Change strategist · Speaker · Founder
Amy Yackowski
Two decades inside transformation work — strategy, operations, technology, and the messy human middle where most change quietly dies. Now she helps leaders and audiences author epic shIFt instead of managing it.
Her background
Twenty years in the messy middle
Amy has spent her career where strategy meets reality: enterprise transformations, operating-model rebuilds, technology rollouts, and the org-wide programs that look tidy on a slide and complicated on a Tuesday. She has led change for teams of a handful and for organizations of thousands — and the pattern was always the same. The plan wasn't the hard part. The people living inside the plan were.
So she built a practice around that gap. Part strategist, part facilitator, part technologist, she designs the operating rhythms, narratives, and recognition systems that make a shift stick after the consultants leave and the kickoff energy wears off.
The Curaosity Collective is where that same practice runs without a client brief — a portfolio she uses to test ideas in public, from designed spaces and immersive experiences to celebration products and unreasonably fun software. It keeps her sharp, and it keeps her honest: she only recommends what she is willing to build and ship herself.
How she works
Four rules she brings to every room
These are the working principles behind her engagements and her talks — the how, not the creed. The philosophy that sits underneath it all lives in the Collective's manifesto.
Start with the humans, not the org chart
Strategy that ignores how it feels to live inside the change doesn't survive contact with reality. Amy starts with the people who have to carry it.
Design the shift, don't manage it
Change management reacts. Authoring epic shift means deciding what you want to be true, then engineering the path there on purpose.
Prototype before you promise
Twenty years of launches taught her that a rough working version beats a polished deck every time. Build small, learn loudly, then scale.
Make the milestones mean something
Recognition isn't a nice-to-have at the end. Celebration built into the plan is what keeps teams in it long enough to finish.
What a room walks out with
- A shared language for the shift your organization is actually trying to make.
- A working framework for turning "what IF" questions into fundable, buildable plans.
- Permission — and a method — to prototype instead of waiting for certainty.
- A concrete list of milestones worth celebrating, and how to build them into the roadmap.
Book Amy to speak
Bring the curaosity to you
Amy speaks on organizational change, human-centered design, curiosity as a cultural currency, and why celebration belongs in your strategy. Talks are tailored to your audience — keynotes, workshops, and leadership sessions available.
Authoring Epic Shift
How organizations can move past change management into actively authoring the transformation they want to see.
Designing for the Human Inside the System
Why the best strategies start with the people who have to live inside them — and how to build for fulfillment, not just output.
Curiosity as Currency
How a culture of relentless curiosity fuels courageous ideas and the extraordinary experiences that follow.
Celebration as Strategy
Why recognizing every milestone — not just the standard ones — is a competitive advantage hiding in plain sight.
View all of Amy's speaking topics
Request a speaking engagement
Tell us about your event, audience, and dates. We'll get back to you with availability and next steps. This is a quick intake — full details happen over email.
Prefer email? Reach out directly at speaking@curaosity.com.