Kevandre Thompson works in talent acquisition and workforce development, with experience in industrial manufacturing recruiting. Thompson also speaks about community-driven hiring, workforce resilience, and the value of relationships at work.
Kevandre Thompson is most useful for a live keynote or workshop on community-driven hiring and workforce resilience.
Best for
Talent acquisition or HR technology brand planning a keynote plus follow-up content.
Not for
High-reach paid influencer campaign needing audience scale, video assets, demographics, or promo code.
Key takeaways
People leave bad managers or places where they do not feel seen.
Relational wealth means opportunities come through people, not paychecks.
Manufacturing contraction is a reset, and STAR talent matters more than resumes.
Check first: Confirm no rate card, speaker reel, verified attendance, or audience demographics appear.
Main ideas
People leave bad managers, not bad jobs—so community is the retention strategy · Relational wealth: opportunities come through people, not paychecks · Manufacturing contraction is a reset, and STAR talent matters more than resumes
Kevandre Thompson works in talent acquisition and workforce development, with a focus on industrial manufacturing, and speaks about how relationships and community shape opportunity at work.
They are known for the message “Community Is the New Currency” and the related idea of “relational wealth”: that important opportunities often come through people, not paychecks.
Their posts show this message in practice across HR conference talks, mentoring and community events, and recruiting for skilled-trades roles.
Thompson’s work offers a mix of workplace ideas and concrete examples from manufacturing recruiting and Michigan community-building.
Thompson connects belonging and relationships to concrete workplace choices.
At DisruptHR Fort Wayne, a slide linked employees’ decisions to leave with bad managers or feeling unseen; they say an attendee asked to photograph it.
In a manufacturing post, they apply the same community theme to a downturn, arguing that employers should build clarity and trust and identifying storytelling, transparency, authenticity and respect as qualities of “STAR talent.”
Their posts also show the work behind the message: recruiting for four union skilled-trades roles, mentoring students, and helping convene civic and community partners around TEDxPontiac.
The range gives their perspective substance beyond a conference slogan, spanning ideas for HR audiences, day-to-day recruiting and local relationship-building.
Kevandre Thompson’s ideas start with a retention claim: community is the new currency, and people leave because of managers or workplaces where they do not feel seen or heard, not because of the job itself.
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They extend that idea into “relational wealth,” arguing that life-changing opportunities usually come through people rather than paychecks and that success should be measured in relationships as well as money.
A stated decade in industrial manufacturing grounds the arguments in hiring, succession, and skilled-trades work.
Thompson applies them through conference talks, mentoring programs, and organizing the TEDxPontiac event.
People leave bad managers, not bad jobs—so community is the retention strategy
In “Community is the New Currency,” Thompson argues that people leave not because of the work itself but because of managers or environments where they do not feel seen or heard.
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Employers should build clarity, trust, and continuity for the people who stay rather than wait for market conditions to improve. In a downturn, Thompson says, silence pushes people out more than uncertainty does.
At DisruptHR Fort Wayne, an attendee asked for a photo of a slide reading “People don't leave bad jobs.
They leave bad managers or places where they don't feel seen or heard.”
Thompson repeated the argument at the Indiana SHRM State Conference, where the post reports that 99-plus HR professionals attended the session.
The same claim applies to a manufacturing downturn: Thompson writes that “community becomes the new currency” when uncertainty rises and that companies emerging strongest invest in the people who stay.
Relational wealth: opportunities come through people, not paychecks
Thompson contrasts financial net worth with what the post calls relational net worth, arguing that life-changing opportunities usually come through relationships and community rather than salary.
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They broaden the idea of return on investment beyond money, treating belonging and opportunity as forms of wealth worth building deliberately.
Announcing a TEDx Ypsilanti talk titled “Are We Chasing the Wrong Currency?,” Thompson says they draw on talent acquisition, workforce development, leadership, and community building to argue that the greatest return may not be ROI.
Manufacturing contraction is a reset, and STAR talent matters more than resumes
After reading a Bloomberg report that U.S. manufacturing activity fell to 47.9, marking ten straight months of contraction, Thompson calls this a reset: the strongest operators sharpen execution rather than chase volume.
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Every hire must justify impact rather than potential, every role must protect institutional knowledge, and succession planning becomes urgent rather than theoretical. In that environment, Thompson says resumes matter less than what the post calls STAR talent: storytelling that translates experience into outcomes, transparency that builds trust when answers are imperfect, authenticity that shows up consistently under pressure, and respect that strengthens teams rather than drains them.
