Christine Perfetti

November program

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Feb 2025

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August 2025

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Feb cohort

A collective of product leaders with unique perspectives to help you lead effectively in the AI age

collective

Nov 2025

Oct 2025

A virtual gathering where women pause, reflect, hear real stories, and connect with one another.

Cohort 1

Mar 2026

In this online seminar excerpt, Christine shares the history behind the Product Innovation workshop, including how forty cross-functional team members at Acquia converged on a long-term vision for the customer experience.

The Product Innovation Workshop

Too many organizations suffer from a lack of direction. There’s vagueness about what execs want to prioritize in the long run. For Product &amp; UX leaders this lack of direction creates an opportunity to provide clarity and guide decisions. In this session, Christine Perfetti talks to Jared Spool, a UX pioneer and thought leader, about how a Strategic Vision contributes to a product's success.

Recording: Crafting a Strategic Vision

Before conducting a Product Visioning workshop, we start by conducting a listening tour with stakeholders across the organization to assess the landscape, collect customer and business insights, and scout participants to invite to the workshop. Download the interview guide we use as a starting point for the listening tour.

Listening Tour Interview Guide

Name misalignment without blame, reconnect to your inner voice, reframe burnout, trust transitions, and design a meaningful next chaoter

IKONI Collective, Beneficent

Jade Singleton, Amy Heymans

IKONI Collective, Beneficent Design

Thyme for Something Sweet, Katalyst HQ

Mugdha Kulkarni, Kenyetta Hall

Thyme for Something Sweet; Katalyst HQ

CEO, Adlin Inc.

Tamara Adlin

CEO, Adlin Inc. and Author of the Persona Lifecycle Books

CEO, Lift Up Connections

Host: Christine Perfetti

Women Reimagining: A Summit for Navigating Mid-Career Reinvention

Design & Research Director

Global UX Senior Manager

Founder & Principal

Product & UX Lead

Learn with peers, not just from one leader and uncover collective wisdom for the future of research

CEO, Lift Up Connections [Ex-GoFundMe, ex-TuneIn, Ex-Acquia]

Meena Kothandaraman

Co-founder, twig + fish

Kyle Soucy

Founding Principal, Usable Interface

Amy Heymans

CEO, Beneficent

Reimagining UX Research in the AI Age

UX Strategist

UX consultant

AI & Data-Driven Patient Experience Insights Strategist

Sr. Design Researcher 

Principal UX Researcher

If you are feeling like the ground has shifted under your feet, you are not alone. •&nbsp;Companies are pushing AI “must-haves” it is not possible to deliver overnight•&nbsp;Teams are stretched thin and expected to do more with less after layoffs•&nbsp;Influence and visibility are harder to achieve as roles flatten•&nbsp;The old playbooks no longer work Too many events still follow the guru model with one person declaring they have “the” answers. But the truth is: no one has all the answers in the AI world. That’s why this summit brings together a collective of powerhouse product leaders, each with different perspectives, scars, and successes, to help you think more critically and lead more effectively in the age of AI. What makes this Summit different: •&nbsp;Collective wisdom, not a single voice. AI is too complex for one viewpoint. You’ll hear from leaders who have built billion-dollar products and led teams through uncertainty.• Real talk over hype. You will get nuanced perspectives, tradeoffs, and ethical considerations alongside practical tactics.•&nbsp;Every speaker is paid for their expertise. We value the expertise of our speakers as much as we value yours.•&nbsp;Hosted by Lift Up Connections. Our mission is to share the wisdom of women leaders in business and tech and invite everyone into the conversation. What you’ll experience:This is a highly-interactive, single-day summit with five sessions, Q&amp;A, and optional post-event networking. You’ll leave with frameworks, scripts, and tactics you can apply immediately, plus the network to help you put them into practice. You will learn how to:•&nbsp;Talk to executives about AI without losing your roadmap•&nbsp;Lead product teams for the next era of software•&nbsp;Build strategic visibility and influence in the AI era•&nbsp;Use AI ethically when the tools you need come from companies you don’t trust•&nbsp;Set a bold product vision and prioritize the AI investments that matter most Who will benefit most from this summit:•&nbsp;Mid-to-senior product &amp; UX leaders•&nbsp;Professionals rethinking leadership after layoffs, burnout, or transformation•&nbsp;Anyone wondering: “What does powerful, values-driven leadership look like now?” 👉 You won’t leave with a single right answer. You’ll leave with sharper tactics, a stronger network, and a renewed sense of clarity to lead with influence and resilience in the AI era.

