Stronger relationships start with better experiences.

Level up your stakeholder relationships and become a Certified Emotional Stakeholder Engagement Practitioner.

How people experience you, your team, your organisation – as an employee, customer, partner, or community member – shapes whether they engage, trust you, or ignore you.

Too often, stakeholder engagement is ad hoc, inconsistent, or purely transactional.

This practical, one-day certification course gives you customisable, tried and tested methods to design and deliver stakeholder experiences that build stronger relationships and better results.

💡 What makes this different?

We focus on the messages you send through the experiences you create.

In one day, you’ll learn how to:
✅ Design stakeholder experiences that build trust and connection, so people want to work with you, not against you
✅ Bridge the gap between customer and employee experience, so what you promise on the outside is reflected on the inside
✅ Use The Emotional Culture Deck to enrich your conversations, so relationships feel stronger and collaboration gets easier

This isn’t a theory-heavy course - it’s an interactive, small group experience with proven frameworks and tools you can literally use the next day.

Why this matters

You can have the best strategy in the world and outstanding products - but still lose customers or support if the experience you give people doesn’t measure up.

When stakeholder interactions feel rushed, impersonal, or inconsistent:
✋🏼 Stakeholders disengage or push back
😣 Partnerships become transactional and strained
🫤 Internal and external values feel disconnected
❌ Communication breaks down and relationships suffer

This course gives you a better way to engage - one that's more deliberate, more consistent, and more effective. No matter how complex your stakeholder environment, if you’re dealing with humans, these methods apply.

Who is this for

People who enjoy learning in interactive, small group experiences with plenty of time for discussion, reflection and integration.

It's ideal for anyone responsible for:

✅ Customer and client relationships (internal and external)
✅ Facilitating collaboration between teams
✅ Board and stakeholder interactions
✅ Community engagement
✅ Volunteer management
✅ Procurement and supplier relationships

What you get

📜 Certification as an ECD Stakeholder Engagement Practitioner — a globally recognised certification and badge to enhance your professional credentials

🃏 Your own Emotional Culture Deck (NZ~$170/US$99) — the core resource you need in your hands for leading change conversations

⚙️ Professionally printed Stakeholder Engagement Toolkit (NZ~$164/US$96 for a digital download set) — a riders&elephants exclusive, this includes the complete Stakeholder Engagement Tools Bundle and two bonus tools not currently available for public purchase

🌍 90 day access to the online ECD Community — an exclusive space for certified practitioners where you can connect, learn, and grow with the best! Gain access to a rich library of resources and live online meet ups (NZ~$170/US$99 for a quarterly subscription)

💬 A 1:1 coaching session with Certified Consultant Kathryn Ruge — personalised support to use however you wish (scheduled 4-5 weeks after the course)

👥 A 60-minute bonus group checkin workshop — reconnect with your cohort, fill in any gaps and refresh your learning (scheduled 8 weeks after the course)

🌱 50% off future ECD purchases — save with an exclusive lifetime discount to help you build and expand your toolkit at a fraction of the cost

🥗 A fully catered experience — enjoy a barista coffee to start the day, a Pink Ribbon morning tea, a fingerfood lunch and all day learning snacks

🩷 A $30 donation made in your name to the Breast Cancer Foundation of New Zealand, in support of Pink Ribbon day

Be part of history and become one of the first ECD Stakeholder Engagement Practitioners in New Zealand!

📍 ~~Early Bird — $797+GST~~ ~~(save $100 before 11.59pm on Friday 16 May)~~
📍 Standard Bird — $897+GST (available only up to 11.59pm on Saturday 31 May)

📍📍 Double Birds — $1594+GST (buy with a friend and save $200!)

There are now only 7 tickets available — don't miss the chance for a premium experience and plenty of personalised support.

PS: when you click on the Get tickets button, you'll notice that there are no extra fees with our tickets because we absorb those for you (no nasty extras)! 🙌🏼 When you checkout, if the total looks bigger than you're expecting, it'll be the GST added in.

🧠 Don’t just 'manage' stakeholder relationships - design and deliver experiences so that people want to do business with you!

Kathryn Ruge

Your facilitator

Kia ora, I’m Kathryn Ruge - an experienced communications and stakeholder engagement strategist with a deep desire to see humans thrive at work.

After 16 years at one of the world’s most trusted and innovative airlines, I spent a decade helping leaders and organisations build trust through strategic communications - strengthening relationships, managing reputational issues, and leading change.

I specialise in developing trustworthy, emotionally skilled leaders and teams so you can communicate, innovate, and adapt to whatever is in front of you - and have a better time at work while you're doing it.

I'm a PROSCI® Certified Change Management Practitioner and have been a Certified Emotional Culture Deck Consultant for nearly four years. I'm currently the only person in New Zealand to have combined this with Gustavo Razzetti's Culture Design Certification.

With a mission to reduce workplace harm caused by psychosocial factors, I'm also one of a few people in New Zealand trained to use the Fearless Scan as a measure of psychological safety within teams, and equipped to facilitate conversations that enable better performance, stronger collaboration, and healthier team environments.

What people say

"Kathryn is energetic and passionate about the ECD and what it enables, and I loved how much human connection was baked in throughout - I felt seen by Kathryn as a human not just a generic participant."

"A great, relaxed day of learning about a clever system and tool... So relevant for creating awareness and trust, and providing a safe and easy opening to important conversations, whether 1:1 or in a group. Highly recommended."

"Kathryn runs a very relaxed and informative course, she has great knowledge and delivers very well."