Leadership

Sudeep’s notable achievements during his career have been in winning the National HR Award for best HR Employer in 2002, an editor to the book on Careers in Conservation, as well as an author of three books What Influences the Generation Y to join a Nonprofit Organization? & Nonprofit Management: Trials and Tribulations and Nonprofit Management: Connecting the Dots. Sudeep’s postgraduate degrees are in Human Resource Management at Hawaii Pacific University, USA where he received a distinction; and from HELP University, Malaysia where he was the first DBA Doctorate program graduate. He is an Alumnus of Harvard Business School and is certified as a Professional Facilitator from the International Association of Facilitators (IAF). He received his certificate from Harvard University in Strategic Management and Governance Leadership for non-governmental organizations.

He served as the Board Member and Treasurer to the World Institute of Action Learning (WIAL), USA for four years and completed his term as the Vice Chair and Advisor to the IAF Malaysian Chapter. He served as a Board Member to Amnesty International Malaysia and is active with Amnesty International USA, Maryland Chapter. He was identified three years consecutively as Marketing in Asia Top 100 LinkedIn icons from 2018 – 2020. He was an Adjunct Professor to the Swiss School of Management, Italy where he was a supervisor for a DBA student through to the successful completion of her Doctorate in 2020.

Currently he is serves as a volunteer to CareerVillage.org, USA where the impact of his work helped more than 5000 students in 2021. He also contributed to realizing over $20K in savings to nonprofits across the globe by working for Catchafire.org. He is a committee member of the International Social Services (ISS)-USA and is an Adjunct Professor to Towson University. He coaches young children soccer on a part-time basis.

He has many management tips, sharing of knowledge, podcasts and YouTube interviews that are available.  He speaks and writes in English, Malay and Indonesian.  His mother tongue is Malayalam.  He resides in Maryland, USA with his wife, and has two adult children.

Sudeep can be contacted at sudeep.mohandas@centreforglobalinclusion.org

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drsudeepmohandas

Ms. Riikka Salonen, bi-national of Finland and the U.S., has served as a DEI leader in academic and faith-based health systems and now specializes in health equity and culturally responsive care as a consultant. This GDEIB Expert Panellist has offered her DEI and intercultural services in 20 countries since 1994.

Dr. Rohini Anand is the Founder and CEO of Rohini Anand LLC providing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) advisory services to clients in the public and private sectors. She is a strategic business leader and trusted board member who has successfully transformed cultures and built an iconic brand with an enduring reputation, resulting in accelerating new business creation. With expertise that spans executive leadership, human capital, global corporate responsibility, wellness and diversity equity and inclusion, Rohini brings a unique perspective on the critical alignment of the business culture and the triple bottom line to drive exceptional performance. Rohini is recognized as a pioneer in the DEI field and is a sought-after expert by leaders around the world. Her global experience, cultural dexterity, extensive network and ability to influence leaders to result in a reputation for judgment, integrity, and accountability.  

Rohini Anand is a thought leader and a published author. Her book, Leading Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: A Guide for Systemic Change in Multinational Organizations, has been endorsed by luminaries like Indra Nooyi, former Chairman and CEO, PepsiCo, Hamdi Ulukaya, Founder and CEO Chobani and Tent, Michel Landel, Danone S.A Board member and former CEO, Sodexo, amongst others. It is available on Amazon here and Bookshop.org and on bookdepository here for international orders.

Most recently Rohini was SVP Corporate Responsibility and Global Chief Diversity Officer for Sodexo. She reported to the Global CEO and was a member of Sodexo’s North America Executive Committee. Rohini successfully positioned Sodexo as a global thought leader in DEI and Corporate Responsibility. Sodexo’s remarkable global culture change, led by diversity and inclusion, is featured in a Harvard Business School case study entitled Shifting the Diversity Climate: The Sodexo Solution. 

Rohini has been featured in several articles in CNBC, The Boston Globe, The New York Times, and the Washington Post. Rohini has appeared on CNN, Bloomberg, and CNN Money as well on National Public Radio. She is the recipient of many accolades including the Mosaic Woman Leadership Award, the Women’s Foodservice Forum Trailblazer Award, Webster University’s Women of Influence Award and the Who’s Who in Asian American Communities Award (WWAAC), amongst others. 