The post lists the figures—activity at 47.9, ten straight months of contraction, falling new orders, shrinking headcount, and drawn-down inventories—then asks readers what they would tell a manufacturing worker marked open to work.
Learn from other people's frameworks, not only present your own
Thompson treats conferences as places to listen and learn as well as speak, and publicly adopts and credits others’ ideas.
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They highlight a framework from Jennifer McClure’s keynote, attributed to McClure, called S.H.I.F.T., about keeping an entrepreneurial mindset inside a nine-to-five job. Thompson puts it into practice by asking what the organization is missing and what could be done differently.
After presenting at the Indiana SHRM State Conference, Thompson says the experience prompted a plan to attend more SHRM conferences around the country—not just to speak, but to listen, learn, build relationships, and sharpen HR knowledge.
Mentoring and early-career pipelines are part of the work, not a side note
The community message is backed by hands-on mentoring and pipeline building.
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As a lead mentor with the National Black MBA Association Detroit Chapter Leaders of Tomorrow program, Thompson helped run sessions on resume building and LinkedIn personal branding for high school students, plus an HBCU Huddle where Michigan professionals who attended HBCUs shared pathways with students considering that route. The month's recap also places that work alongside a broader schedule of Detroit-area community events.
The December recap names the NAAAHR Metro Detroit holiday party, two Black Tech Saturdays events, a National Black MBA Association event at the Detroit Yacht Club, a ribbon cutting for Centro Multicultural La Familia in Pontiac, and a Rotary Club luncheon in Southgate.
A community can be a platform for ideas, not just a place
Thompson convenes civic, county, state, HR, and business partners around TEDxPontiac, describing the event as a platform for Pontiac and for ideas worth spreading.
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The role, as presented in the post, is to help spark and communicate a vision that belongs to the community rather than the organizer.
The post reports more than 400 speaker applications from Michigan and beyond within a month. It names City of Pontiac officials, Oakland County representatives, HR people, and State of Michigan partners in the room, and gives a speaker application deadline of January 26 and an event date of May 1, 2026.
Skilled-trades recruiting is where the workforce arguments get tested
Alongside speaking and writing, Thompson recruits for hourly union manufacturing roles, grounding the workforce arguments in day-to-day hiring.
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The post lists four second-shift openings at Innomotics in Norwood, Ohio: CNC machinist, rotor maker mechanic, motor assembler mechanic, and manual lathe operator.
The post details the 3:30 PM to 12:00 AM shift, asks for experience with high-voltage motors, precision machining, or mechanical assembly, notes interest from employee referrals and external applicants, and invites candidates to apply directly or message with questions.
This is the clearest statement of the message Thompson speaks about, along with evidence of how an HR audience responds.
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A newcomer sees the talk, its hook and the room in one post.
Thompson recaps presenting a talk called "Community Is the New Currency" at DisruptHR Fort Wayne and says the audience responded strongly.
One attendee asked for a photo of a slide reading "People don't leave bad jobs.
They leave bad managers or places where they don't feel seen or heard."
The post names the emcee, Adam Hughes, and thanks Nancy Steigmeyer, Jeremy Reis and the Northern Indiana Human Resources Association.
Thompson also describes the rest of the program, including talks on artificial intelligence and workplace culture.
For brands planning a campaign
For an HR tech or talent acquisition brand, this is a keynote pitch and a ready-made social asset: the manager-quality slide is quotable and has already prompted an audience action. A breakout or keynote on retention and manager quality fits the audience they draw here.
It shows the idea Thompson is developing beyond workplace retention and how they present as a speaker.
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It also explains the "relational wealth" language that appears in the other posts.
Thompson announces a June 26 TEDxYpsilanti talk titled "Are We Chasing the Wrong Currency?"
The post introduces "relational wealth," contrasting financial net worth with relational net worth, and argues that life-changing opportunities usually arrive through people rather than paychecks.
Thompson frames the talk as emerging from work in talent acquisition, workforce development, leadership and community building, and notes that they are an Eastern Michigan University alumnus returning to Ypsilanti.
For brands planning a campaign
"Relational wealth" is a durable theme a brand can sponsor across a talk, a content series or a podcast. The Eastern Michigan and Ypsilanti framing offers a Michigan-rooted regional angle for campaigns that need local relevance rather than a generic keynote.
