Start your day by checking in at the registration table to pick up your name badge and welcome bag. Enjoy a light continental breakfast and take some time to visit with our expo vendors in the general session room before the conference officially begins.

POOL/PACT HR General Manager, Stacy Norbeck, delivers a welcome message to members and outlines the agenda for the POOL/PACT HR Leadership Conference.

Leading in public agencies and educational environments requires focus on accountability, psychologically safe environments where all can thrive, and fostering belonging. This session equips participants with the mindset and practical tools to build stronger, more accountable, and inclusive teams. It explores radical ownership as a leadership approach where individuals take full responsibility for outcomes, decisions, and team success—moving beyond blame to proactive problem-solving. The session also highlights the importance of psychological safety, creating an environment where team members feel comfortable speaking up, sharing ideas, and learning from mistakes without fear of judgment. Finally, it focuses on fostering belonging, emphasizing strategies to ensure every team member feels valued, respected, and connected to the team’s purpose. Through real-world examples, reflection, and interactive discussion, participants will learn how these three elements work together to improve trust, collaboration, and overall team performance.

Join your peers from similar organizations for facilitated roundtable discussions. Groups include:

• Counties
• Cities and towns
• School districts
• Public safety agencies
• Special districts

This is your chance to connect with others who understand the unique challenges of your work. Share your experiences, exchange resources, and collaborate on solutions to common issues. These discussions are consistently a conference favorite. Come ready to network, problem solve, and leave with fresh ideas to bring back to your organization.

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Join us for lunch, and be sure to return to the general session room to visit with our expo vendors.

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AI is reshaping the workplace faster than most organizations are prepared for and not just in how work gets done, but in how decisions are made, how bias shows up, and how power is distributed. At the same time, many HR leaders are navigating this shift with an unspoken constraint: the pressure to stay “nice.” To avoid disruption. To prioritize harmony over hard truths.

In this keynote, Amira Barger challenges the idea that neutrality and niceness are effective leadership strategies in moments of transformation. Drawing from her book The Price of Nice and her work advising organizations at the intersection of communications, equity, and behavior change, she explores how AI can quietly reinforce existing inequities—and what it takes for HR leaders to intervene with intention.
This session will equip leaders to move beyond performative adoption of AI and toward people-centered implementation—grounded in transparency, accountability, and the courage to ask better questions. Because in the age of AI, the risk isn’t just getting the technology wrong. It’s staying comfortable while everything else changes.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

Recognize how “niceness” shows up in HR decision-making and where it may be limiting honest conversations about AI, bias, and risk

• Identify where AI can unintentionally reinforce existing workplace inequities, particularly in hiring, performance management, and employee experience
• Apply a practical framework (Think, Feel, Do, Revisit) to guide more intentional, human-centered AI adoption
• Build the confidence to challenge neutrality and lead with clarity in moments of ambiguity and change
• Translate values into action by aligning AI use with organizational culture, trust, and long-term workforce impact

Wrap up the day by joining us for an evening of networking, conversation, and connection. Enjoy complimentary appetizers and drinks while you mingle with fellow attendees, presenters, and colleagues from across the state. 

Start your day by checking in at the registration table, and if you haven't done so yet, pick up your name badge and welcome bag.  Enjoy a light continental breakfast and visit with your fellow attendees before the morning keynote.

Welcome to Day 2 of the conference! In this introduction, we will briefly go over the agenda for the day and share any important information you should know. 

In a world increasingly driven by algorithms, dashboards, and automation, we’ve optimized everything except the one thing that matters most: what fuels us as humans at work?  Kelly Mackin cuts through the noise with research that challenges traditional thinking and reveals the 28 human motives that drive our ability to thrive. Meeting these motives, like purpose, free expression, belonging, work-life harmony, fun, and self-esteem, is at the heart of human-first leadership, where people’s human needs come first.

The "one-size-fits-none" approach doesn’t work, because thriving isn't universal, it's personal. Every person on your team has a unique hierarchy of needs.  It’s not about leading people, it’s about leading your people, and embracing motive diversity.  When each person’s unique motives are met, it drives greater well-being, connection, and long-term loyalty.

You will leave this session with the insights, mindset shifts, and an actionable roadmap to lead happy, healthy, high-performing teams with greater clarity and confidence.  Kelly’s research shows that only 16% of people are thriving at work, in a world where ill-being still leads the way, people don’t need a perfect leader; they need a human one.

You’ll leave this session with:

• A human-centered framework to evaluate, communicate, and support the motives that matter most on your team for collective success.
• Practical tools, including stay interviews and motive one-on-ones, to meet your people's needs with intention and impact
• A 5-step pathway to put it all into action

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Join us for lunch. 

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Join your fellow attendees for a friendly competition featuring questions on a variety of topics from employment law to Nevada history. We’ll wrap up the event with our final raffle prize drawings—must be present to win! Don’t miss this chance to laugh, compete, and maybe walk away with a prize.