Dr. Anand received her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. She serves on the boards of several organizations including WomenLift Health a Gates Foundation initiative, Aspen Institute’s Family Prosperity Initiative, Tent Partnership for Refugees and Galt Foundation. She also serves on the external diversity advisory boards for Sanofi and for Charter Communications and chaired the Catalyst Board of Advisors. Rohini is a Senior Fellow with the Conference Board and is on the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) Center for Inclusive Governance’s Advisory Council. 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohinianand

GRETCHEN C. BELLAMY, an experienced lawyer and business leader, serving most recently as the Senior Director for International Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at McDonald’s Corp. She was responsible for managing, aligning, and leading the diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DE&I) strategy, deployment, communications, and operations initiatives as well as delivering market-specific initiatives, campaigns, and processes for 118 countries.  She served on the company’s Human Rights Working Group. 

Ms. Bellamy has a significant depth of experience working with company leaders globally who need support in deepening their understanding of how to maximize the benefits and minimize the risks of the results of their work in the DE&I space.  Her work spans all industries and incorporates a mix of qualitative and data-driven approaches to designing and implementing customized strategic plans. In December 2017, Ms. Bellamy was named an Architect of Meritocracy by the Apollo Project/Financial Times of London for her innovative, replicable, and sustainable approach to DE&I in the legal profession. 

Prior to joining McDonald’s, Ms. Bellamy served as the Senior Director for Education, Operations, and Initiatives in the University Office for Diversity & Inclusion at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she led strategic initiatives and efforts related to DE&I for the university. 

Ms. Bellamy has also served as a Senior Strategist for Culture, Diversity, and Inclusion in the Office of Global Culture, Diversity and Inclusion at Walmart, Inc. Through her role, she developed and implemented global culture, diversity, and inclusion strategies that transformed and drove the company’s culture and that embedded diversity and inclusion as integral components for supporting the company’s business operations and its 2.2 million employees. Working collaboratively with executive leadership, she developed strategies related to measures and analytics, activating company culture evolution, and embedding the culture into the employee lifecycle.  

In her previous role with the company, Ms. Bellamy served as an Assistant General Counsel where she advised regarding global internal and external DE&I and attorney talent development in the Legal Operations group. In January 2015, she was awarded the “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Visionary Award” from Walmart for an innovative global diversity, equity and inclusion program. In April 2015, she was honored as the 2015 “Outstanding International Corporate Counsel” by the American Bar Association Section of International Law (“ABA-SIL”). From 2011 – 2013, she served as the Diversity Officer for the ABA-SIL and continued to serve on the Standing Committee for Meetings and Travel from 2013 – 2016. Appointed by the ABA President, Ms. Bellamy served on the Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession from 2016 – 2021 where she led the “Corporate Counsel Model Diversity Survey Task Force” for the U.S.-based survey and then for the United Kingdom by partnering with Interlaw Diversity Forum, LSAC, and Microsoft. She also served as a liaison to the Commission on Women where she co-chaired the Task Force on Sexual Harassment & Gender-based Bullying. In addition, she serves as an advisory board member for the Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession. She is an editor of Corporate Responsibility for Human Rights Impacts: New Expectations and Paradigms, which was published in April 2014 and is the first book on corporate accountability published by the ABA. 

Ms. Bellamy is a community activist, having co-founded a community group called Bentonville Public Schools Citizens for Equality, the mission of which was to encourage the local school board to revise its EEO policy to comply with federal law as well as provide equal protections for unprotected groups. For this work, Ms. Bellamy and her co-founder were awarded the Arkansas Advocacy Award for 2015. Ms. Bellamy currently serves on the Board or Advisory Board for the following organizations: Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession, Apollo Leadership Institute, Level the Playing Field, and The Centre for Global Inclusion. In addition, she served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA), supporting children in the foster care system. 

Prior to Walmart, she served as the Director of International Public Interest and Pro Bono Programs at the University of Miami School of Law. She also worked as an associate in the corporate law department of Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan, LLP in Raleigh, NC and as a summer associate at Shearman & Sterling, LLP in New York, NY.  She is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (Cameroon 2001).

