Priya Bates is pleased to be a keynote speaker at CACE Conference 2026 in Halifax, hosted by the Canadian Association of Communicators in Education.

The keynote, Creating Impact: Your i5 Report Card, will explore how Internal Communication Professionals can move proactively from tactical implementation to strategic impact.

After almost 30 years of building internal communication infrastructure and expertise, Priya knows that strong implementation matters. Writing, creating content and managing channels will always be part of our work. But our true potential lies in what happens beyond implementation.

The Inner Strength i5 Strategic Maturity Model™ explores five stages of internal communication maturity:

• Implement: Deliver clear, timely and effective communication
• Interact: Build relationships and understand our audiences
• Integrate: Connect the dots between strategy, communication and action
• Influence: Shape how leaders and others communicate, collaborate and make decisions
• Impact: Connect communication to organizational outcomes and results

During the keynote, CACE Conference participants will have an opportunity to examine their own strengths and areas for development. Using results from the pre-conference i5 assessment, we will explore how the group compares with the global benchmark, share practices that are working and identify practical ways to strengthen areas where there is room to grow.

Why This Conversation Matters

Communication professionals in education are navigating extraordinary complexity. They are supporting leaders and employees through change, responding to shifting priorities, working within unionized environments and helping increasingly diverse audiences understand what organizational decisions mean for them.

Being busy is not the same as being strategic.

To earn greater trust, credibility and influence, we need to demonstrate how communication connects:

• Words to actions
• Values to behaviours
• Strategy to results
• Brand promises to employee and customer experiences

This is how we move from being seen primarily as producers of communication to becoming trusted advisors and enablers of organizational success.

The goal of the keynote is not simply to introduce a framework. It is to help Internal Communication Professionals recognize where they are today, identify where they want to go and take practical steps to strengthen their impact.

Bring the i5 Framework to Your Team

If your communication team is ready to move from tactical implementation to greater strategic influence and measurable impact, Inner Strength Communication can take your team through the i5 framework.

A customized i5 experience can include:

• An individual or team i5 assessment
• Comparison with the global benchmark
• A facilitated team workshop
• Identification of strengths, gaps and opportunities
• Practical strategies for increasing influence and impact
• A focused action plan to support continued development

Every team begins from a different place. The purpose is not to judge where you are. It is to create a shared understanding of your current maturity and a practical path forward.

If you are interested in exploring the i5 framework with your own team, please connect with us.

Let’s build the strength, confidence and credibility of Internal Communication Professionals from the inside out.

Register for the conference at https://lnkd.in/gNera8Je