​Speak to Belonging: The Power of Names to Build Cultures of Trust and Loyalty

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In a time when connection can be hard to come by, names are one of the most underutilized tools we have. Kaomi Taylor—visionary founder of the Museum of Names—delivers high-impact keynotes that show how something as everyday as a name can become a catalyst for trust, retention, and repair.

With the strategic acumen of a two-time chief executive and the clarity of a former business professor, Kaomi’s talks are rooted in data and come alive with humor, insight, and purpose. Her work through the Museum of Names reframes names not as labels, but as practical magic: A human-centered innovation tool hiding in plain sight.

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​What Audiences Need - And Value Most

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The message is timely. The delivery is authentic. The impact is lasting.

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• Relevance without jargon. Speaks directly to today’s challenges—loneliness, polarization, and turnover—without buzzwords or blame.

• Credibility. Kaomi understands the stakes of culture work, drawing on years of executive leadership in high-trust, high-impact roles.

• A voice that connects. With warmth, clarity, and dry humor, she turns data into story and insight into action.

• Tools that stick. Audiences leave with practical, research-backed shifts they can use immediately to build trust, connection, and belonging.

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Sample Keynotes (All Customized)

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🟣Speak to Belonging
How elevating names in everyday practice builds loyalty, trust, and connection at work—and what leaders miss when they skip this step.

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🟣 Namely Human
How names can rehumanize a colleague, a customer, or a conversation gone wrong. This one’s for leadership, conflict resolution, and repair.

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🟣Beyond the Name Tag
Small shifts in language that create big shifts in belonging—plus the science behind why it works. Because what lies behind the name tag is the heart.

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Speaker Biography

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Kaomi Taylor offers a distinctive and compelling voice on names, belonging, and human-centered leadership. A two-time executive director and former adjunct professor of business ethics, she brings together strategy, social science, and story to reveal names as a powerful, overlooked innovation for connection and culture-building. Before founding the Museum of Names, she led a statewide education nonprofit for 11 years and a national food safety organization for four. 

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She holds a master’s in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School and brings deep executive insight to her work with leaders across industries.

A Note From Kaomi
 

"I worked most of my life under a different name. I also spent most of my career leading organizations whose missions 

I deeply believed in. But four years ago, I switched to a new name to better reflect my own identity and who I strive to be in the world.

Shortly afterward, a local paper ran an article I had hoped would spark a deeper conversation about name-shaming and the quick judgment of women—particularly those labeled “Karens.” The writer handled the nuance well. The editor… did not. The headline miscast me as the very stereotype I was trying to unpack.
 

That headline still shows up in Google. And every time it does, I think: maybe it’s actually the perfect entry point. Because that’s what names do—they hold history, bias, meaning, and potential. They carry our dignity, our legacy, and sometimes our wounds. And if I can bottle that unkind spotlight to help light the path to a better world, I will.
 

That’s the heart of my work now: helping people and organizations recognize the quiet, transformative power of names as a strategy for connection, trust, and belonging.

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Booking Info

 

Available: In-person or virtual

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Rates: Call or email to inquire

Based: New England, available to travel internationally

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📩 Contact Kaomi

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📄 Download Speaking Sheet (PDF)