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Lynda White has over 30 years’ experience as a Human Resources Professional, specializing in Diversity and Inclusion. She is currently Board Chair of The Centre for Global Inclusions and President of McLeod White and Associates Inc., a consulting company providing Organization Development Services in diversity and inclusion, equity, leadership, systems thinking, facilitation and training, strategic planning and change. Lynda is Chair of the Board for The Centre for Global Inclusion.

Prior to launching her consulting company, Lynda was Team Leader of Global Diversity and Employment Equity at RBC Financial for 15 years, where she helped lay the foundation for what is today, an award-winning approach to Leadership in Diversity and Inclusion, with RBC Financial globally recognized as one of the top 25 global employers for Diversity. Her team’s work and the benchmarks they established still serves today as a model for other corporations.

Since leaving RBC Financial, Lynda has consulted with governmental, corporate and nonprofit organizations with a view to supporting them to achieve their goals of inclusion; to lead organizational change and to identify and enhance their ability to sustain change. Her work includes diagnosis/employment systems review/cultural audits; creating & supporting committees to advance minority & organizational agendas; support through Human Rights Commission audits; communications tools and training (design, development and delivery). Some of her clients include Agribrands Purina Canada, Frito-Lay Canada, Nordstrom Inc., Greater Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA), Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Canadian Forces Personnel Services Agency (CFPSA). Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Telenor Pakistan, Ask Insights – India and The Roeher Institute

She served on the board of directors for the Montreal Centre for Research Action on Race Relations, the Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work, the Canadian Centre on Disability Studies, the YWCA of Metropolitan Toronto, and the Centre for Global Inclusion. She is a Past President of the Diversity Collegium and currently a member of the Global Community Dialogue on Leadership, Diversity and Change. Lynda participated at the International Conference on Women in Beijing, assisting in the subsequent crafting of the United Nations Recommendations on Women in the Workplace. She has presented at the International Labour Organization, in Geneva, the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations Conference in Doha, Qatar.  She has been an Expert Panelist since 2006 and continues to speak at professional conferences internationally. 

Lynda currently resides in Montreal, Canada, continues to travel extensively and speaks English and French.

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/lynda-white-250b6419

Charlotte Sweeney OBE has specialised in Inclusion & Diversity (I&D) for over 20 years and was recognised by The Economist and The Daily Telegraph as one of the Top 10 I&D Professional Consultancies in the world.  She runs a consultancy specialising in I&D strategies and their effective and sustainable implementation. 

Her clients include well-known global companies from many diverse sectors and has gained much of her global experience leading I&D in-house for a number of companies in both Retail and Investment Banking. Having worked extensively in the UK, Europe, USA, Japan, and wider Asia, she has a great understanding of creating meaningful global strategies that are relevant and tailored for local implementation.

She has worked and influenced at the C-Suite level in the private sector as well as advised Senior Leaders and Ministers within Governments. She authored an independent review for the UK Government Secretary of State Sir Vince Cable on Women on Boards and Executive Search Firms. She is the author of numerous industry reports and the co-author of the Financial Times published book ‘Inclusive Leadership — the Definitive Guide to developing and executing an impactful Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, locally and globally’, which was shortlisted for Management Book of the Year by The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) in 2018.

She has held a number of Non-Executive Director roles, including four years as a Deputy Chair of an NHS Acute Trust with responsibility of over £500m annual spend. She has won a number of sector awards and received recognition for her work from academic institutes, including Harvard and Cambridge University. She was recognised on the UK New Year’s Honours 2017 list, with an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) for her services to Women and Equality.

Charlotte is also an experienced keynote speaker, conference chair and leadership facilitator. Her specialist areas and passion within I&D are working with clients to create strategies that are a direct enabler to the wider business strategy, to support leaders to make truly inclusive decisions and to bring the I&D agenda to life in what companies and their leaders say and do every day!

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/charlottesweeney/

Gamiel is more than an engaging, passionate, seasoned Diversity & Inclusion expert.  He was the proud recipient of the Global Diversity Leadership Award presented by the Global HRD Congress and the author of ‘Demystifying Diversity' and Yemen Proud.

