Strategic Change Communications: How to Lead Employees Through Transformation (October 2026 Virtual Conference)

Mergers, restructures, new technology, new leadership. Change is constant, but communicating it well is not. Employees don’t resist change nearly as much as they resist being surprised by it, left out of it, or hearing about it from their manager at the same moment as everyone else. ALI Conferences’ Strategic Change Communications Virtual Conference, held online October 21-22, 2026, from 11:00 AM to 1:30 PM ET, is built around closing that gap.

Over two days, internal communications and change management professionals will share the frameworks, manager toolkits and measurement approaches they use to guide employees through transformation with clarity and empathy.

What you’ll learn

• Develop a strategic change communication framework that connects to business goals
• Equip leaders and managers to communicate change with confidence and empathy
• Create compelling narratives that build understanding and reduce resistance
• Use digital tools and channels to keep messaging clear and consistent
• Measure employee sentiment and engagement throughout change initiatives

Day 1: equipping leaders and building the strategy

The conference is chaired by Angela Sinickas, CEO of Sinickas Communications, Inc., one of the most respected voices in communication measurement.

• Communicating Through Uncertainty: Equipping Leaders and Managers for Difficult Conversations. Lynn Zimmerman, CEO and Principal of Swing Communication, on coaching leaders to deliver challenging news and building manager toolkits for consistent messaging.
• Whose Change Is It Anyway? Using Research to Develop Communication Strategies That Drive Adoption. Sinickas shares a practical framework for audience segmentation, message development, leadership alignment and feedback measurement.
• Panel: The Human Side of Transformation: Building Employee Trust During Major Change with Cara Shank of Otis Elevator Company, Maddie Turner of Truist, Sarah Balli of MGT, Kristine Frech-Barstow of Amplify and Marisa Sharkey of Harmony Biosciences, sharing lessons from mergers, restructures and technology rollouts.

Day 2: managers, cascades and measurement

If there’s one theme running through Day 2, it’s that managers are the most important change channel you have.

• Central Strategy, Local Expertise: Building a Networked Communications Model. Emi Sasagawa, Director of Communications for the Faculty of Arts at The University of British Columbia, on aligning strategy while empowering embedded communicators.
• Strengthen Manager Communication at Every Level. Shari Medini of Stanley Black & Decker on equipping people leaders to cascade strategic messages quickly and clearly, and using moments of change to upskill managers.
• Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls: Getting the Cascade Right. Michelle Wagner of MidPen Housing on how the team rolled out performance-based merit by making people managers subject matter experts before the broader launch, so they were never the last to know.
• Panel: Measuring Change Communications: What Matters, What Works, and What Leaders Want to Know with Molly Masters of Dexian, Elizabeth Romero of Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions, Diane Gayeski of Ithaca College, Lydia Ivy of College Track and Lindsay Sharifipour of Amwell.

Why managers matter so much in change communication

Employees tend to trust the people closest to them. When managers learn about a change in the same all-staff email as their teams, they can’t answer questions, and trust drops. Several sessions at this conference show exactly how to sequence change communication so managers are prepared first. For more on reaching employees who rarely see the intranet or email, see our Intranets 2026 Day 2 recap.

Who should attend

This event is designed for directors, managers, specialists and consultants in change and transformation communications, internal and corporate communications, employee experience, HR and organizational development, executive communications, learning and development, and employee relations.

Sessions are live on Zoom with real-time Q&A, and registrants receive the full recordings and a certificate of attendance for CEUs.

Frequently asked questions

When is the Strategic Change Communications Virtual Conference?

October 21-22, 2026, from 11:00 AM to 1:30 PM ET each day, hosted live on Zoom.

What is strategic change communication?

It’s a planned approach to helping employees understand, accept and adopt organizational change, connecting messages to business goals, preparing leaders and managers, segmenting audiences, and measuring sentiment throughout.

How do you prepare managers to communicate change?

Brief them before the broader announcement, give them the context and language to answer questions, provide a toolkit with consistent messages, and check in on what they’re hearing from their teams.

Register

View the full agenda and register for the Strategic Change Communications Virtual Conference.