Designing Transformational Change Communications with the ADKAR Model

All School of Medicine communicators are invited to attend a workshop on transformational change communications led by Leona Hess, PhD, of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, from 1-3 p.m. on Tuesday, April 16. The workshop, sponsored by the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, will be held in-person in the School of Nursing, Room 1103. Register here. About the Workshop: Are you telling or communicating? How can you create communication approaches that reflect an understanding of how individuals experience change? We invite you to participate in an interactive workshop led by national thought leader Leona Hess, to learn about the building blocks of successful change and the information needed to help individuals navigate through and effectively communicate about any change. By the end of the workshop, you will be able to understand the different stages people and the institution go through when a change occurs; identify ways to apply the change management model - ADKAR (Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability and Reinforcement) to your communications process; and design communications at various levels to ensure you are responsive to the people side of change. About Leona Hess, PhD: Dr. Leona Hess is a change leader, systems thinker, and experiential facilitator with extensive experience supporting social change within institutions. In 2018, she joined the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS) as the Director of Strategy and Equity Education Programs where she leads a transformational process to develop the capacity of leaders, staff, and students to dismantle racism. In 2021, with grant funding from the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, she became the Co-Principal Investigator of the Anti-Racist Transformation in Medical Education program that aims to develop the capacity of eleven medical schools across the country and Canada to replicate ISMMS's transformational change methodology. For over two years, Dr. Hess has been an instrumental consulting partner to Duke's Office of Medical Education where she's led a team of faculty, administrators, and students in a thoughtful and comprehensive review and "reimagining" process of key curricular components of Duke's MD program. She holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University, a MSW from NYU, and a BS from George Washington University.