Gamiel’s first foray into the world of Diversity was in 2000 when was in publishing, collaborating with the then Commission for Racial Equality to promote the Amendments to the Race Relations Act which require public bodies to take action on Race Equality. Now more than two decades later, Gamiel has built an award-winning Global Diversity and Inclusion Consultancy working with companies that include: Publicis Group, BAE System, Siemens, Rolls Royce, Eon, Channel 4, Zalando, South Pole, BNP Paribas, the Welsh Assembly Government, Local Authorities, the NHS, Charities, Schools, Colleges and Universities and more...

Gamiel works with employers to design and implement Change Leadership/Positive Action initiatives to attract new talent from diverse backgrounds, support existing talent to reach their potential through leading themselves as well as role modeling inclusive behaviors for others to follow and ensure that the culture of the organisation is conducive to the needs of diverse talent through audits, benchmarks (GDEIB), research, training, coaching and leadership behaviours. Gamiel has been called a subject matter expert in the area of Inclusion and Diversity and talks at many conferences as the keynote speaker. Gamiel also supports the development of new and existing heads/managers of DEI through a partnership with ‘d&I Leaders’ working with 245 participants. 

Gamiel spent 15 years in business magazine publishing where he revitalised failing magazines. This is where he developed an interest in Diversity as a means of attracting new audiences and giving fresh content to readers and advertisers. Gamiel was headhunted by Havas to head up their Diversity and Inclusion practice before moving to Barkers (now Penna) where he accumulated a wealth of knowledge and experience in the areas of diversity and inclusive leadership.

Gamiel is also a founding member of the MK Ethnic Business Community, a Trustee for The Parks Trust, Women Leaders UK and a member of the Employability Advisory Group for Bath University

Founder of Re-Link Consulting, a research-based advisory firm based in India, Deepa has 20  years of experience, consulting with organisations in bringing about a complete culture change, especially taking the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion lens, across the corporate,  academic as well as social sectors. She has a Master’s degree in Economics and started her career with the Madras School of Economics, India, which gave her a strong foundation in research, enabling her to design evidence-based solutions rooted in the organisation’s cultural reality.  

A trained facilitator, Deepa has facilitated numerous dialogues with leadership teams across sectors and countries- India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Dubai, South Africa, US, and Egypt as well as addressed conferences and webinars with a global audience. In these sessions, she takes an experiential approach to help the participants discover the value of diversity and uncover their own biases.  

In the corporate sector, her work involves assessments and audits of people processes as well as employee mindsets, using participatory interviews, Creating powerful communication campaigns that are delivered digitally and carrying out community research. Her work in creating Transition Guidelines: Returning Mother’s Project and technology-based digital solutions on tackling workplace stereotypes, won the best communication award for the clients. A student of Counselling therapy, she advises organisations to create mental health interventions and remove the stigma attached to mental health. 

She is closely involved in the academic sector, and gives guest lectures to management students on concepts of DEI. During her stint as an Adjunct Faculty at the Tata Institute of  Social Sciences, she initiated leadership programs for school leaders, a program that was oversubscribed. She has also worked with jailors to create employment opportunities and skill building for the jail inmates post-release. 

Deepa writes and publishes papers and articles in media publications, including Business  World, Deccan Herald and People Matters. 

Sudeep’s notable achievements during his career have been in winning the National HR Award for best HR Employer in 2002, an editor to the book on Careers in Conservation, as well as an author of three books What Influences the Generation Y to join a Nonprofit Organization? & Nonprofit Management: Trials and Tribulations and Nonprofit Management: Connecting the Dots. Sudeep’s postgraduate degrees are in Human Resource Management at Hawaii Pacific University, USA where he received a distinction; and from HELP University, Malaysia where he was the first DBA Doctorate program graduate. He is an Alumnus of Harvard Business School and is certified as a Professional Facilitator from the International Association of Facilitators (IAF). He received his certificate from Harvard University in Strategic Management and Governance Leadership for non-governmental organizations.

He served as the Board Member and Treasurer to the World Institute of Action Learning (WIAL), USA for four years and completed his term as the Vice Chair and Advisor to the IAF Malaysian Chapter. He served as a Board Member to Amnesty International Malaysia and is active with Amnesty International USA, Maryland Chapter. He was identified three years consecutively as Marketing in Asia Top 100 LinkedIn icons from 2018 – 2020. He was an Adjunct Professor to the Swiss School of Management, Italy where he was a supervisor for a DBA student through to the successful completion of her Doctorate in 2020.

