Kriss Deiglmeier
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Passions and Voice

Get to Know Kriss

 

Highlight Reel

Kriss Deiglmeier is a dynamic board director, CEO, and thought leader who drives growth and innovation. Known for her strategic leadership and transformative approach, she has served on numerous boards, helping them evolve by recruiting new members, restructuring committees, and improving governance practices. Her extensive experience spans both public and private sectors, with a particular focus on delivering value across industries and geographies.

An avid traveler, Kriss's passion for adventure and love of learning has shaped her belief system and fueled her commitment to positively impacting the world. Her diverse personal and professional experiences inspire her to create a better future for everyone’s family, friends, and communities. 

fun facts

  • Kriss believes you grow when you “repot” yourself. She has worked in the corporate, philanthropy, nonprofit, social enterprise, and academic sectors. 

  • She has backpacked around the world and visited more than 50 countries and counting.

  • Kriss has presented nationally and internationally on, social innovation, stakeholder economy, ESG,  responsible AI, design thinking, and impact investing. 

  • Each year, she picks a “word for the year” and strives to live by it — believing firmly in keeping things simple.

  • Kriss’s core beliefs include:  “Learn something new every day” and “Be adventurous. Be afraid.”

  • She loves walking meetings and agrees with Nilofer Merchant that “sitting is the smoking of our generation.” 

  • She prefers research articles over what seems like an infinite number of “blogs” 

  • She co-authored the most cited article on social innovation, Rediscovering Social Innovation—with over 3,200 citations. 

  • Her family, friends, and colleagues bring her joy and keep her going. 

 

Putting the Audience First

No matter what our nationality, race, sex, sector, or job, we all have only 24 hours in a day and 365 days in year. That means we must be strategic about how we spend our time trying to move the social innovation needle. One decision of how to spend our precious time is determining which conferences to attend. The options are endless — Business for Social Responsibility, Skoll World Forum, Global Philanthropy Forum, Opportunity Collaboration, Social Enterprise Alliance Summit, Independent Sector, Poptech, Investor’s Circle, GLOBE conference &emdash; they all host conferences.

At the Center for Social Innovation, we also operate several conferences each year as well as speak and attend relevant conferences in the field. As both a producer and consumer, I am hoping we can all do a better job to ensure we are using all of our limited time wisely and putting the audience first.

Speakers: Prepare, prepare, prepare
Attendees go to conferences to stay on top of relevant trends, new models, and evolving markets/needs. I am sure we have all been in an audience with panelists referring to a few notes sitting on their lap. Sitting on a plane ride making notes on your yellow tablet for a conference in which you are a featured speaker is not preparation. The audience is spending valuable time and money to hear what you have to say; give them something thoughtful, valuable and polished.

To power point or not to power point? That seems to be the question nowadays. However, I think the power point is less of the problem than the preparation. A power point can be a valuable tool when used well. There are plenty of opportunities to see great presentations on the web. In addition, there are tips and techniques galore available on the web, in books, and through classes and seminars.

Meeting Planners: Enable meaningful connections
Many of us attend conferences to “network.” Webster’s defines it as “sharing information and services among individuals and groups having a common interest.” “Connecting,” in contrast, means “to join, link, or fasten together; unite or bind.” Connections have staying power. Therefore, design your conference so people can make connections. A few good contacts that can provide ongoing value, advice, and reciprocity can be worth far more than a fistful of business cards.

Presenters: Put the audience first
As a presenter, you’re there to share, educate, and entertain the audience, not market your enterprise or product. If I want to know what your organization does, I can find all the necessary information on the web. Give us substance — lessons learned, recommendations for operations, or predications about the future. It is the substance that matters. Ultimately, you are only presenting out of the graciousness of the audience; show respect and understanding by meeting their needs, not yours. And lastly, think deeply about “fireside chats.” Generally, they just don’t work unless you have an intimate audience.

Conferences can clearly provide a valuable platform to help drive social innovation. But as organizers and speakers, let’s strive to make them truly of value to those who are spending the resources to come. There is no perfect “secret” to success. At a minimum by putting a little more time into preparation, connections and audience centric, we can strive for events that are worthy of others’ time.

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