It shows Thompson working in the state SHRM circuit, names the audience size and places them alongside other recognized HR speakers.
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Their stated intention to keep attending matters for planning repeat engagements.
Thompson describes presenting "Community is the New Currency" at the Indiana SHRM State Conference to more than 99 HR professionals.
They highlight hallway conversations with HR people from Indiana and Ohio as the best part of the event.
The post credits Jennifer McClure's opening keynote and her S.H.I.F.T. framework about keeping an entrepreneurial mindset inside a 9-to-5, and says the experience prompted a plan to attend more SHRM conferences around the country to listen and learn as well as speak.
For brands planning a campaign
State SHRM conferences concentrate buyers for HR products. Thompson's stated plan to attend more creates a multi-event collaboration window rather than a single sponsorship, and the post shows that they credit partner speakers and content.
This is the analytical side of the profile, tied to a specific number and argument.
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It connects the speaking posts to the manufacturing and recruiting expertise behind the talk.
Thompson responds to a Bloomberg article reporting US manufacturing activity at 47.9, with ten straight months of contraction, falling new orders, shrinking headcount and drawn-down inventories.
Writing as someone who says they spent a decade inside industrial manufacturing, they argue that the contraction is a reset and that the strongest operators sharpen execution instead of chasing volume, every hire must justify impact, and "community becomes the new currency" when uncertainty rises.
The post lists four qualities of what they call STAR talent: storytelling, transparency, authenticity and respect.
It closes by asking readers what they would tell a manufacturing worker who is #OpenToWork.
For brands planning a campaign
A natural hook for a workforce-resilience content collaboration aimed at industrial employers. The four STAR qualities translate directly into a webinar framework, a downloadable checklist or a sponsored article series, while the post's open question invites engagement.
It shows Thompson organizing an event and working across civic, county and state partnerships, not just speaking at other people's conferences.
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It also shows the operational detail behind the community message.
Thompson describes convening community leaders, City of Pontiac officials, Oakland County representatives, HR people and State of Michigan partners to talk about TEDxPontiac.
The post reports more than 400 speaker applications within a month, gives a speaker application deadline of January 26, asks applicants to check spam folders and dates the event to 5/1/26.
Thompson describes their role as helping spark and communicate a vision that belongs to the community.
For brands planning a campaign
A locally anchored event with government and civic partners supports regional activation beyond a single sponsored talk. A brand could attach to community programming, an application drive or the run-up to the date, not just the stage.
It shows the mentoring and community work behind the "community is the new currency" line and maps the Detroit and Pontiac networks Thompson moves in.
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It shows that the community theme is a practice, not just a slogan.
Thompson reflects on a month of community events: the NAAAHR Metro Detroit holiday party; serving as a lead mentor with the National Black MBA Association Detroit Chapter Leaders of Tomorrow program; an HBCU Huddle with Michigan professionals who attended HBCUs; a National Black MBA Association event at the Detroit Yacht Club; two Black Tech Saturdays events; a ribbon cutting at Centro Multicultural La Familia in Pontiac; and a Rotary Club luncheon in Southgate. Thompson also mentions sharing the TEDxPontiac story on a podcast hosted by Karyl Morris.
For brands planning a campaign
Mentorship programs and a real Detroit-area network make Thompson a fit for community-impact, education or DEI-adjacent campaigns that need participation across a season, not a one-off post. The breadth of organizations gives a sponsor several credible channels for co-branded programming.
The post shows the industrial manufacturing recruiting work behind Thompson’s speaking and writing.
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For marketers considering a workforce campaign, it offers a look at the operational reality behind the stage persona.
Thompson posts four open second-shift hourly union roles at Innomotics in Norwood, Ohio: CNC machinist, rotor maker mechanic, motor assembler mechanic and manual lathe operator.
The shift runs from 3:30 PM to 12:00 AM.
The post specifies experience with high-voltage motors, precision machining or mechanical assembly, notes interest from employee referrals and external applicants, and asks candidates to apply directly or message with questions.
For brands planning a campaign
This is the audience a manufacturing employer brand or industrial recruitment platform wants to reach, with a concrete proof point for collaboration. A campaign could pair the speaking platform with recruitment marketing aimed at skilled-trades candidates in the Midwest.
