Dr Dee Holstine Vander Valk C-Suite Network Advisor Since September 2021
Communications
Dr Dee is the Founder of a company called TEEwithD – with the goal of starting conversations and building capacity in diverse communities. TEE stands for Transformation and Empowerment thru Expression. By helping women+ and allies find – and use – their voices, TEEwithD helps to shift the power dynamic in relationships, communities, and companies, so that tough conversations can be had, individuals’ stories can be heard, and our collective narratives can be rewritten in ways that include – rather than exclude.
From keynote speaking to start those hard conversations, to facilitating and developing those pathways that can lead to real, permanent change, TEEwithD offers a safe and inclusive space to start – and continue – the journeys into – and beyond – the stories that define us, limit us, inspire us.
Action is eloquence. Shakespeare
Dr Dee has spent nearly 30 years working with individuals and groups, figuring out how this thing called “communicating” works, as a speaker, coach, facilitator, professor, trainer, director, and author. Whether it’s storytelling, scriptwriting, the art of conversation or learning how to have tough talks with yourself or others, Dee’s your woman.
Her doctoral work in health literacy looked at how power dynamics work in communication, particularly between women+ and systems that are neither built nor serve them. Her Masters work in Leadership looked at effective and powerful communication strategies in C-Suite leadership (in particular, the Oil & Gas Industry). She started her journey, at the Bachelors-level, in theatre, working as a director and playwright (after training as a Classical stage actor). Add to these credentials 5 diplomas in Spoken Arts & Drama and Effective Communication (four from Trinity College, Oxford, one from the Royal Conservatory), and professional coaching certification, and you’ve got yourself a one-of-a-kind constellation of education, experience and expertise.
Dr Dee has created curricula, published articles, journals and books, designed and facilitated innumerable focus groups, meetings, workshops, negotiations, mediations and working groups. She has worked across ages, stages, backgrounds, cultures, and identities. A former Communications professor as well, Dr Dee has a deep understanding of what skills employees are not bringing into the workplace, and how to begin to make that change.
It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; It is because we do not dare that they are difficult – Seneca
Recommendations
Dr Dee Holstine Vander Valk | Transformation and Empowerment thru Expression = TEEwithD
"Dr Dee can work a room that she is not even in! I’ve heard lots of keynotes, but never one like this. She engaged and inspired a truly diverse audience, and we got lots of very positive feedback. Everyone can benefit from finding their voice (except for Dee; she's found hers), and she can help everyone do it."
Dana Gliserman Kopans, PhD
Department Chair, Department of Literature, Communication, and Cultural Studies, SUNY Empire State College, NY
"Dr. Dee offers honesty without an apology to ‘comfort. Her candour breaks down barriers to help us all look at topics with an openness without defensiveness. Women and Allies have responded to Dr. Dee’s message and conversation with an examination of past situations and current state with new lenses and new tools to help open the doors to change"
Brandy Bugg-Boruck
Director, Alberta Blended Business & Womens BRG Lead, Wolseley Canada Inc
"Dr. Dee is a wonderful speaker who quickly engages her audience with her enthusiasm and energy. She is able to distill complex topics into little wisdom nuggets we can all apply in our day to day lives. I can’t recommend her highly enough as a speaker and trainer. Book her now!"
Victor M. Martinez, PhD
Process Control Domain Manager Manufacturing Information Technology, NXP Semiconductors
