Keynote & Corporate Speaking

Talks that make people
think differently.

Grounded in 20+ years of building, transforming, and leading organizations. No borrowed frameworks. No generic insights. Real stories that stick.

Speaker bio

Amanda is not your
typical executive speaker.

She began her career in broadcast journalism, producing a political radio talk show at 19. That unconventional start gave her something most executives lack: the ability to communicate complex ideas in ways that actually land.

She holds an Ivey Executive MBA Gold Medal from Ivey Business School, Western University — Canada's top-ranked business school — graduating #1 in her class. She also holds a CPA with Honours, placing in the top 1% nationally.

Her leadership has been recognized with the CIRO Top Under 40 Award, the VersaFi Emerging Leaders Award, the IWD Global Best Practices Award, and a full scholarship to the WXN Top 100 Mentoring Program — all nominated by firm leadership or peers.

Keynote presentations Corporate leadership events Conferences & summits Panel discussions Workshop facilitation Women in leadership events Post-secondary institutions
Amanda Collinge Bae speaking
Amanda on panel Amanda at conference

Signature topics

Six talks. Zero generic frameworks.

🎯

Leadership & Culture: What Nobody Says Out Loud

Performative culture is one of the most expensive mistakes organizations make. And the worst part? It almost always gets rewarded. Amanda shares the real equation behind culture, why Culture = Engagement = Performance, and what leaders actually need to do differently.

Audience takeaways

  • How to identify performative culture vs. the real thing
  • The Culture = Engagement = Performance equation in practice
  • Specific, low-cost actions that build genuine culture
  • Why what gets rewarded shapes everything
⚡

Power Structures You Aren't Noticing

There are power structures operating in every organization right now that nobody will ever put in a slide deck. They are shaping careers, influencing promotions, and driving decisions every day. Amanda teaches audiences how to see them, diagnose their position, and act with intention.

Audience takeaways

  • The invisible dynamics that shape corporate futures
  • How proximity, coalitions, and visibility actually work
  • A practical framework for diagnosing your power position
  • Specific actions to improve your visibility and influence
🤖

Bet on Yourself: Innovation Before Anyone Asks

Amanda pitched RPA three years before adoption. She pushed PowerBI before it was an enterprise priority. She made the case for AI before it was on the roadmap. This talk is about what it means to bet on an idea — and on yourself — before the organization is ready for it.

Audience takeaways

  • Why the best ideas are the ones nobody asked for
  • How to pitch before there is permission to pitch
  • The ROI of investing in yourself before it makes conventional sense
  • Practical ways to learn the technology before anyone asks you to
⏸️

What if Pause is Wisdom?

Hustle culture tells us that grinding is the proof of success. But Ian Fleming wrote all twelve James Bond novels working three focused hours a day. Darwin walked his thinking path twice daily. Einstein slept ten hours a night. Amanda makes the case for pause as a strategic leadership tool.

Audience takeaways

  • The difference between responding and reacting — and why it matters
  • Why the best project is sometimes the project that doesn't happen
  • Practical ways to build intentional pause into leadership
  • How fight-or-flight mode is costing your organization
💎

Creating Value: The Question That Changes Everything

One question has guided every major decision in Amanda's 20-year career: does this create value? This talk explores what genuine value creation looks like across different contexts, why ego is the enemy of value, and how making this your north star changes your career trajectory.

Audience takeaways

  • How to apply the value creation question to decisions at every level
  • Why dropping ego is the fastest path to better outcomes
  • The difference between value-added and non-value-added work
  • How your reputation is built one value-creating moment at a time
👑

Leadership Is Not a Reward for Performance

Promoting your best individual contributor into leadership is one of the most expensive assumptions organizations make. Amanda explores the paradox of capability vs. leadership, what organizations should actually assess before promoting, and what it takes to build leaders worth following.

Audience takeaways

  • Why star performers often make poor leaders
  • The traits that drive great individual performance that become obstacles in leadership
  • What organizations should assess before the promotion is finalized
  • How to build a leadership pipeline that actually works

Past engagements

Where Amanda has spoken.

Amanda has spoken at corporate events, post-secondary institutions including UBC, and professional leadership forums across Canada. Full speaking history coming soon. Connect on LinkedIn or send an enquiry below for references and testimonials.

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Book Amanda for
your next event.

Available for keynotes, conferences, leadership summits, corporate events, and panels across Canada and beyond.

Send a booking enquiry Connect on LinkedIn