AI is changing how we build products and what leadership looks like

Course syllabus

11:00 Welcome 11:15 – 12:15pm How to Talk to Execs About AI 12:15 – 1:15pm Fighting AI Giants with Their Own Tools 1:30 – 2:30pm Leadership Scripts vs. Messy Reality 2:30 – 3:30pm Leading Teams for the New Software Era 3:45 – 4:45pm Futures Thinking and Visioning

September 30, 2025

Featured Talks Schedule

Senior Product ICs, Managers, and Directors who want to set a vision, influence executives, and guide through AI-driven transformation

Cross-Functional Innovators designers, engineers, data scientists, and strategists who want to&nbsp;cut through the AI hype

UX Leaders who want to integrate AI considerations into their work and partner effectively with product leadership

Who is this course for

What you will get out of this course

Learn to navigate executive AI pressure without losing control of your roadmap. Melissa Appel shares frameworks to align AI ideas with goals, manage “urgent” requests, and keep your product strategy credible, stable, and focused on real value.

How to Talk to Executives About AI (Melissa Appel)

Christina Wodtke explores the messy reality of using AI tools built by companies you distrust. Learn how to engage with AI ethically, navigate moral gray zones, and make deliberate choices when every option feels compromised.

Fighting AI Giants with Their Own Tools (Christina Wodtke)

At senior levels, scripts collapse under power dynamics and politics. Bosky Mukherjee shows how to navigate high-stakes conversations with strategy, presence, and influence to turn them into opportunities for growth.

Leadership Scripts vs. Messy Reality: How You Win High-Stakes Conversations (Bosky Mukherjee)

Colleen Miller shares how to lead product teams through AI transformation. Discover how to shift from systems of record to systems of action, reduce low-leverage work, and identify automation opportunities for maximum impact.

Leading Product Teams for the Next Era of Software (Colleen Miller)

AI is accelerating change across every industry, but product leaders can’t rely on static roadmaps to navigate it. Amy Heymans will bring her approach to Futures Thinking. You will learn how to scan for signals of change, map plausible futures, and align teams around a vision.

Futures Thinking in the AI Era (Amy Heymans)

Wrap up the day with a virtual reception. Join breakout groups to meet peers, share stories, and spark new connections over candid conversations about real-world leadership challenges and AI.

Networking and Virtual Reception with Speakers and Attendees

A Lift Up Collective Cohort: Lead with clarity when AI is rewriting the rules of product leadership.

Christina Wodtke

Core Lecturer, Product Management, Stanford University

Bosky Mukherjee

Founder & CEO SheTrailblazes, Ex-Atlassian

Colleen Miller, Amy Heymans

Former VP Product, Toast; CEO, Beneficent

Summit Hosts: Christine Perfetti, Melissa Appel

CEO, Lift Up Connections; Executive Product Coach, MelissaAppel.com

AI isn’t just giving us faster ways to synthesize data. It is redefining how organizations make decisions, assign value, and understand people. For UX researchers, this moment isn’t about mastering prompts. You need to rethink your role, your influence, and what human-led insight will mean in an AI-shaped world. Researchers are facing many challenges in this new age: •&nbsp;Are we practitioners of rigor or facilitators of speed?•&nbsp;Are we strategic partners or service providers?•&nbsp;Are we ready to lead, not just adapt? GenAI has surfaced the weak spots in our field with unclear objectives, lack of stakeholder trust, and an over-focus on artifacts instead of outcomes. But it has also created an opening: to step into greater influence, credibility, and leadership. This Lift Up Collective Cohort™ is designed for mid-to-senior UX researchers, designers, and product managers who want to go beyond “good enough” workflows and chart a strong, human-centered path forward. What Makes This Cohort Different: •&nbsp;Collective learning, not only one thought leader. You’ll learn from four powerhouse leaders, each building on the other, to create a cohesive journey from Now → Next → Future.•&nbsp;Beyond tools. While you’ll gain practical methods for applying AI to personas, journey maps, and alignment frameworks, you’ll also tackle the bigger questions about integrity, leadership, and influence.•&nbsp;Interactive and applied. Each session includes discussion, frameworks, and exercises you can use immediately in your work.•&nbsp;Hosted by Lift Up Connections. Our mission is to amplify women leaders and share their collective wisdom with the field. What you will experience over the three weeks: Over four interactive sessions and a culminating panel, you’ll gain clarity, tools, and confidence to navigate this inflection point. You’ll learn how to:•&nbsp;Reframe AI as a catalyst for reimagining the researcher’s role, not just a tool for workflows•&nbsp;Use the NCredible Framework to align stakeholders, position research strategically, and integrate AI responsibly•&nbsp;Streamline personas and journey maps with AI while maintaining rigor and human value•&nbsp;Apply Futures Thinking to envision the next era of research leadership•&nbsp;Articulate your unique human strengths in a landscape where automation is everywhere The Five-Session Journey Session 1 - Now: From Synthesizer to Strategist (Christine Perfetti)Session 2 - Next: Aligning Teams for Strategic UX Research in an AI World (Meena Kothandaraman)Session 3 - Application: Using AI to Streamline Personas, Journey Maps, and Workflows (Kyle Soucy)Session 4 - Future: Futures Thinking for Researchers (Amy Heymans)Session 5 - Integration: Panel conversation with all speakers and moderator, Lori Landesman, VP of UX, Salsify

