Available to book
Jennifer Shahade
Strategic Decision Making
Risk Management
Negotiation
Enhance strategic decision-making with Jennifer Shahade, speaker, chess champion, commentator, and host. Jennifer works with organizations to improve risk assessment, negotiation tactics, and inclusive leadership. Three-time US National Chess Champion who has delivered talks to MIT, BCG, Merrill Lynch, and more.
Inspirational Female
Female Empowerment
Podcast
Professional Development
Mindset
Inclusion
Olympian
Poker Player
Interactive Keynote
Author
Influencer
Jennifer Shahade is a three-time US National Chess Champion, PokerStars' MindSports Ambassador, and author who bridges competitive gaming with real-world decision-making strategies. Jennifer became the first woman to win the US Junior Open. She's also earned two US Women's Championship titles and an Olympic silver medal.
Jennifer has authored several books, including Chess Queens and Thinking Sideways: How To Think Like a Chess Player and Win at Life. Her writing has been published in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and Financial Times. A two-time Global Poker Award winner, Jennifer hosts the award-winning podcast The GRID and serves on the board of the World Chess Hall of Fame. In 2023, she became an important voice in exposing gender inequity in chess, co-founding 9 Queens and serving on the advisory board of the Women in Chess Foundation.
Jennifer translates complex strategic concepts from chess and poker into practical frameworks for better decision-making in business and life. Her experience competing at the highest levels in multiple mind sports gives her unique insights into risk assessment, pattern recognition, and adaptive thinking under pressure. She has delivered talks at MIT, Yale, Harvard, and NYU, and consulted with organizations including Boston Consulting Group and Merrill Lynch.
Audiences learn concrete techniques for improving decision quality, negotiation tactics drawn from poker strategy, and methods for building more inclusive competitive environments.
Book Jennifer to help your organization think more strategically and compete more effectively in high-stakes situations.
Topics, sessions and talks
Jennifer Shahade draws on her career as a national chess champion to explore how strategic thinking shapes everyday decisions. Using accessible examples from real games, she examines risk, long-term planning, and cognitive bias, showing how even non-players can apply chess principles to business and leadership. The session blends storytelling with practical frameworks for clearer thinking, better judgment under pressure, and more confident decision-making.
Jennifer Shahade uses real poker hands from elite competition to unpack negotiation, risk, and behavioral psychology. She breaks down complex situations into simple strategic lessons, revealing how people read information, manage uncertainty, and respond to incentives. Blending humor with sharp analysis, she shows how poker mirrors financial and organizational decision-making, offering tools for stronger negotiation, improved risk assessment, and more adaptive thinking.
Jennifer Shahade traces the history of female chess champions while weaving in her own experience at the top of a male-dominated sport. The session explores gender, culture, and power through the lens of the chess queen, addressing issues such as representation, stereotype threat, and inclusion. Combining history, personal narrative, and creative perspectives, it offers insight into how cultural structures shape opportunity and leadership.
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frequently asked questions
Something we've not covered here?
Email jennifer.shahade@getapeptalk.com or call PepTalk on +44 20 3835 2929 (UK) or +1 737 888 5112 (US), and one of our speaker agents will contact you within hours to confirm Jennifer's availability and fees. If you can, please include your budget upfront – it helps us fast-track your request. It’s also helpful to know the date, format (virtual or in-person), location, and a bit about your audience.
Jennifer Shahade uses real game examples — chess positions and poker hands from elite competition — as the structural basis for each session, building strategic frameworks directly from the mechanics of specific plays rather than abstract theory.
Jennifer Shahade's sessions cover strategic decision-making and cognitive bias through chess, negotiation and risk assessment through poker, and gender, representation, and inclusion in competitive environments. She is a three-time US National Chess Champion, the first woman to win the US Junior Open, and a two-time US Women's Championship title holder who has spoken at MIT, Yale, and Harvard and consulted with Boston Consulting Group and Merrill Lynch.
No. PepTalk adds no booking fee, so you pay the speaker's fee and nothing beyond it. The service, from shortlist through to contracts and event-day logistics, is included. For repeat or multi-event bookings, PepTalk can agree preferential rates with your procurement team.
Share your event date, audience, format, objectives and budget, and PepTalk sends a hand-picked shortlist within 24 hours. Each suggestion comes with a profile, a fee and a recommendation on the strongest fit. Once you choose, PepTalk handles contracts, travel and logistics through to event day.
The typical fee range is the speaker's standard in-person fee in their home market, shown in their local currency. It moves with format, location, date and session length: virtual sessions and shorter slots usually cost less, while international travel and peak dates cost more. Send your brief to PepTalk and the team will confirm the exact fee in your currency.
Not all of them, and it makes no difference to your booking. PepTalk's network of 15,000+ speakers covers talent the team works with directly alongside speakers represented by agents and agencies worldwide. PepTalk approaches the speaker, negotiates the fee and handles contracting either way.
Three to six months ahead is comfortable for most events, and 12 months is better for large conferences, peak-season dates or one specific in-demand speaker. Shorter timelines are workable, and PepTalk regularly fills last-minute and replacement bookings within days. Availability is the constraint, so get in touch as soon as you have a date.
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