
The 2026 Human-Savvy Leadership Symposium: Understand and Guide Your Tribe will take you on an immersive journey through the essential elements of a thriving workplace culture. Explore what makes teams truly flourish, learn how to build psychological safety from the ground up, and develop the confidence to address incivility, underperformance, and emotional blind spots with clarity and compassion. Through interactive discussions, live coaching demonstrations, and hands-on workshop sessions, you’ll gain actionable leadership skills and leave with a plan to elevate your team and practice.
Dr. Liv Oginska is a veterinary surgeon, Emotional Intelligence Expert, and passionate advocate for enhancing team dynamics and veterinary leadership. As an internationally recognised keynote speaker on topics including emotional intelligence, team dynamics, incivility, conflict, and feedback skills, Liv combines her clinical experience with a deep understanding of human behavior. She holds a Master’s in Applied Positive Psychology and is a Certified Workplace Conflict Mediator, bringing evidence-based strategies to foster healthier workplace cultures.
As a Lecturer and PhD Candidate, Liv’s research investigates the impact of emotional intelligence in leadership and teams on psychological safety, mental health, and retention. Her dedication to empowering individuals and teams has earned her international recognition, including the prestigious Bright Minds UK Award 2023, in the category of the ‘Wellness Champion’.

Dr Emma McConnell is a passionate practising equine clinician, with over 15 years of equine veterinary experience. As an ECEIM Diplomate and Registered Specialist in Equine Medicine, Emma is obsessed with all things internal medicine; and loves nothing more than sharing her knowledge and experiences with like-minded colleagues. Having worked in multiple countries, in both academic and private practice settings, she has curated a fantastic network of extraordinary equine professionals, and will be calling on them to deliver special guest webinars and Q&A sessions, just for you!

I recently attended the Human Savvy symposium in Perth and found it be both super fun, engaging AND so informative. Liv and Emma are providing such a needed service to the vet community - empowering us with self awareness, knowledge and positive strategies to learn to thrive in what are most often pretty stressful environments with a lot of different personalities. I strongly recommend this symposium to anyone who's interested in learning more about themselves and the people they work with. Can't wait for the next one!!
Our team thoroughly enjoyed the Symposium — congratulations to you both on creating such a valuable and inspiring experience. The sessions were engaging and provided plenty of practical insights. We’re already looking at ways to implement some of the strategies across our hospital, and I’m excited to see how they can benefit our team moving forward.
The 2025 Human-Savvy Symposium was a relevant, real and outrageously important event for not only leaders, but everyone working in our industry. Content was thoughtfully created by both Liv and Emma for everyone attending on the day. With real life examples from panellists, group activities and a whole lot of support for attendees, we are all waiting for 2026!
A truly special day spent with like-minded professional learning crucial skills that will not only positively impact my time in clinic and my relationships within my team, but also extend benefits into my private life as well. If you want to understand the human condition and why we are all different (but also kind of all the same!), to gain some insights into why conflicts occur and how to fix them, how to build trust within your team and motivate people., or what phrasing to use in your next challenging conversation, you will not regret signing up for this event. Worth every cent and seeing the impact every day.