The Future of UX Research Is Bigger Than Your Workflow

Session 01

Course schedule

Mid-to-senior UX researchers, designers, and PMs navigating reinvention and leadership transitions

Cross-functional collaborators in Design, Product and Marketing looking to future-proof their strategic value

Research professionals ready to upskill *and* do more than optimize workflows only

This course is for:

What you will learn from this collective cohort

Move beyond workflows and tools to redefine your role as a strategic partner. Christine will show you how to use the Researcher’s AI Decision Compass to evaluate when to use AI, when not to, and how to articulate the human strengths that differentiate you in an automated world.

Reframe the role of research in the age of AI

Discover how to communicate study design choices with transparency and credibility. Using twig + fish's NCredible framework, you’ll learn how to externalize your thinking, set clear learning objectives, and position both the researcher and AI as trusted collaborators.

Align stakeholders and position research strategically

Master a proven 4-step methodology for creating AI-enhanced personas and journey maps. Kyle will help you learn advanced prompt techniques and identify where AI accelerates synthesis.

Streamline deliverables without sacrificing rigor

Step back from today’s workflows to envision tomorrow’s possibilities. Amy’s Futures Thinking workshop will help you spot signals of change, explore plausible scenarios, and co-create bold new visions for what research leadership can look like in an AI-shaped world.

Anticipate what’s next with futures thinking

Throughout the cohort, you’ll gain practical tools, prompts, and decision models while connecting with peers facing the same challenges. You’ll leave with a renewed sense of researcher agency, sharper judgment for navigating AI, and a supportive network to help you grow.

Build confidence, clarity, and community

On the final day, all speakers will join Lori Landesman for a candid panel conversation. You’ll explore how different approaches interconnect, wrestle with the reality that there’s no single answer, and walk away with multiple perspectives to shape your own path forward.

Bring it all together in a closing panel

A one-day gathering for women ready to stop shrinking, reclaim their voice, and choose work that aligns with who they have become. For many women in mid-career or midlife, something shifts.<ul><li>What once worked really well no longer completely fits</li><li>Energy changes and priorities evolve</li><li>Old identities begin to loosen, while new ones haven’t fully formed yet.</li></ul>This season often includes burnout, leadership transitions, caregiving, grief, and a growing question: “What do I want the next chapter of my life and work to feel like?” Christine Perfetti, created this Summit because she walked this path too and these are the women whose stories helped her through it. Each speaker embodies a different kind of courage: leaving a high-pressure career to rebuild life with intention, refusing to stay silent when systems fail Black women, telling the truth about the messy middle, designing futures rooted in dignity, and continually choosing aligned pivots even when unsupported by traditional systems.Through real stories, shared wisdom, and moments of reflection, you’ll gain clarity, steadiness, and perspective so your next steps can come from alignment rather than fear or exhaustion.

Connect with yourself and other like-minded women and plan your next best step

Designing a Next Chapter That You Will Love - Christine Perfetti

Community, Care, and the Courage to Keep Going - Dr. Jade Singleton

Expanding Your Life, One Brave Choice at a Time - Mugdha Kulkarni

The Power to Pivot When the Path No Longer Fits - Kenyetta Hall

Radical Honesty, Real Stories, and the Messy Middle - Tamara Adlin

Designing a Life of Dignity, Depth, and Meaning - Amy Heymans

Women in mid-career or midlife navigating identity shifts or reinvention

Leaders and professionals feeling burned out or misaligned

Anyone asking: “What do I want the next chapter to feel like?”

A 6-week experience to help mid-career women build a community of support to advance their careers.

Social Psychologist, Lift Up Connections

GoFundMe

Harvard Business Review

Penn Medicine

TuneIn

Carbonite

Social Psychologist · Facilitator · CEO, Lift Up Connections

If you’re mid-career, the old rules no longer feel reliable or enough: one job, one ladder, one identity.AI is shifting industries, layoffs are normal, and titles don’t guarantee security.You don’t just want a new job. You want options. This experience isn't just for women in transition. It’s for women who are: – Fully employed, but want more ownership or creativity – Consulting or fractional, but want more structure and stability – Navigating change and rethinking what’s nextBecause the question isn’t just “What’s my next job?” but what would it look like to build a career that actually fits me now? Reimagine Your Career helps you design a portfolio life, an intentional mix of work, income streams, strengths, and experiments that create both stability and possibility. Through a small, supportive peer council and Christine Perfetti’s Only You Reinvention Framework, you will: ✨ Clarify your Zone of Genius ✨ Identify 2–3 aligned income pathways ✨ Design small, low-risk pilots ✨ Build momentum without financial panic ✨ Create a clear 6-month Portfolio Action PlanYou will leave with clarity, confidence, and a career structure that reflects who you are now and how the world works today.

