TIKA Simone
She/Her
Artist, Composer, Cultural Strategist & Founder
Iverna Island
TIKA is an Academy Award–winning composer, cultural strategist, and interdisciplinary artist working at the intersection of sound, systems, and human behavior. As the founder of Iverna Island, she designs cultural and organizational ecosystems that center belonging, emotional safety, and creative agency.
Her work explores how silence functions within systems—whether in institutions, leadership structures, or creative industries—and how it shapes participation, decision-making, and wellbeing. Through her signature framework, The Cost of Silence™, TIKA develops interventions that translate emotional and embodied experiences into actionable insights for organizations and communities.
TIKA’s practice spans composition, performance, research, and keynote speaking, often delivered through immersive lecture-performances that integrate storytelling, sound, and systems thinking. She has been invited to present and collaborate with universities, conferences, and cultural institutions across Canada and internationally.
Her work challenges traditional approaches to leadership and innovation by introducing emotional literacy and nervous system awareness as critical components of sustainable systems design.
Through her artistic and strategic work, TIKA is committed to building environments where individuals are not only seen and heard—but structurally supported to participate, contribute, and lead.
@WithLoveTIKA
Talk
The Cost of Silence: How Systems Produce Silence—and What It Costs
Most organizations treat communication as a skill issue, (something individuals must improve,) rather than examining the conditions that determine whether people feel able to speak at all.
This talk introduces The Cost of Silence™ as a systems-level framework for understanding how silence is produced within organizations, institutions, and teams. Drawing from interdisciplinary work across music, performance, and organizational contexts, TIKA reframes silence not as absence, but as data, an outcome shaped by power, design, and environment.
When people do not speak, it is often not due to lack of confidence or clarity, but because systems have implicitly or explicitly taught them that speaking carries risk. Over time, this silence impacts decision-making, innovation, and wellbeing, (creating environments where critical information is withheld and participation is unevenly distributed.)
Through this session, participants will explore how emotional literacy and nervous system awareness can be integrated into systems design, (not as soft skills, but as essential infrastructure.) By shifting focus from individual behavior to systemic conditions, this work offers a new approach to designing environments where voice, contribution, and leadership are possible.
Key Takeaways:
Silence is not passive—it is produced by systems and can be understood as measurable data.
Psychological safety and emotional literacy are not optional—they are foundational to effective systems design.
Sustainable participation requires intentional structures, not just encouragement to speak.