"Community is the New Currency" keynote framework3
Hands-on skilled-trades recruiting for hourly union roles2
Relational Wealth: reframing what success is measured in1
Manufacturing contraction read as a "reset," not a slowdown1
Convening a regional ideas platform: TEDxPontiac1
Mentoring and early-career pipeline building1
Adopting other people's frameworks: entrepreneurial mindset and continuous learning1
"Community is the New Currency" keynote framework
Kevandre Thompson delivers a talk titled "Community is the New Currency" at HR gatherings, including DisruptHR Fort Wayne and the Indiana SHRM State Conference, where the post reports that more than 99 HR professionals attended the session.
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The talk argues that people leave bad managers or places where they do not feel seen or heard, and that organizations in a tight market should invest in the people who stay rather than wait for conditions to improve. They tie the idea to talent acquisition strategy and an entrepreneurial habit of asking what the organization is missing.
Conference keynote with audience interaction; the post notes an attendee photographing a specific slide after the talk.
The posts describe the talk’s delivery and reception, not a client engagement or sponsorship.
For brands planning a campaign
A ready-made keynote theme for retention, manager quality and internal community.
An HR technology or talent acquisition brand could sponsor or co-host a session built on this framework.
The post offers a concrete slide-level hook—the line about managers and feeling seen—to anchor event promotion.
Relational Wealth: reframing what success is measured in
In an announced TEDx Ypsilanti talk, "Are We Chasing the Wrong Currency?," Kevandre Thompson contrasts financial net worth with what the post calls "relational net worth," arguing that life-changing opportunities often come through people rather than paychecks and that the greatest return may not be ROI.
Read more
They connect the idea to a background in talent acquisition, workforce development, leadership and community building, and frame the Ypsilanti appearance as a return to their alma mater, Eastern Michigan University.
Personal narrative that reframes a familiar business metric.
The post announces the talk but does not include its text or video.
For brands planning a campaign
Useful for a brand seeking a broader thought-leadership narrative about belonging, opportunity and networks rather than a narrow recruiting message.
A content collaboration could extend the talk into early-career or alumni-network material.
The post describes a scheduled talk, not a published recording available for clipping.
Manufacturing contraction read as a "reset," not a slowdown
Responding to a Bloomberg report that U.S. manufacturing activity fell to 47.9, with ten straight months of contraction, Kevandre Thompson offers a contrarian interpretation: a reset rather than a plain slowdown, in which the strongest operators sharpen execution instead of chasing volume.
Read more
They argue that every hire should justify impact rather than potential, institutional knowledge should be protected and succession planning treated as urgent.
They also propose what the post calls STAR talent—Storytelling, Transparency, Authenticity and Respect—and ask what people marked open to work in manufacturing should focus on.
The post cites a decade inside industrial manufacturing as the basis for the view.
Close reading of a published index figure, followed by an alternative interpretation and an audience question.
The manufacturing experience is asserted in their own post; ask for an employment record if independent confirmation matters.
For brands planning a campaign
Strong topical fit for manufacturing employers, industrial recruiting platforms and workforce-development programs seeking practitioner-flavored commentary on a downturn in demand. A campaign could pair the contrarian framing with practical succession or retention content, or use the STAR list as the spine of a webinar or article series.
Hands-on skilled-trades recruiting for hourly union roles
Kevandre Thompson posts direct recruiting calls for second-shift hourly union positions in Norwood, Ohio, listing a CNC machinist, rotor maker mechanic, motor assembler mechanic and manual lathe operator for a three-thirty to midnight shift, with links to descriptions and applications.
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The posts also state that they attend SHRM conferences not only to speak but to listen, learn, build relationships and sharpen HR knowledge.
Job-posting format: role list, shift details, linked descriptions and an invitation to message directly.
For brands planning a campaign
Shows day-to-day recruiting work, not just commentary, making it a fit for job boards, skilled-trades programs or employer-brand campaigns seeking an authentic practitioner voice in manufacturing and industrial hiring. The employer and roles named in the post are job listings, not a sponsorship or partnership.
Kevandre Thompson gathers community, municipal, HR, county and state partners around TEDxPontiac and describes the event as a platform for Pontiac and for ideas worth spreading.
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The post reports more than 400 speaker applications from Michigan and beyond in under a month, a speaker application deadline of January 26 and an event date of May 1, 2026, with an invitation to follow the event across social platforms.
