The Q Suite

In our historic Season 1 finale, The Q Suite heads out of the studio and onto the stage for our first-ever live audience recording. Recorded before a packed room of college presidents, chancellors, provosts, and emerging academic leaders at the 2026 Leadership Institute: Authenticity in Action, Leading with Hope on Stockton University’s Atlantic City campus, host Ken Kundis sits down with Stockton University President Dr. Joe Bertolino. Widely recognized across the academy as "President Friendly," Dr. Joe has spent decades proving that dignity, respect, kindness, and compassion are not soft ideals—they are rigorous, strategic instruments of institutional power. In this candid, unscripted masterclass, Ken and Dr. Joe pull back the curtain on executive leadership in an era of intense political crosswinds, public scrutiny, and institutional fatigue. Key Topics Covered in This Live Masterclass: Culture vs. Skill: Why new executives stumble when they prioritize board mandates over community alignment—and why relationship-building must always precede organizational transformation. Radical Empathy with Backbone: How leading with dignity creates the operational trust needed to navigate multi-million-dollar budgets, labor disputes, and campus crises. The Generation That Built Its Own Blueprint: Reflections on coming of age during the AIDS epidemic without executive elders, and the improvisation required to invent queer leadership models from scratch. Dropping the "Overperformance Tax": Moving past the defensive reflex of hyper-competence to step fully into unarmored executive presence. Audience Q&A & Advice for Rising Leaders: Tactical guidance for underrepresented professionals stepping into cabinet, boardroom, and P&L roles today. Whether you lead a higher education institution or navigate enterprise corporate power, this season finale offers an essential playbook on how to lead with unwavering values, deep humanity, and uncompromised strength. Featured Guest: Dr. Joe Bertolino is the President of Stockton University and a veteran higher education executive renowned for his human-centered leadership doctrine. Connect with The Q Suite for full episodes, focused content and more: www.theq-suite.com. If you found value in Season 1 of The Q Suite, please rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and share this episode with a rising leader. Stay tuned—Season 2 production begins soon!

There is no finish line when coming out at work. In corporate America, the common assumption is that disclosure is a singular milestone—an epiphany after which the work is done. The lived reality for out professionals is entirely different: coming out is a continuous, career-long process negotiated across every new team, boardroom, and client engagement. In this episode of The Q Suite, co-hosts Ken Kundis and James Gunselman sit down with organizational effectiveness leader and executive coach Lauren Gohde for an incisive conversation on the architecture of workplace trust: "Value Chain of Belonging." Lauren, Ken, and James break down how authentic inclusion operates not as an isolated HR initiative, but as an end-to-end operational value chain. When organizations fail to build genuine psychological safety, professionals are forced to expend continuous energy scanning the room, assessing risk, and relying on subtle environmental markers—like an Apple Watch band—just to locate allies and community. Conversely, when leadership integrates belonging across every operational link, teams stop managing personal risk and start unlocking peak performance. In this episode, we explore: The Myth of the Finish Line: Why coming out in corporate spaces is an ongoing process rather than a one-time event, and how leaders can reduce the emotional tax of disclosure. The Power of Subtle Signals: How subtle cues and personal markers serve as critical safety anchors for community members entering unfamiliar business environments. The Value Chain of Belonging: Treating organizational inclusion as an end-to-end operational discipline that drives enterprise alignment and execution. Executive Presence & Authenticity: Moving past performative corporate jargon into clear, accountable leadership cultures. Connect with The Q Suite: Subscribe on YouTube: @TheQSuite Follow on Spotify & Apple Podcasts: Search The Q Suite Website & Updates: [Insert Website / Linktree URL] Join the Conversation: How does your organization embed belonging across its operational chain? Drop your perspective in the comments below, leave a review on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe for weekly executive conversations on authentic leadership. #TheQSuite #ExecutiveLeadership #AuthenticLeadership #CorporateCulture #BelongingAtWork #DEI #LGBTQLeaders #OrganizationalEffectiveness #LeadershipDevelopment

