C-Suite HR Professional, 25 years of professional experience at a global level, in Information & Communications Technology, Trading, Distribution, Manufacturing and Holding Companies including start-ups.

Featured in India’s Top 100 Great People Managers list 2023 (study by Great Managers Institute in collaboration with Economic Times & National HRD Network)

Executive, Leadership & Business Transformation Coach, Learner for Life, Excellence Champion, DEI Evangelist, Transformation Catalyst and Crusader against Loneliness & Burnout.

Ankit is a seasoned Public Speaker, Human Rights advocate and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) professional with 12+ years of experience in the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) space, Recognized for working well with people from different Backgrounds with a primary focus on the LGBTQIA+ community.

As a part of his work that spans across more than a decade, Ankit has conducted sensitization sessions for various stakeholders, including but not limited to corporate houses, law enforcement agencies, educational institutes, lawyers and influencers on national as well as international forums

Ankit is currently working for diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in education, Workplace & faith through the LGBTQI lens.

Ratnaprabha Sable, a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion professional, is a passionate believer of the power and impact of creating equitable workplaces and ensuring fair representation. She has done her Masters in Marketing Management from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai. She has more than 14 years of rich experience in the Corporate World in the Jobs and Recruitment industry. Ms Ratnaprabha is the Founder & MD of the Social Enterprise Vividhataa, a 360 degree DE&I Solutions Company which works towards the Inclusion and Representation of Women, People with Disabilities, LGBTQIA+ Community, Veterans, Caste oppressed and socio-economically marginalized communities in India. They specialize into multiple services for Global MNCs operating all over India, namely Diversity Hiring, Sensitization Workshops, customized DEI Panel Discussions, Employer Branding, Policy and Infrastructure Audits and DE&I Events such as their flagship event – “India's Diversity Job Fair” which has had 3 successful sows since 2020.

She strongly believes that, at an organization, Diversity is Inherent, and Inclusion is Imperative. She is passionate about Talent Management, creating Diversity and Promoting Equity, Representation & Inclusion at Workplaces. Her love for travel has taken her to different countries around the globe such as USA, UK, Ireland, Thailand, Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary and Greece. Having experienced interactions with Diverse individuals in these countries, who believed in different ideologies, and yet lived harmoniously, without any fear of being judged by their peers, has inspired her to help create Diverse and Inclusive Workplaces.

Richa Vashista (she/they) is an integrative psychotherapist from India, offering mental health support for over 9 years. Richa’s diverse perspective in her work stems from her Master's Degree in Clinical Psychology from SNDT University and experience working in both the public and private sector.

As an independent practitioner, Richa primarily provides individual therapy and relationship counseling (for monogamous and polyamorous clients). They specialise in a range of areas, including LGBTQIA+, perinatal mental health, trauma, borderline personality (BPD), workplace mental health, family systems and intimate partnerships. She holds monthly support groups for people living with BPD and queer individuals. They also take on supervision for younger therapists. In addition to her clinical work, Richa partners with companies to support their mental health, diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Richa believes in a non-directive and person-centred approach, inspired by Carl Rogers' philosophy that clients have the capacity to be their authentic selves. Their worldview is queer-affirmative, intersectional, and centred on social justice. Apart from using evidence-based practices, Richa draws from her lived experiences as a queer and neurodivergent individual. She has formal training in queer and trans* affirmative practice, trauma-informed practice, suicide first aid and a deep dive into gender and sexuality.

They speak at national and international forums, advocating passionately for mental health care and LGBTQIA+ rights. Through her work as a psychologist, Richa is dedicated to promoting awareness, reducing stigma, and empowering individuals to prioritise their mental health and well-being.

Pinky Bahroos is someone who loves to be on stage and loves to see smiling faces.
She is a -
TEDx Speaker and Head Coach for different events
Josh Talks Speaker
Soft Skills Trainer
Founder at ACE the STAGE
First Runner up at Innovative Trainer Contest hosted by the Indian Society for Training & Development Vadodara
ICF - CCE certified Life & Executive Coach
Page 3 Excellence awardee - Certified Professional Speaker
Spoken and conducted sessions at corporates and colleges - Reliance, SBI, Huntsman International, GE Power India Ltd, Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals LTD. AIIMS, Parul University, MSU Baroda, Institute of Chartered Accountants, IIT Bombay - Public Speaking Club, Podar World School etc.
State-level Speech Evaluation Contest Champion and 2nd Runner Up in Storytelling and Humorous Speech Contest
The author of the book titled - 'Finding The Chromosome X'
Keynote Speaker, Chief Judge, judge, Panelist, and Host at many national and international events. Guest at Talk Shows
Past Area and Division Director at Toastmasters International
Covered by Media - Digital, Print & Broadcast.