Convening stakeholders and communicating a shared vision through a public application process.
The event is announced; ask for the program and confirmed speakers before making a booking decision.
For brands planning a campaign
An opening for a brand seeking civic and local-business reach rather than a pure HR audience, such as a regional or community-oriented sponsor tied to an ideas event. The post reflects organizing and vision work, not a paid speaking slot or brand partnership.
Thompson serves as a Lead Mentor with the National Black MBA Association Detroit Chapter Leaders of Tomorrow program, which ran a session on resume building and LinkedIn personal branding for high school students and an HBCU Huddle where Michigan-based professionals who attended HBCUs shared pathways with students considering that route.
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They also attend NAAAHR Metro Detroit and Black Tech Saturdays events and describe a year of mentorship, community presence, and relationship building in and around Detroit and Pontiac.
The post summarizes a busy month; ask what outcomes the mentoring sessions produced.
For brands planning a campaign
Supports campaigns aimed at early-career talent, HBCU pipelines, student-facing programs or community investment, backed by a named mentoring role and specific session content. The posts describe participation in these programs, not paid partnerships.
Adopting other people's frameworks: entrepreneurial mindset and continuous learning
Thompson highlights the S.H.I.F.T. framework from a keynote by Jennifer McClure, describing it as a mindset for thinking entrepreneurially even within a nine-to-five job, and applies it to talent acquisition and speaking by asking what is missing and what could be done differently.
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The same post commits to attending more SHRM conferences to learn, listen, and build relationships rather than only to present.
Public sense-making: naming a framework, crediting its author, and translating it into personal practice.
For brands planning a campaign
A learning-oriented angle fits professional-development platforms, conference sponsors, or brands that can supply a substantive idea for Thompson to engage with publicly. Because the demonstrated behavior is adopting and crediting others' frameworks, a collaboration should give them real substance to react to rather than a scripted promotion.
Thompson's LinkedIn posts document a recruiting connection to Innomotics and speaking or volunteer ties to HR and community organizations.
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A recap says they presented at SHRM Indiana and spoke at DisruptHR Fort Wayne, announced a TEDx Ypsilanti talk, are involved with TEDxPontiac, and served as a Lead Mentor with the National Black MBA Association Detroit Chapter's Leaders of Tomorrow program.
Innomotics
Disclosed partnership
A hiring post says Thompson is recruiting for four second-shift skilled-trades roles in Norwood, Ohio, and links to open positions at Innomotics.
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Ask whether this is in-house employment, a client assignment, or another arrangement.
Thompson announced a TEDx Ypsilanti talk titled "Are We Chasing the Wrong Currency?" and plans to draw on talent-acquisition and workforce-development experience to discuss relational wealth.
A recap says Thompson served as a Lead Mentor with the chapter's Leaders of Tomorrow program, helping run sessions on resume building, personal branding, and HBCU pathways for high school students.
"Community is the New Currency" is the through-line: people leave bad managers and workplaces where they are not seen or heard, so retention work means building clarity and trust for those who stay.
The announced TEDx Ypsilanti talk, "Are We Chasing the Wrong Currency?," extends the same thinking into what Thompson calls relational wealth — the idea that life-changing opportunities usually arrive through people rather than paychecks.
For the hiring side, read the manufacturing post that treats a falling activity index as a reset and lists the qualities that matter when hiring freezes hit (storytelling, transparency, authenticity, respect), then the recruiting post for second-shift union manufacturing roles in Norwood, Ohio.
For community and early-career work, the mentoring sessions with the National Black MBA Association and the TEDxPontiac organizing updates show these ideas in practice, not just on stage.
Morris runs The Visibility Room™ and the Detroit Women's Collective, coaching professionals on how to show up before, during, and after conferences.
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Both creators work inside the same Detroit-area professional community and treat relationships and presence as the mechanisms that produce opportunity, not incidental networking.
Morris's subject is personal visibility and invitation-only networking for women in advisory, consulting, and client-facing roles, often set around franchise events such as the IFA conference. Thompson focuses on HR and talent acquisition, including retention, manufacturing hiring, and a public TEDx event.
Both argue that talent pipelines are built deliberately, not by waiting for candidates to appear.
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They work on employer, educator, and workforce collaboration that connects students to careers early, treating career exposure as a starting point rather than the end result.