A 6-week experience for mid-career women ready to design a more expansive career

A Portfolio Career Map with a clear vision of your next chapter

Your Zone of Genius and Monetization Strategy

90 Day Pilots and Income Experiments

Financial Clarity and Risk Assessment

A Trusted Council of Like-Minded Women

Women in mid or senior-level careers who want more than just a “next job”. You want a portfolio of work that supports meaning and income.

Women ready to define a future that reflects who you are now with practical tools to test multiple income pathways and refine what works.

Women seeking community and accountability while they explore new opportunities, evaluate risk, and craft a plan with confidence.

The Portfolio Life: Designing Career Security Beyond One Job

CEO, Lift Up Connections [Ex-GoFundMe, TuneIn, Acquia, Carbonite]

Many are intentionally expanding their work across consulting, teaching, advisory roles, and strategic projects.

How Product and UX Leaders Are Designing Portfolio Careers

AI is reshaping industries. Layoffs are normal. Titles don’t guarantee stability.
We will cover what to build instead.

Why “One Job = Security” No Longer Works

You don’t need to quit your job or have it all figured out. You’ll see how to identify 2–3 aligned income paths to test.

How to Design a Portfolio Career Without Huge Pivots

Clarify your Zone of Genius, translate your strengths into economic value, and design a sustainable mix of work.

The Only You Reinvention Framework

The Creative Core: Discover Connection in a Messy Tech World

Angela Craven

Founder, Craven Experience

We all are creative. We’ll explore how reconnecting through art helps us show up authentically at work and in life.

How creativity and abstract expression unlocks authenticity

Tech careers reward constant motion. We will discuss how creative practices help you pause and rediscover what matters.

Why slowing down can speed up clarity

We’ll explore how creative expression helps seasoned professionals integrate identify, purpose, and work

What it means to “become who you’ve always been”

Leading Through the Mess: Finding Clarity in Chaotic Times

Founder, Adlin Inc. and co-author of the Persona Lifecycle books

Malini Rao

UX Executive (Ex- Red Hat, Oracle, UKG, Acquia)

Alla Weinberg

CEO, Four Percent and author of the book, A Culture of Safety

From layoffs to AI disruption and  blurred roles, the panel will explore why UX and Product leaders have no playbook.

Why everything feels so messy right now

Hear how four experienced leaders are navigating uncertainty, keeping teams aligned, and staying grounded.

How to lead when the ground keeps moving

The conversation will surface real stories and lessons on rallying teams, earning trust, and staying resilient.

What influence looks like when you don’t have authority

The Spark Map: Your First Step to Reimagining Your Career

Christine Perfetti, Founder, Lift Up Connections

[Ex-GoFundMe, Acquia, TuneIn]

When at a career inflection point, it’s easy to get stuck on where to start. The Spark Map helps you take action

Map your past to design your future

Christine will guide you through her Spark Map exercise, identifying the roles, experiences, and moments that energize

Spot the patterns that matter

By surfacing what fuels you, the Spark Map helps you design a future around your strengths

Design your next chapter with intention

Futures Thinking: Reimagining Design in the Age of AI

CEO and Founder, Beneficent

Founder, Lift Up Connections

See why strategic foresight is a must have capability for design and research leaders navigating the AI world

Why Futures Thinking is essential now

Hear how one design team shifted from a delivery mindset to becoming foresight partners in business strategy

Reframe design and research's strategic value

Identify early indicators in technology, business, and society that could reshape your role and company

Learn how to spot signals of change

Walk away with a simple, practical way to start integrating Futures Thinking into your leadership work

Take the first proactive action

How Product Leaders Build Influence & Authority in an AI Era

Bosky Mukherjee

SheTrailblazes

Colleen Miller

Kennebunk Product Ventures, Ex-Toast

Bosky will share how narrative authority and commercial fluency will help you achieve impact, influence, and results

How to communicate your work like a C-suite leader

Colleen will discuss scaling Toast  from $10M to $1B+ and how storytelling, alignment, and insights shaped the roadmap

How to scale product strategy across multiple teams

Hear how to build credibility with decision makers, earn trust across teams, and reimagine your role as a a connector

Learn directly from Christine Perfetti

Christine Perfetti

About Christine

Courses

Reimagining Product Leadership in the AI Age