Book cover of Ella Samson's memoir titled The Power of Emergence

Coming Spring 2026

The Power of Emergence

A Memoir to Demystify Gender Identity and Inspire Belonging in the Workplace

A deeply personal story that illuminates gender identity, builds compassion, and inspires leaders to demonstrate meaningful enterprise allyship.

The Power of Emergence offers a grounded, human exploration of gender identity through Ella's lived experience—bridging her personal narrative with the current realities of workplace culture, leadership, and belonging. Through honest and vulnerable storytelling, this memoir increases understanding, promotes allyship, and improves belonging in the workplace.

 

Why This Book Matters for Today’s Leaders

  • Workplace belonging is a business imperative, not a cultural trend. (Read More)

  • Understanding gender identity is one of the most impactful ways for leaders to inspire workplace belonging.

  • Leaders who understand gender identity are better equipped to create belonging for every employee, not just gender-diverse and transgender employees.

  • Empathetic leaders can address inequities across the entire organization and move beyond training to embed inclusion in policies, processes, and culture.

  • Personal narrative bridges the empathy gap that data and training alone cannot close.

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Book cover of Ella Samson's memoir titled The Power of Emergence

About the Book

A deeply personal story that illuminates gender identity, builds compassion, and inspires leaders to demonstrate meaningful enterprise allyship

Ella knew from a young age that her lower anatomy seemed wrong, feeling a disconnect between her assigned gender and her actual gender. Though at the time, she didn't understand why she felt this way nor did she have the language to communicate what was happening inside of her. For years, she resigned herself to living with what felt like an irreparable divide between her inner truth and external reality.

Eventually, with purposeful internal work and corrective lower surgery, Ella fully emerged as herself—a woman, aligned with who she'd always been. Her emergence led to an unexpected and welcome calling as a leader in workplace gender equity. Ella's story combines the personal journey of honoring one's truth with the transformative power of acceptance and love, emphasizing the need for increased allyship and belonging in the workplace.

By exploring the complex concept of gender identity through the lens of her own experiences, Ella highlights the importance of creating supportive and inclusive spaces. Through honest and vulnerable storytelling, The Power of Emergence offers profound insights into the innate nature of gender identity with the goal of increasing understanding, promoting enterprise allyship, and improving belonging for the gender-diverse and transgender workforce.

Photograph of Ella Samson, founder of Emerge Collaborations and author of The Power of Emergence

About the Author

Ella Samson (she/her), founder and strategic operations leader of Emerge Collaborations, author, and speaker, is transforming how organizations approach gender equity in the workplace. Through memoir-based fireside chats, she creates safe spaces for authentic dialogue about gender identity, helping enterprise leaders deepen their understanding, foster meaningful allyship, and improve belonging.

With an MBA from the Wharton School and more than thirty years of cross-functional leadership experience at organizations including Deloitte Consulting and Peet's Coffee & Tea, Ella has guided companies through complex transformations, operational improvements, and culture shifts. Today, through Emerge Collaborations, she applies this expertise to address structural inequities that impact gender-diverse and transgender employees by examining policies, processes, and culture across the entire enterprise, delivering comprehensive assessments and actionable recommendations.

Ella's memoir, The Power of Emergence, helps readers understand gender identity and inspires meaningful allyship through authentic storytelling. She collaborates with clients across the US and Europe to improve gender equity and belonging. Drawing on decades of operational leadership and lived experience, Ella guides enterprises from dialogue to enterprise-wide impact.
Learn more about Ella

What Leaders Are Saying About The Power of Emergence

  • "Brave, brilliant, and deeply human, The Power of Emergence tells a raw, often painful, but ultimately beautiful and uplifting story that demystifies gender identity. Ella Samson's courageous storytelling will move readers, deepen empathy, and help most people learn something new, creating many new allies for the transgender and gender-diverse community. Every executive who cares about workplaces and economies where everyone can contribute to their fullest potential should read this book."

    — Ken Janssens
    CEO, Open For Business

  • "My own lived experience has taught me that inclusion is not abstract — it is built when people are seen and valued in their full humanity. In The Power of Emergence, Ella Samson offers leaders a powerful and compassionate lens on gender identity that elevates belonging as a strategic and moral imperative for organizations."

    — Juan Fernando Lopera (he/him/él)
    Chief Community and Health Impact Officer, Beth Israel Lahey Health

  • “Ella's beautiful story of emergence serves as a poetic and powerful reminder that to live a life fulfilled, we must begin with loving oneself completely and fully. It’s made a difference in my thinking, and I found myself reflecting on how to create space for others' journeys of authenticity in the workplace.”

    — Rick Gestring
    Brand Officer, Tasty Restaurant Group

Explore the Book

Companion resources for readers of The Power of Emergence.

Glossary

Thumbnail preview of Emerge Collaboration's Gender Identity and Workplace Belonging Glossary

Build foundational knowledge of gender, sex, and identity terminology referenced in The Power of Emergence.

Explore Glossary

Tools

Thumbnail preview for Emerge Collaboration's visual tool on the Characteristics of Gender and Sex

See the visual framework on characteristics of gender and sex as referenced in The Power of Emergence.

Explore Tools

Reader’s Guide

Coming Soon

Curated, comprehensive questions to guide memoir-based fireside chats with Ella Samson.

Question Bank

Coming Soon

Reflection questions and discussion prompts for readers and teams.

Bring the Conversation to Your Organization.

The Power of Emergence serves as the foundation for intimate fireside chats designed for enterprise teams. These moderated conversations with Ella offer a clear, human-centered entry point for leaders to explore gender identity and understand how it shapes workplace belonging.

Fireside Chats for Enterprise Teams

Invite your organization to a dialogue with Ella that deepens understanding of gender identity and strengthens workplace belonging at every level.

Learn More

“Every individual–everyone–has a gender identity, regardless of whether they’ve consciously thought about it or not.”

—Ella Samson in The Power of Emergence