Valerie Alexander is a leading expert in the emotion of happiness and the act of inclusion. The author of Happiness as a Second Language, How Women Can Succeed in the Workplace and Success as a Second Language, Valerie is now booked as a keynote speaker for corporate events to share her expertise. When booked as a speaker, Valerie is sought to speak on topics such as outsmarting unconscious bias, the advancement of women in the workplace, happiness as a strategic business advantage, diversity, equity and inclusion.
An expert in emotion in the workplace, Valerie has formerly been the founder and CEO of Goalkeeper and a screenwriter, director and producer of over 50 different commercials, short films and public service announcements. She is widely known for being the creator of Ballpark Bullies and for creating the widely known commercials Say I Do, The Wedding Matters and Life Support. Valerie created Goalkeeper to help with relationships, an AI and conversational user interface that helped people in relationships to discover what makes their partners happiest.
After studies at the University of California Berkley in Law and Environmental Economics, Valerie has also worked as an Attorney for business and technology and an investment banker for SG Cowen & Company. She has also worked as VP of Business Development for PixelWorks Networks and a Visiting Professor on the Representation of Law in Film at U.C Berkley School of Law. After her career in securities law and investment banking, Valerie transitioned to entertainment and is now a popular speaker helping companies better understand how to achieve happiness in the workplace.
A seasoned speaker, Valerie has spoken at hundreds of events- from law firms and trade shows to colleges and corporate events. Prominent speaking engagements include delivering the 2016 Commencement Speech at Trinity University and her TEDx talk How to Outsmart Your Own Unconscious Bias. A huge hit in her speaking engagements, Valerie’s TEDx talk has gathered over 300,000 views and solidifies her expertise on eliminating unconscious bias. Working in harmony with her clients, Valerie advises companies on how they can maximise happiness in the workplace, whilst using such happiness as a strategic business advantage. When looking for an empowering speaker on workplace wellbeing, advancing women in the workplace and eliminating unconscious bias, Valerie Alexander is a fantastic choice.
How to hire Valerie Alexander
Contact the Champions Speakers Agency to provisionally enquire about hiring Valerie Alexander for your next event, today. To get in touch, simply call an official booking agent on 0207 1010 553 or email us at [email protected] for more information.
** We do not accept requests for autographs, signed merchandise, fan mail, birthday messages or any other non-commercial contact with the speakers or acts. Each speaker on the website may not have necessarily worked with Champions in the past but are known to perform such engagements within the industry.
Valerie's official speaking topics are listed below:
- Outsmarting unconscious bias - the brain science behind unconscious bias, who has bias and how it develops and manifests itself, behaviour that signals to someone that they are 'the other', 'Stereotyping Syndrome' and its costs to retention and productivity, substantial changes an individual can make to outsmart their own unconscious bias, how to amplify the voices of people whose contributions aren't being heard or acknowledged, policy changes the company can make to reduce bias in hiring and promotion, embracing complexity, welcoming feedback and actively listening and focussing on outcomes not intentions as the optimal way to move forward.
- Advancement of women in the workplace - the evolutionary biology and history of traditionally male and female roles and behaviour, the most highly valued traits in the workplace and why, the metrics companies need to re-think to both reward the contributions of women and achieve greater outcomes for the company, slight adaptations women can make to their decision-making and presentation styles to be far more highly rewarded without giving up any of the value they bring as women and specific mentorship and sponsorship needed by top female professionals.
- Happiness as a strategic business advantage - The high costs of workforce unhappiness, the long-ranging workplace happiness studies and the one factor they all conclude makes people love their jobs, how to identify and correct for 'accidental managers', moving the goal line without destabilising or demotivating anyone, the disconnect between what leaders think motivates employees and what actually motivates them to give their best and love their jobs, autonomy, incentives and acknowledgement as a source of engagement, how and when to address toxic behaviour in your workforce and how not to rob yourself of a daily sense of accomplishment.
- Diversity, Equity & Inclusion - how we determine and wield our identities, who has to prove certain aspects of their identity and the costs to the company, why some people must be perfect just to belong and be given equal opportunities, who fails up and who fails out, climbing Mount Everest- privileges and advantages- how to recognise our own and ensure we aren't losing great people simply because they started from farther down the mountain and The Pygmalion Effect- the relationship between a leaders expectation and the associate's performance.
Valerie is often booked as a speaker for corporate events, read her latest feedback below.
"CFA Montreal recently invited Valerie to speak about unconscious bias in the workplace. Valerie is an excellent presenter - she delivered a powerful, eye-opening, thought-provoking virtual presentation to our members, translating science into day-to-day examples and providing practical, valuable guidance on how to effectively outsmart unconscious biases. She kept everyone engaged through polls, animations and visuals, and the audience loved her energy and passion. Valerie is a pleasure to work with. Extremely professional, gracious and accommodating, she took the time to understand our organization’s needs. I highly recommend Valerie!" - Ioana, Investments at University of Montreal Pension Plan
"Diversity and inclusion are topics that are very close to my heart. We recently invited Valerie to speak to my leadership team about the same topic. Valerie took us through a journey and it was a humbling experience when we realized how unconscious bias sets in and how much more we have to do! We covered topics that can be uncomfortable but Valerie's mastery in helping our teams guide through those moments was amazing! She is an amazing presenter, used remote conferencing tools to perfection and kept our whole management team engaged throughout the session" - Sharath, CEO, Vindicia
"Simply sensational! Valerie delivered a very inspiring, thought-provoking conversation to our 700 participants on elevating their professional effectiveness (as women). This was by far the most engaged our audience has been in a virtual program all year!" - Jessica, Executive Vice President of Sales, Briggs Freeman Sotheby's International Realty
"Valerie is a terrific presenter. She gave an inspiring virtual talk to my group of attorneys that helped me change my outlook to a more positive one instantly. She made full use of the tools available on zoom, shared screen, PowerPoint, polls of the members, etc. She uses mnemonic devices and clever lists to help you remember what she says. It was a complete presentation on happiness for lawyers. She's definitely one of the top speakers we've had, and we've had quite a few. In a word, she's memorable." - Martin, Los Angeles Business and Real Estate Attorney
"We recently had Valerie as the main speaker for our F5 Women’s EIG (Equality Inclusion Group) virtual events. This was one of our first virtual events, and working with Valerie made it so much easier. Not only was she great to work with, but she was also very well received by our employees globally. Her enthusiasm and energy came across even though it was all virtual! Valerie took the time to understand our company and make her presentation personable to F5 to help encourage us to think differently. The feedback from the audience was amazing! I would highly recommend Valerie for any virtual or face to face events and I look forward to working with her again in the future" - Aine, Senior Regional Marketing Manager EMEA, NGINX
"Valerie was supposed to present to us in person in March 2020 -- then we had to pivot once the pandemic hit us. Valerie didn't miss a beat-- she was gracious, flexible, and adapted her keynote to 100 of our leaders virtually-- as a master in the Zoom setting I must say. Her specific examples were spot on and she delivered a message with confidence, without shame and blame, and in an approachable and actionable way to our organization. I highly recommend Valerie and her visualization exercise alone is so worth getting her to speak to your audience" - Sheila, Executive Vice President, People-Culture-Inclusion