Jackson's work runs through Indiana programs — iXplore, the TechIndiana board, INCAP, and a manufacturers' workforce summit — and centers on career discovery and technical education inside schools. Thompson's work spans HR keynotes, mentoring, and hourly skilled-trades recruiting in Michigan and Ohio.
Both publish practical guidance for HR audiences on leading people through pressure — Falcone on burnout, AI adoption, ethical guardrails, and return-to-office; Thompson on retention, community, and a manufacturing contraction.
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Both write for the person who has to act on the advice, not just read it.
Falcone's platform includes authored books and bylined articles, including a HarperCollins Leadership author page and articles that script out what to say to teams. Thompson's platform centers on live speaking, mentoring, and event organizing, with workplace commentary grounded in industrial manufacturing hiring.
Thompson’s posts show reach among HR and manufacturing practitioners in the Midwest in person, but do not establish reach in the feed.
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They document a DisruptHR Fort Wayne talk, a SHRM Indiana state conference session that drew 99+ HR professionals, and organizing work on TEDxPontiac, where the speaker call drew 400+ applications.
For a talent-acquisition or HR-tech campaign built around keynotes and conference content, that record points to practitioner rooms rather than a large passive social following.
The only published audience figure is 2,825 LinkedIn followers, as of October 9, 2026.
Attendance numbers are self-reported, and the 400+ TEDxPontiac figure counts speaker applicants, not audience.
A buyer who needs to screen for geography, age, gender, employer, job function, or seniority should ask for LinkedIn or YouTube audience data or an audience survey; the posts don’t provide those details.
The content is aimed at operators, recruiters, and succession planners in the manufacturing post on the 47.9 PMI reading and STAR talent.
The Norwood, Ohio hiring post lists second-shift CNC, rotor, motor assembly, and lathe roles for skilled-trades candidates.
Community and conference posts address HR professionals and civic leaders.
For a campaign decision, ask for attendance figures from the last twelve months of sessions and a named conference or corporate-event roster summary.
LinkedIn followers
2,825
Follower count recorded on the LinkedIn profile linked from this record in the account snapshot; a point-in-time figure, not growth or engagement data · 2026-10-09
Attendance at SHRM Indiana conference session
99+ HR professionals
Thompson's own post about presenting "Community is the New Currency" at the Indiana SHRM State Conference; self-reported and not an attendance record · 2026-08-26
TEDxPontiac speaker applications received
400+
Thompson's own post as TEDxPontiac organizer; self-reported and measures applicants rather than audience members · 2026-01-22
Kevandre Thompson's posts identify them as a speaker at HR conferences and community events.
Read more
For a keynote or content collaboration, the documented activity includes sessions at SHRM Indiana and DisruptHR Fort Wayne built around the “Community is the New Currency” framework, plus TEDx Ypsilanti and TEDxPontiac talks on relational wealth.
Ask about sponsorship formats, fees, travel terms, booking lead times, and whether a rate card or media kit is available; the posts provide none of those details.
Contact would have to start through the LinkedIn profile, the only official link provided.
Good fit, with conditions. The strongest use is a live keynote or workshop paired with co-authored follow-up content, not a turnkey paid-social sponsorship.
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Brief
A talent acquisition or HR technology company wants a speaker and thought leader on community-driven hiring and workforce resilience. The brief calls for a keynote plus follow-up content for HR and manufacturing leaders.
Reasons
Thompson has a named keynote framework, "Community is the New Currency," presented at DisruptHR Fort Wayne and the Indiana SHRM State Conference. The SHRM post reports 99+ HR professionals in the session.
The content directly matches the brief: retention, manager quality, investing in people who stay during uncertainty, and the idea that people leave bad managers or places where they do not feel seen or heard.
Thompson writes about manufacturing with specific market context, including a 47.9 reading, ten straight months of contraction, and a reset framing. That gives sponsors industrial-sector substance rather than generic leadership language.
The STAR talent list from the manufacturing post—storytelling, transparency, authenticity, and respect—translates readily into a worksheet, panel topic, or article section.
The TEDx Ypsilanti talk, "Are We Chasing the Wrong Currency?," adds a theme of relational wealth. A sponsor can extend the collaboration beyond one event to belonging, networks, and opportunity.
The SHRM post states an intention to attend more SHRM conferences to listen, learn, and build relationships. That supports a multi-event or repeat-engagement plan if the parties agree on terms.