Currently he is serves as a volunteer to CareerVillage.org, USA where the impact of his work helped more than 5000 students in 2021. He also contributed to realizing over $20K in savings to nonprofits across the globe by working for Catchafire.org. He is a committee member of the International Social Services (ISS)-USA and is an Adjunct Professor to Towson University. He coaches young children soccer on a part-time basis.
 

He has many management tips, sharing of knowledge, podcasts and YouTube interviews that are available.  He speaks and writes in English, Malay and Indonesian.  His mother tongue is Malayalam.  He resides in Maryland, USA with his wife, and has two adult children.

Sudeep can be contacted at sudeep.mohandas@centreforglobalinclusion.org

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drsudeepmohandas

Lynda White has over 30 years’ experience as a Human Resources Professional, specializing in Diversity and Inclusion. She is currently Board Chair of The Centre for Global Inclusions and President of McLeod White and Associates Inc., a consulting company providing Organization Development Services in diversity and inclusion, equity, leadership, systems thinking, facilitation and training, strategic planning and change. Lynda is Chair of the Board for The Centre for Global Inclusion.

Prior to launching her consulting company, Lynda was Team Leader of Global Diversity and Employment Equity at RBC Financial for 15 years, where she helped lay the foundation for what is today, an award-winning approach to Leadership in Diversity and Inclusion, with RBC Financial globally recognized as one of the top 25 global employers for Diversity. Her team’s work and the benchmarks they established still serves today as a model for other corporations.

Since leaving RBC Financial, Lynda has consulted with governmental, corporate and nonprofit organizations with a view to supporting them to achieve their goals of inclusion; to lead organizational change and to identify and enhance their ability to sustain change. Her work includes diagnosis/employment systems review/cultural audits; creating & supporting committees to advance minority & organizational agendas; support through Human Rights Commission audits; communications tools and training (design, development and delivery). Some of her clients include Agribrands Purina Canada, Frito-Lay Canada, Nordstrom Inc., Greater Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA), Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Canadian Forces Personnel Services Agency (CFPSA). Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Telenor Pakistan, Ask Insights – India and The Roeher Institute

She served on the board of directors for the Montreal Centre for Research Action on Race Relations, the Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work, the Canadian Centre on Disability Studies, the YWCA of Metropolitan Toronto, and the Centre for Global Inclusion. She is a Past President of the Diversity Collegium and currently a member of the Global Community Dialogue on Leadership, Diversity and Change. Lynda participated at the International Conference on Women in Beijing, assisting in the subsequent crafting of the United Nations Recommendations on Women in the Workplace. She has presented at the International Labour Organization, in Geneva, the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations Conference in Doha, Qatar.  She has been an Expert Panelist since 2006 and continues to speak at professional conferences internationally. 

Lynda currently resides in Montreal, Canada, continues to travel extensively and speaks English and French.

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/lynda-white-250b6419

Dr. Sangeeta Kaur is the Founder of Emerging Journey Asia and Yayasan Health on World (YHOW), an NGO that focuses on Mental, Emotional, and Physical Well-being. Armed with more than 20 years of experience in training and human capital development in both private and public sectors, she is an inspirational speaker. She conducts engaging workshops, and seminars in and out of Malaysia. She sits on the Industry Expert panel for Human Resources Development Corporation and Asia Pacific University. She is an ardent advocate of Mental Health hence birthed the 1st Mental Health Experiential Conference in Malaysia with three. Adding to her stripe of success, Dr. Sangeeta has recently founded iremya.com, an online platform addressing mental and emotional wellbeing.

Malay-English, Animah has lived in diverse environments all her life. Her fierce desire for equity - among genders, race and the global East and West - led her to law in Malaysia’s largest law firm, before joining Schlumberger and a Petronas-Hess JV, rising to general counsel.

Animah stands up for excluded voices, to enable less dominant perspectives be heard via her vibrant global community of change- makers and leaders, the Speak Up Collective.

Animah speaks globally on diversity, ethics, anti-corruption and co-creates healthy and inclusive Speak Up Cultures for organisations. Her writing spans from corporate scandals, to deep reflections around #MeToo and toxic leadership while provoking thought around equity and privilege. She now lives in England.