Sonica Aron is the Founder and Managing Partner of Marching Sheep, an HR advisory firm specializing in Strategic HR advisory, Diversity and inclusion interventions, employee health and wellness and capability building.

An XLRI post graduate, Sonica has worked with companies like Pepsico, Vodafone, Roche Diagnostics and ICI paints. She started her career with a sound understanding of business where she went route-riding with Pepsico and was part of the team that launched Pepsi 200 ml at Rs 5. She was the first lady HR Manager stationed at a factory in Upcountry UP and there the seeds to her diversity practice were born.

Sonica is passionate about HR, empowering people and all things in between. A mother of two, she decided to set up Marching Sheep in 2013 with a vision of making a difference to peoples' lives and careers and driving respect and equality for all. As aHuman Resource and D&I (Diversity and Inclusion) specialist with an experience of more t han 20 years, both in the industry and consulting, she has designed one of the most evolved 'Diversity and Inclusion' frameworks in India with deep understanding of real issues faced by women, individuals from LGBTQ community and people with disability! Marching Sheep works with clients across industries on gender, generational, sexual orientation, and disability diversity.

In the past 9 years or so, Marching Sheep has gone from strength to strength under the leadership of Sonica. It boasts of a healthy roster of Indian and global clients, including Uber, Concentrix, Mercedez Benz, Reckitt Benckiser, Abbott, SBI cards, Indigrid, Sterlite Power, PepsiCo, JCB India, Continental Tyres, Diageo, Takeda, Lupin, Avery Dennison, Sony Music to name a few. It has been adjudged among the top 25 HR firms in India by Business Connect, among top 10 in Delhi/NCR by Silicon India, and Sonica has been listed among the top 10 women entrepreneurs in 2020 by Forbes India, among India's Most Valued People in June 2021 by Forbes India, among the top 100 digital influencers by Yourstory and most recently as the Woman Entrepreneur of The Year by Indian Achievers Forum at 75th Atmanirbhar Bharat Summit.

Seen as a thought leader, her opinions on anxiety and burnout, motherhood penalty, unpaid work, generational diversity, inclusion of the LGBTQ community have been published by leading publications including Hindu, TOI, HT, Business World, The Statesman, DNA and the Tribune.

Sonica is a passionate advocator of diversity, employee experience and emotional wellness. Having been a woman professional, Sonica has both experienced and observed gender-based bias closely. Every woman in the workspace experiences this at some time or the other. This prompted her to launch her diversity practice. 'Organizations need to move ahead of the curve and drive inclusive teams and mindsets, gender sensitive processes and mentor and coach women', she believes and advocates. She works on board of 'Gender at Work India Trust' actively delivering to the society. Sonica loves her little patch of the garden and is an avid reader.

Nidhi, an HR Disruptor, HR Business Partner and Talent Manager. She has worked and conceptualized many key initiatives from scratch which includes creation of Diversity & Inclusion arm for TCTS from scratch. She has Designed, communicated and executed D&I programs, policies and guidelines to attract, retain and advance a highly skilled and talented diverse workforce. In her experience of more than a decade of cross-cultural HR experience, she has worked in a variety of industries, including IT and Telecom. Has been a speaker and Panelist in various forums.

While she is very passionate about HR but is an active volunteer and has received multiple accolades in CSR for her contribution, it includes Global Employee Volunteering Program (GEVP) awards also for this year.

She is currently a Senior Manager for Tata Communication Transformation Services. Tata Communications Transformation Services (TCTS), a 100% subsidiary of Tata Communications Ltd, provides leading business transformation, managed network operations, network outsourcing and consultancy services to telecommunication companies around the world. TCTS delivers operational efficiency, cost transformation and revenue acceleration solutions for all the stages of the carrier process lifecycle including but not limited to network engineering and design, implementation and operations functions.

