Book Gigi to bring wholehearted leadership and healing presence to your next event.
Dr. Gigi Burke is a Wellbeing Strategist with a PhD in Adult Education & Organizational Development who partners with visionary Black and Brown women leaders and mission driven organizations. She defines leadership not by title but by influence, the ability to help others heal, learn, and grow. Her work protects both humanity and health so leadership lasts.
As a speaker, Dr. Burke weaves research, storytelling, and embodied practice to inspire leadership that is sustainable, authentic, and whole. Her talks explore themes such as self advocacy for Black and Brown women leaders, the role of emotion in meaningful work, grief informed leadership, and the ways relational wholeness strengthens personal, entrepreneurial and organizational leadership.
Through her company Feel Good First, she walks alongside leaders through transitions, grief, and growth, and partners with mission driven organizations to nurture cultures of trust, resilience, and care. Her work weaves wellbeing into leadership and systems so people and purpose thrive together. With a background spanning higher education, corporate learning, and nonprofit consulting, she brings strategy, soul, and systems thinking to every stage she steps on.
Her wildest dream is to help shape and sustain nourishing environments for communities living and working on celestial bodies such as the Moon, Mars, Europa, or Titan.
Here's Her Signature Talks
From Self-Silencing to Self-Advocacy: Rewriting the Rules of Leadership for Black and Brown Women
Leadership has too often asked Black and Brown women to perform strength, suppress emotion, and shrink themselves to be accepted. This powerful talk explores what it means to unlearn self-silencing, a survival strategy so many of us have internalized, and rise into a way of leading rooted in wholeness, truth, and self-advocacy.
Through storytelling, reflection, and actionable insight, this session invites women to reimagine how they show up in leadership, not by whitewashing their experience or gaslighting their intuition, but by rewriting the rules on their own terms.
When we lead from a place of rooted wellbeing, emotional honesty, and full self-expression, we don’t just protect our power, we expand it.
Feeling Forward: How Emotion Fuels Wellbeing and Meaningful Work
In many workplaces, emotion is still seen as a barrier to professionalism or a risk to productivity. But the truth is, emotion is how people make meaning, build trust, and stay connected to their purpose.
In mission-driven work, where the stakes are high and the impact is deeply personal, emotional wellbeing isn’t a luxury. It’s essential.
In this talk, Gigi invites leaders and teams to feel forward: not just to acknowledge emotion, but to engage it as a source of guidance, clarity, and connection. Because when people feel safe to feel, they also feel safe to contribute, to collaborate, and to lead, in ways that are grounded, authentic, and aligned with who they truly are.
Additional Topics
Alongside her signature talks, Gigi offers sessions on a range of themes that can be tailored for keynotes, workshops, or leadership retreats:
Leading Through Change Without Losing Yourself
Leadership transitions and career shifts can be disorienting, pulling leaders away from their core values. This talk explores how to navigate change and growth while staying rooted in authenticity and building personal systems of resilience that last.
Grief-Informed Leadership: Honoring Loss In The Workplace
Grief touches every leader and every organization, yet it is often unspoken. This session offers a framework for acknowledging grief as part of leadership, cultivating systems of care, and transforming loss into renewal for people and purpose.
Balancing Your Boardroom, Bedroom, and Family Life
Leadership does not end at the office door. This talk invites leaders to explore what it means to bring wholeness into every sphere of life, balancing the demands of career, intimacy, and family without self-abandonment.
Weaving Wellbeing Into Learning and Growth
Too often, professional development is separated from personal sustainability. This session shows how to integrate wellbeing into systems of learning, mentoring, and growth, creating cultures where development fuels both performance and human flourishing.
The Right Dose of Emotion: Fueling People and Purpose to Thrive Together
Emotion is not a weakness to manage but a resource to cultivate. This talk examines how leaders can identify which emotions are needed, and in what measure, to create environments where people feel safe, connected, and able to align with purpose.
Booking
In addition to her signature speeches and featured topics, Gigi offers fully customized talks and workshops tailored to your audience. Complete the booking form to discuss your specific needs.
What Organizers and Attendees are Saying
"Dr. Burke, thank you so much for your insights and excellent presentation! We learned a great deal from you about why we need to take care of ourselves."
"Thank you for presenting and sharing your insights. You were great!"
"THANK YOU for acting as a guest speaker at the EWB-Atlanta Chapter meeting. I greatly enjoyed your presentation and teaching style."
"I was most struck by the biological and physiological intelligence and explanations in your presentation. I was fascinated by how much you knew and communicated. The reality of the information you presented is helpful to me as I try and help others be more emotionally intelligent too many people that grew up thinking that emotions have no place in the working world."
Past Speaking Appearances
Bold Voices Podcast: How to Overcome Fear With Business and New Opportunities
First Annual EQ With A Difference International Conference
The Brilliance Interview Series with Li-Min Huang
Mastering
The Sales Game Podcast with Susan McVea
Spark Your Vision Experience with Adele Wang
Life Lessons Over Lunch Career Networking Group
Society of Emotional Intelligence Annual Conference
The Dr. Hank Show On Blog Talk Radio Podcast
Engineers Without Boarders- Atlanta Professional Chapter
Southeast Regional Engineers Without Boarders Conference
Association for Talent Development-Atlanta Chapter, Career Development Special Interest Group