Community and mentoring work in Detroit and Pontiac gives a sponsor local activation material, including early-career pipeline programs and a regional ideas event.
Thompson also posts about hands-on skilled-trades recruiting for second-shift union roles in Norwood, Ohio. That shows practitioner fluency in manufacturing hiring, relevant to HR technology buyers selling to industrial employers.
Conditions
No sponsorship packages, rate card, media kit, or dedicated inquiry page appear in the posts. Establish commercial terms through the LinkedIn profile.
No talk recording, transcript, or speaker reel appears in the posts. Ask Thompson to provide them before promising clips or replay content.
No verified session attendance figures or audience demographics appear in the posts. The 99+ figure comes from Thompson's own post. Ask for attendance records and a speaker reel before booking.
The measured LinkedIn following is small: 2,825 as of October 9, 2026. This suits a thought-leadership and event-room strategy, not reach-led distribution.
When to choose a specialist
Poor fit for a campaign requiring audience scale, video assets, demographic targeting, or a commercial offer. Thompson's posts do not document these.
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Brief
A consumer brand or recruitment-marketing vendor wants a high-reach paid influencer campaign with several short-form videos, guaranteed impressions, audience demographics, and an affiliate or promo code.
Reasons
The only measured audience figure published in the posts is 2,825 LinkedIn followers, dated October 9, 2026. The posts publish no engagement rate, reach estimate, or platform audience information.
Thompson's posts focus on professional and community topics: HR conference sessions, TEDx organizing, manufacturing market analysis, skilled-trades recruiting, and mentoring. They include no consumer lifestyle content or short-form video examples.
Thompson's posts describe no sponsorship packages, sponsored post formats, rate cards, affiliate setups, or inquiry routes. They document past conference speaking and job recruiting, not a paid-media offer.
The content targets HR professionals, manufacturing operators and recruiters, civic leaders, and Michigan-area community networks. It does not establish broad consumer reach.
A campaign that depends on short-form video performance cannot be assessed without a video transcript or performance data.
A brand should not assume audience location or seniority. Thompson's posts do not publish demographic information.
Actionable gaps
Request LinkedIn or other platform audience information covering location, job function, seniority, and industry.
If the brief requires video, request short-form video samples and past performance data.
If the brief requires paid distribution, request sponsorship terms, pricing, and usage-rights information.
If the brief is a recruitment-marketing campaign for industrial roles, narrow it to manufacturing and skilled-trades audiences and ask for recruiting outcome data.
A worked campaign example
Angle
Open with the manufacturing contraction, then turn to the community and retention framework as a practical response. The post frames the 47.9 manufacturing figure and ten months of contraction as a reset rather than a simple slowdown. A campaign could pair that framing with a sponsor's benchmark data, product data, or customer story. The keynote could then shift to the manager-quality hook: people leave bad managers or places where they do not feel seen or heard. During hiring freezes and succession pressure, the argument is that companies should invest in clarity, trust, and continuity for the people who stay. The STAR talent list—storytelling, transparency, authenticity, and respect—provides the practical spine. A second layer could draw on the relational wealth theme from the TEDx Ypsilanti announcement: opportunities often come through people, not paychecks, so internal mobility, alumni networks, and mentoring pipelines deserve real attention. Their Detroit and Pontiac community work and TEDxPontiac organizing can provide local proof for a regional or civic tie-in.
Audience
HR leaders, talent acquisition managers, plant HR teams, workforce development programs, and manufacturing executives.
Deliverables
A 30–45 minute keynote or conference session on community, retention, and the manufacturing reset.
A co-authored article or webinar follow-up pairing the reset argument with the STAR talent checklist.
A sponsor-branded worksheet or short guide on succession and retention during a hiring freeze.
A moderated Q&A or panel built around the public prompt from the manufacturing post: what would you tell a manufacturing worker who is open to work?
Optional regional event tie-in in Michigan, Indiana, or Ohio, where the reviewed speaking and community activity is concentrated.
Evidence gaps
No talk transcript or recording appears in the posts reviewed. Ask whether existing materials are available; otherwise, plan a new or live session.
Ask for rate and sponsorship terms before budgeting; none appear in the posts reviewed.
Request verified attendance figures and audience demographics before committing; none appear in the posts reviewed.
The manufacturing expertise is asserted in the post. Treat it as the stated basis for the viewpoint, not as an independently verified employment record.