TCTS is a part of the USD $100+ billion Tata group which comprises of over 100 operating companies in seven business sectors. TCTS has 5 world class delivery centers in Pune, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad & Romania. These facilities operate completely independent from its parent affiliate, preserving full confidentiality in managing all customers' business processes & Teams across Globe supporting all the customers' requirements.

In her previous position with SCA Technologies, She was leading their talent strategy across the nation. Nidhi played a key role in the company's expansion into regions like Hyderabad etc. She also started the automation and modernization of SCA's HR operation.

Her formal qualifications includes MBA from Maharishi Dayanand University and further study in Talent Management from University of Michigan, Managing Performance from University of Minnesota, Artificial intelligence and many others.

A lawyer with HR acumen having dealt IT products and services organisations, managed IT offshore centers now spear heading in the urban food platform for their global strategic account . Latha Basava as she is known in the corporate community has a "Legal Touch" to the global business attributed to her exceptional experiences in the field of HR aiming a human angle and sustainable practices.

She started her reputation practicing as an advocate at the age of 21 and expanded her leadership across United States of America, Europe, Southeast Asia with her exceptional contribution in the area of Talent development. She has worked in the area of Prevention of sexual harassment at workplace and has helped several organisation mature in their internal process.

Among her significant contributions with philosophy as People First, the past two years presented her an opportunity to connect with their employees for social and personal well being. She took the opportunity to mold talent and uplift women through several initiatives. She is a strong advocate of people's cause and loves to excel in people analytics.

She is now based in Hyderabad, as Regional HR for Sodexo at Google company which they have grown from 500 associates to 1500, now projected to cross 2,300 team members within short span of time, her account also has expanded to USA and new countries in APAC and Middle East.

A 2nd generation Academician who has chosen the journey of an Entrepreneur in the Diversity & Inclusion space after 12+ years of Human Resources and Organisation Development experience. Deeply grateful to the universe for being recognized with a global accolade - HR Director of the Year (Excellence) at the HRD Awards Asia 2021 and D&I OD Leader of the Year - 2022.

Being an ICF Certified Coach and TV Rao Certified Assessor coupled with global experience across diverse industries like BFSI, Pharma, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Gaming, Fashion & Retail and Edtech in both Centre of Excellence as well as HR Business Partnering Roles gives me the confidence to help businesses and individuals reach their optimum potential and overcome personal and professional hurdles.

Currently pursuing my PhD is to help members of the LGBTQIA+ community feel safe in being themselves both personally and professionally.

Danish contributes to a better society by helping shape the minds of future HR leaders by being on the Academic Board of Studies, a visiting faculty and a guest lecturer at Premier B-Schools.

Sandhya is responsible for Community Business' overall business strategy in India, with a mission to lead, inspire and support organisations and individuals to bring about positive impact and social change. Prior to Community Business, Sandhya worked as CEO of Foundation For Excellence India Trust, an NGO and was responsible for all aspects of the Trust's operations in India, in addition to providing support to FFE-USA in certain areas. Her role was to guide overall strategy, finance, people development, new initiatives, and donor management. With experience of more than 30 years, Sandhya has worked both in large corporations, not for profit (NGO) and start-ups in the areas of sales, operations, HR, training and general management. Sandhya is a certified trainer and a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) certified by the International Coach Federation. She is passionate about people development and has mentored or coached a number of youngsters. As a trained advanced facilitator, she has also been involved in building teams, especially with focus on customer orientation, bringing value to client organisations. Sandhya also serves on the advisory board of Palitree Foundation, an NGO that aims to provide realistic solutions to Social and Environmental concerns.

Milena is an award-winning producer, journalist, and board member of the Arab Broadcast Forum, the National Press Club, and other related media and business outlets. While working as a news producer for USIA and CNN in Washington, DC, Milena developed a passion for long-form content, including documentaries and feature films.

Since 2006, Milena has concentrated her efforts on the Middle Eastern region. She has worked with, consulted with, and reported for numerous media outlets and organizations in the region, in countries such as the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Lebanon.