What if the vigilance you developed just to survive as an out professional is actually your sharpest executive asset? In this episode of The Q Suite, hosts Ken Kundis and James Gunselman sit down with veteran communications executive Allison Kahn, who has executed global internal communications for some of the world’s biggest and most trusted companies, reaching hundreds of thousands of employees across dozens of countries. Allison unpacks how working-class roots, self-funding her education, and queer lived experience built an unmatched degree of emotional intelligence (EQ)—the instinctual ability to read a room, find safe harbors, and navigate complex boardroom dynamics. Moving past empty buzzwords, she offers a candid critique of the corporate slogan "bring your whole self to work," makes the case for why communications must report directly to the CEO, and shares an enterprise roadmap for leading with authenticity and nuance across global markets. Key Takeaways: • EQ as an Executive Superpower: Translating the instinctual "room scan" for safety into elite stakeholder alignment and risk management. • Scrappy Roots to the C-Suite: How early experience in alternative media and nonprofits creates versatile enterprise leaders. • The "Whole Self" Reality Check: Balancing authenticity with professional decorum and intentional boundaries. • Communications at Enterprise Scale: Crafting cohesive global narratives while honoring conflicting local cultural and legal standards. • The True Seat of Comms: Why internal communications belongs as an independent function advising the CEO—not buried in HR or Marketing. Episode Chapters: 00:00 - The Superpower of Lived Experience 00:29 - Meet Allison Kahn 02:12 - From Grassroots Media to Enterprise Comms 05:59 - Pitching Scrappy Skills to Big Business 08:16 - The Executive "Invisible Cape" 10:30 - Communicating Across Global Markets 13:51 - Working-Class Roots & Building Networks 19:03 - Belonging & Conquering Imposter Syndrome 20:40 - Ditching Performative Corporate Platitudes 25:15 - Why Comms Belongs Directly with the CEO 28:12 - Rethinking "Bring Your Whole Self to Work" 33:52 - Everyday Advocacy as Risk Management 35:36 - Rapid Fire: Retiring Corporate Clichés 37:29 - Mentoring Moment: Dropping Assumptions Connect & Subscribe: • Website & Transcripts: https://www.theq-suite.com • Subscribe on YouTube: @TheQSuite • Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music • Follow us on LinkedIn & TikTok: @TheQSuite

“What are we gonna do about Morrey?” “What do you mean? He’s gay.” “What do you mean, what do we do about him? I’ve got his back.” Early in his corporate career, Morrey Atkinson (Chief Technical Operations Officer, Vertex Pharmaceuticals) faced the moment every LGBTQ+ professional dreads: having your identity questioned behind closed boardroom doors. What could have been a career roadblock turned into a defining lesson in allyship, executive sponsorship, and what real leadership looks like. Tomorrow, Morrey takes his seat at the table on The Q Suite to talk biopharma innovation, navigating massive M&A integrations, and why authenticity isn’t an HR checkbox—it’s an operational necessity. #TheQSuite #ExecutiveLeadership #LGBTQinBusiness #Biotech #LeadershipDevelopment #WorkplaceInclusion #AllyshipInAction #CorporateCulture

In this episode of The Q Suite, co-hosts Ken Kundis and James Gunselman sit down with Nancy Del Pizzo, Partner and Co-Chair of the Intellectual Property Group at Rivkin Radler LLP. Nancy takes us behind the scenes of her multifaceted career—from her early roots as a writer and consultant navigating the covert norms of New York publishing, to rising through the ranks of high-stakes corporate law as an openly LGBTQ+ partner and community leader. Nancy delivers an unvarnished masterclass on why your personal story is your most valuable, proprietary asset. We explore the cognitive drain of "covering," the critical distinction between workplaces that merely tolerate diversity versus those that fully embrace it, and how she boldly flipped the script by interviewing prospective law firms on their culture before accepting an offer. Plus, Nancy breaks down the cutting-edge intersections of emerging technology, AI prompts, and IP litigation.