Next step
Start through the LinkedIn profile, as no separate partnership inquiry route is documented. Ask for a speaker reel, past session attendance figures, available talk materials, and commercial terms. Pilot the session at a state SHRM or manufacturing HR event, then decide whether to pursue a longer content collaboration. Confirm what recordings exist and what rights are available before promising a recording or clip package.
Sponsor type
HR technology or talent acquisition platform selling to manufacturing and industrial employers.
Title
Community Is the New Currency: A Retention Play for a Manufacturing Reset
Choose Karyl Morris when the campaign centers on conference visibility and curated in-room relationship building rather than a keynote on retention.
Read more
The posts show a practical before, during, and after framework for personal brand positioning around the International Franchise Association conference, plus an invitation-only Detroit Women's Collective limited to 15 women in advisory, consulting, professional services, and client-facing leadership roles. If the sponsor wants a small networking activation, a women's leadership room, or a franchise-sector visibility workshop, Morris matches that buyer task more directly than a broad HR keynote.
Morris's posts do not show a named keynote framework like "Community is the New Currency," manufacturing HR market analysis, or skilled-trades recruiting experience.
They focus on visibility, networking, and personal brand positioning.
A sponsor would trade Thompson's manufacturing and talent-acquisition substance for a more focused conference-presence and curated-community offer.
Ask for audience metrics, talk recordings, and commercial terms.
Choose Heather Jackson when the sponsor needs early-talent pipeline and career-connected learning, especially in Indiana manufacturing and Career and Technical Education.
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The posts show board service with TechIndiana, support for INCAP and the Build the Pipeline Summit, and a planned 2026 Indiana Manufacturers Association Workforce Summit conversation on workforce, manufacturing, career exploration, and CTE. If the sponsor sells workforce development, education-to-employment pathways, or employer-led talent pipelines to manufacturers, educators, and state workforce partners, Jackson matches the audience more directly than Thompson's keynote-and-community approach.
Jackson's posts focus on institutional workforce development, not a named speaker framework for HR audiences.
They do not show a keynote product, a retention argument built around manager quality, or HR technology buying content.
A sponsor would trade Thompson's community-driven hiring narrative and HR conference speaking for deeper Indiana manufacturing and CTE pipeline credibility and a more policy-and-education-oriented room.
Ask for audience data, session recordings, and commercial terms.
Choose Paul Falcone when the campaign needs a published author with a broad HR and leadership library and scripted guidance.
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The posts point to HarperCollins Leadership books covering burnout, upskilling in an AI-enabled world, crisis leadership, ethical dilemmas, team emotional intelligence, M&A integrations, and return-to-office debates, plus a SHRM article on communicating ethical guardrails in AI rollouts. If the sponsor wants book-backed authority, downloadable scripts, or responsible-AI rollout content for managers, Falcone offers a stronger content library.
Falcone's posts do not show community-driven hiring, manufacturing-market analysis, or plant-level skilled-trades recruiting.
A sponsor would trade Thompson's "Community is the New Currency" keynote and industrial-sector angle for established author authority and ready-to-use HR scripts.
The posts promote books and articles rather than talk recordings or audience-performance data.
Ask for audience metrics, sponsorship terms, and event performance.
This profile is built from seven complete posts published on Kevandre Thompson's own LinkedIn account: recaps of talks at DisruptHR Fort Wayne and the Indiana SHRM State Conference, the announcement of a TEDx Ypsilanti talk and updates from organizing TEDxPontiac, commentary on a U.S. manufacturing activity report, a hiring post for second-shift union skilled-trades roles, and a December recap of community and mentoring work.
The posts are the only source, and the descriptions of Thompson's themes and speaking come from that text.
The posts carry no publication timestamps, so the order of events is inferred from internal references such as the December reflection, a June 26 TEDx Ypsilanti talk, and TEDxPontiac's planned May 1, 2026 event.
The only dated figure is a LinkedIn follower count observed on October 9, 2026.
Several things a name search might expect are not covered: no talk recordings or transcripts, no speaker reel, no audience or engagement data, and no separate channels.
No signature book, show, or earlier career history appears in the posts, so those remain open questions rather than settled claims.
Thompson's decade in industrial manufacturing is stated in Thompson's own post and is treated as the stated basis for the viewpoint, not as an independently verified employment record.
