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Liesel Mertes is an acclaimed keynote speaker, trainer, and workplace empathy expert. After the death of her daughter, Mercy Joan, Liesel emerged with a deep understanding of what people need to feel supported at work after a disruptive life event.
As the Founder of Handle With Care Consulting, Liesel works with companies and event organizers who want to enable empathy in the workplace, elevate performance and create meaningful connections across audiences and teams.
As a nationally-recognized empathy expert, Liesel works with organizations around the globe like Winnebago, MetLife, the Canadian Government, and Fannie Mae. Her favorite clients are those who understand and know the value of supporting their employees with empathy and compassion. Liesel’s expertise is broad — death and loss, combatting change fatigue, and life’s inevitable curveballs — and no disruption is considered less significant. On these topics, Liesel is a dedicated keynote speaker, writer, workplace consultant and host of the Handle With Care podcast. A calming presence in stressful situations, Liesel provides tools for organizations to help their employees survive, stabilize and thrive in the aftermath of adversity.
Coordinating volunteers can feel like a balancing act: one minute you’re celebrating their passion, the next you’re redirecting behavior that threatens to derail the mission. And when you're already stretched thin, it’s tempting to let poor behavior slide—until small issues become big headaches.
In this interactive, story-based session, empathy expert Liesel Mindrebo Mertes shares how empathy isn't just about being "nice"—it's a practical leadership skill that helps volunteer coordinators set boundaries, steer behavior, and sustain motivation. You’ll leave with practical tools, fresh language, and renewed confidence to lead your volunteers with empathy and accountability.
Coordinators will:
• Learn how to communicate expectations with empathy from the start to prevent misalignment down the road.
• Practice language for redirecting or reprimanding volunteers without alienating or discouraging them.
• Gain self-management strategies to stay grounded and effective when difficult conversations arise.
