Holding Space is Not Enough: How Physical Environments Shape Transformation
Kristin York Brennan, MBA, NCIDQ, CID (VA), PMP, LSSBB, LEED AP (she/her)
We say we want transformation—but do we design the space for it? As we face the challenge of change, this session invites a new perspective: What if the physical environments we create are just as important as the conversations we hold? Organizational development professionals and transformational leaders often focus on mindset, culture, and systems, but we frequently overlook the silent collaborators in transformation: the physical environment, sensory cues, and spatial rhythm. These elements profoundly shape how people feel, think, and engage. Drawing from interior design, neuroscience, and real-world experience in high-performance and high-stress settings, Kristin York Brennan highlights neurodivergent needs as visible expressions of universal human truths—drawing from inclusive design and behavioral science to bring these insights into the practice of transformational leadership. Participants will explore how spatial elements affect regulation, trust, creativity, and insight. They will leave with tangible practices to assess their own environments (and those they help shape), a renewed understanding of the role physical space plays in transformation, and a deeper ability to support meaningful change—whether in a moment, a meeting, or a long-term engagement.
As a participant, this session is for you if…
• You’re ready to stop saying “I’m not creative” and start owning your power to support transformation with accessible and inclusive spaces
• You want to design more intentional physical and psychological conditions for insight and action
• You’re curious about how environment and sensory experience shape trust, creativity, and learning
Learning Outcomes:
1. Understand how sensory and physical environments influence psychological safety, creativity, and insight in transformational work.
2. Reframe neurodivergent needs as design guidance that benefits all humans, supporting inclusive and effective transformation.
3. Apply neuroscience-informed design principles to assess and intentionally shift the environments where you support change.
About Your Facilitator:
Kristin York Brennan is a strategist, facilitator, and human-centered designer with over 20 years of experience at the intersection of spatial experience, organizational systems, and transformation. She holds a BS in Interior Design and an MBA from Virginia Tech, along with certifications in facilitation (Georgetown ITL) and advanced applied neuroscience coaching (KCI).
Her career spans creative studios, federal agencies, and complex organizations—where she’s tackled everything from workplace strategy and change management to culture transformation and leadership development. This diverse path gives her a unique ability to connect spatial, behavioral, and cultural dynamics into a cohesive whole.
As the founder of Studio B Collaborative, Kristin helps individuals, teams, and leaders reimagine their environments—physical and organizational—not as passive backdrops, but as active catalysts for insight, creativity, and growth. Her curiosity about how space shapes experience has driven her cross-disciplinary work, blending systems thinking, creative process, and practical tools into transformational outcomes.
When she’s not designing environments for transformation, she’s likely brainstorming wildly ambitious projects—or getting schooled in advanced negotiation techniques by her eight-year-old daughter.
A believer in the power of unexpected metaphors, Kristin once built an enterprise experience office and internal comms strategy using insights from The Happiest Toddler on the Block—proving that even toddler psychology can transform how grownups lead, listen, and engage.
AGENDA:
4:45 - 5:00 pm Join Zoom Meeting
5:00- 7:00 pm Workshop
Please be aware that our trainings could be recorded or photographed.
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