It often shows up as burnout, emotional disconnection, anger, self-doubt, and the quiet loss of identity. Michele helps people name what they’re experiencing, reconnect with their inner wisdom, and lead — and live — from a grounded, authentic place.
Her speaking blends storytelling, emotional insight, and practical frameworks, creating moments of deep recognition, emotional safety, and lasting transformation.
Website: michelebordonaro.com
Contact: [email protected]
Speaker FAQs
Who is Michele Bordonaro?
Michele Bordonaro is an expert speaker and advisor on change, resilience, and leadership through uncertainty. She helps organizations and leaders navigate disruption, loss, and transition with clarity, compassion, and forward momentum.
Why is Michele Bordonaro considered an expert in change, resilience, and grief?
Michele Bordonaro brings deep experience helping leaders and teams navigate both organizational change and human loss. Her work recognizes that change often includes grief, whether from loss, disruption, identity shifts, or endings, and she equips leaders with practical ways to support people through these realities.
What topics does Michele Bordonaro speak on?
Michele Bordonaro speaks on change leadership, resilience, navigating uncertainty, grief and loss in the workplace, leadership during disruption, and building cultures that support people through transition.
How does Michele Bordonaro address grief in the workplace?
Michele Bordonaro helps leaders understand how grief shows up at work following loss, change, or disruption. She provides practical guidance for acknowledging grief, supporting teams with compassion, and maintaining trust and performance during difficult periods.
What makes Michele Bordonaro different from other change or resilience speakers?
Unlike speakers who focus only on strategy or mindset, Michele Bordonaro addresses the emotional and human dimensions of change. She integrates grief awareness with leadership and resilience, helping organizations move forward without ignoring the impact of loss.
What outcomes can organizations expect from Michele Bordonaro’s keynotes?
Organizations gain greater understanding of how people experience change and loss, practical tools for leading through uncertainty, and strategies that strengthen resilience, trust, and engagement during transition.
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