Guided by research, The Centre aims to create an environment that will offer innovative, on-the-ground solutions to our global challenges so that people can live in harmony. Join us as we make an impact on DEI around the globe!
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Board Of Directors
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Lynda White, Canada (She/Her/Hers)
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
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Nene Molefi, South Afrika (she/her/hers)
Nene is the President and owner of Mandate Molefi HR Consultants. She is an experienced consultant with a track record that spans over 22 years. She was born in Soweto, South Africa. Her work involves consulting & facilitation in Whole System Culture Change; Transformation, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion & Values Driven Leadership interventions for large and medium-sized organizations. Nene is an international speaker with a creative storytelling approach to sharing complex issues of South Africa’s journey to democracy – helping participants navigate the difficult terrain of race and intersectionality in society and their workplace. She has facilitated numerous dialogue sessions and moderated courageous conversations with Boards, Executive Committees & Senior leadership across different countries and a variety of industries and sectors. She has written many articles and is an author of a book, A Journey of Diversity and Inclusion in South Africa: Guidelines for Leading Inclusively. She has been mentioned in the Global Talent Competitiveness Index report of 2018 as an example of an international thought leader on Diversity and Inclusion. She sits on the Advisory structure of the Auditor General of South Africa. She is a board member and Secretary of The Centre for Global Inclusion. Nene studied at the University of Fort Hare (SA), University of Cape Town (SA) and York St John University (UK)where she obtained Masters in Leading Innovation and Change. Her aim is to use dialogue to show leaders how to lead equitably and inclusively in meeting their organizational objectives and advance social cohesion in society.
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/nene-molefi-6238265
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Alan Richter, USA (he/him/his)
Founder and President of QED Consulting, Alan Richter has consulted to organizations for over 32 years in multiple capacities, specializing in the areas of global leadership, ethics and values, diversity and inclusion, culture and change.
He serves as Treasurer of The Centre for Global Inclusion. He provides strategic consulting and assessments for clients and has designed and developed innovative curricula for global diversity and inclusion, ethics and cultural intelligence, using research, simulations and games, videos, and custom case studies. He is also very much engaged in developing instructional products including five on-line self-assessment tools.
He is the author of the award-winning Global Diversity Game and the co-author of the Global Diversity Survey as well as the Global Leadership Survey and the Global Gender Intelligence Assessment. In addition to the GDIB, he has also co-authored the Global Ethics and Integrity Benchmarks, which follows an approach that is similar to the GDIB. Alan is also the co-editor of a study looking at values across cultures through the lens of comparative jurisprudence: An Inquiry into Global Values (Hart 2015).
Alan has been a presenter at many conferences worldwide and has delivered workshops on D&I and ethics around the world in over 70 countries for a wide variety of clients both for-profit and nonprofit. The United Nations and many of its agencies (FAO, ICAO, ILO, UNDP, UNICEF, WFP, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, and so forth) have been major clients for decades. He has also worked with highly innovative organizations such as NASA and CERN. He has been recognized as a Diversity Pioneer (2007) and is on the Economist’s Global Diversity List (2015).
He has an Master’s degree and a B.A.B.Sc. degree from the University of Cape Town, and a PhD in Philosophy from Birkbeck College, London University. He has a passion for jazz, tennis and words, having been a lexicographer early in his career. He grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, lived in London, England while completing his doctorate and teaching at the Open University, and has lived in New York City for the over 30 years.
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/alan-richter-6b1229/
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Lorelei Carobolante, USA (she/her/hers)
Lorelei is an accomplished global HR consultant with more than 20 years’ experience, a recognized thought leader in global HR standards and workforce communication, talent and international assignment management, subsidiary expansion, and performance metrics.
She leads G2nd Systems, a Global HR consultancy that improves quality and effectiveness in globally diverse workplaces by providing HRM consulting services and Global 2nd Language learning systems that enhance workforce and business interactions across non-native and native English speakers.
Lorelei is an ISO/TC 260 HR Management Registered Expert, and Chair for ISO TC/260 HR Management U.S. Technical Advisory Group. She is a member of the Board of Directors for Centre for Global Inclusion and Women’s Business Enterprise Council (WBEC-West); member of WBENC® Leadership Forum, and SHRM Foundation Leadership Circle, which is dedicated to advancing global human capital knowledge and practice by providing thought leadership and educational support.
Lorelei holds a Global MBA degree from St. Mary’s College of California and GPHR® and SHRM-SCP® certifications. She is also very involved with global workforce mobility and holds the Senior Certified Relocation Professional® and Senior Global Mobility Specialist Talent Mobility® professional certifications. Carobolante developed an advocacy mentality at an early age and has devoted her life to helping non-native English speakers address inequity due to English proficiency, perceptions associated with accents; and serving the roles of women at work.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorelei-carobolante
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Charlotte Sweeney, UK (she/her/hers)
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/
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Melanie Harrington, USA (she/her/hers)
Melanie Harrington has spent almost 20 years in the field of diversity and inclusion leading broad scale efforts designed to foster environments that build diverse talent pipelines; increase talent engagement; facilitate inclusive cultures; and build strong, strategic partnerships. Melanie has advanced the field of diversity and inclusion as a lawyer, leader of a diversity management think tank, leader of an economic development organization, consultant, and adjunct professor.
She was an expert panelist for the 2016 and 2017 versions of the Global Diversity and Inclusion Benchmarks and serves on the board of the Centre for Global Inclusion. She was a contributing writer for the Diversity Management Handbook, edited by Dr. Deborah Plummer and is a frequent speaker on economic development and diversity and inclusion topics.
Melanie is the Senior Director for Affiliate Equity Programs, for the ACLU. She is responsible for leading the organization’s Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging team for the Affiliate Support and Nationwide Initiative’s department. Her team supports 54 ACLU affiliates throughout the nation with strategic approaches and programming. Previously, Melanie served as the first President and CEO of Vibrant Pittsburgh, a nonprofit economic development organization based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The organization was established to spearhead the next Pittsburgh renaissance – a “People Renaissance” – that embraces inclusion; ensures the region’s growth through talent attraction, retention and elevation strategies; and promotes the Pittsburgh region – nationally and internationally – as a diverse, welcoming region of opportunities.
Prior to joining Vibrant Pittsburgh, Melanie served as the President of the American Institute for Managing Diversity Inc. (AIMD), a national nonprofit diversity think tank based in Atlanta, Georgia. Prior to AIMD, Melanie served as the General Counsel for D.J. Miller & Associates, Inc. (DJMA), a national management consulting firm that specialized in advising federal, state and local government agencies on Equal Opportunity programs, practices and policies.
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-harrington-86a5205
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Zahid Mubarik, Pakistan (he/him/his)
Zahid Mubarik is the CEO of HR Metrics and SHRM USA Partner in Pakistan. He introduced SHRM HR Competency Standards in Pakistan. He is a global expert in human capital measurement metrics and analytics. Zahid is the only HR Leader from Asia to become a member of ISO Geneva Technical Committee 260 for HR Standards. He launched Global Diversity & Inclusion Benchmarks Standards in Pakistan and facilitated 47 large corporate in their quest to develop inclusive culture at the workplace.
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zahid-mubarik-shrm-scp-sphri-gphr-5a1b672b/
Executive Director
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Sudeep Mohandas, USA (he/him/his)
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
Fundraising Committee
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Riikka Solanen, Finland (she/her/hän)
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.
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Lynda White, Canada (she/her/hers)
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
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Charlotte Sweeney, UK (she/her/hers)
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/