Since the founding of GEB in 2012, the company has provided business and media solutions for the government and private sectors in the region, as well as large-scale international projects and campaigns. Her company has produced, directed, developed, and consulted on numerous TV shows, documentaries, TV series, feature films, conferences, and live events, maintaining an impressive streak of several international and regional awards, including the 2016 Fastest Growing Media Company and Best Employer in the Arab World in Dubai, UAE, and the 2017 Women Leadership Award at the World Leadership Congress in Mumbai, India. She holds many well-known awards, such as more than one Emmy, the Houston Film Festival, the Cannes Film Festival, and many others.

Milena speaks four languages and has produced and directed in Asia, the Middle East, the US, Latin America, Russia, and Europe. Milena served on the board of the Washington Film and Video Council and is an active member of Women in Film and Video.

Presently, Milena Schwager is the owner of GEB TV, a television, film, and video production company she founded to create programs of substance and timeliness for international audiences. She also runs a casting agency in Abu Dhabi, where she manages, develops, and trains regional talent. She remains one of the most prominent award-winning journalists and producers to date.

Cat Wildman is a scientist-turned-technologist and the Founder of The Gender Equality Collective (TheGEC). The GEC is a web based platform whose aim is to make gender equality accessible to everyone. The GEC is also a vibrant community, which started off as a mission to end gender imbalance in the UK - since then it has extended its reach to be a global community. The GEC was built on strong on values, based on collaboration and working together to make real change possible. We are one of the only organisations which brings together home, education and businesses as we believe this is the only way we will end gender imbalance.

Shaun Dellenty (B'ed Hons NPQH) is an award-winning educator and advocate for compassionate inclusion. Shaun has worked as a class-teacher, school leader and improving schools' consultant. He is based at South Bank University.

For ten years Shaun has deliveredcompassionate LGBT+ inclusion training, a service originatingin 2009, when Shaun'sprimary school discovered 75% of pupils were subjected to homophobicbullying and98% heard the word 'gay' as a pejorative term.

Shaundevisedtrainingto facilitate LGBT+ inclusion and a broader understanding of bias and prejudice, effectingpersonal, cultural and organisational change in learning communitiesand othercontexts.

Shaun recountshis story of thriving after child-hood homophobic bullying in assemblies, youth clubs and lecture halls.

LGBT Charity Stonewall, Department of Education, School Inspectorate OFSTED and international media show interest in Shaun's work; he broke new ground, giving a generation of young people and educators permission to be their authentic selves.

Shaun has trained65,000+professionals, spoken to hundreds of young peopleand supported professionals globally. He has been involved in a pan European programme spanning eight countries.

Press includes Times Educational Supplement, Huffington Post, Guardian, Telegraph and written articles for Reuters, Guardian, Gay Star News.

Judged Amnesty Young Journalist Award, supportingthem in their inclusion training. Shaun's work recommended by the Church of England.

Supportedorganisations in development of inclusive resources; NSPCC, Show Racism The Red Card and leading trade unions. Advised on inclusive policy at House of Commons/Lords.

Honoured with 'Point of Light'award presented by U.K. Prime Minister 2016.

Book (Bloomsbury Education) 'Celebrating Difference- A Whole School Approach to LGBT Inclusion' published May 2019, recommended inParliament on Amazon.

Elizabeth Coffey, Founder & MD of Spark Leadership, is an internationally recognised consultant, speaker and author, who develops CEOs and their Successors at Global 500 companies. She coaches CEOs, develops Executive Teams and delivers historic enterprise-wide organisation change. Recently, Elizabeth began curating and hosting disruptive Leadership Learning Journeys to India's most scaled social enterprises.

For the last 2 years, Elizabeth has been splitting her time between London, Abu Dhabi and Mumbai – delivering work on the ground in 3 diverse economies, drawing rich learning from each of these national cultures along the way. Over the last quarter century, Elizabeth has developed tens of thousands of senior leaders.

Elizabeth has written several leadership books, including McGraw Hill's '10 Things That Keep CEOs Awake – and How to Put Them to Bed' (2002) and 'The Changing Culture of Leadership – Women Leaders' Voices' (1999) and Deutsche Bank's 'The End of Tolerance (2001). She speaks frequently on academic and business platforms on Leading Change, Gender Culture, Disruptive Learning and Ethical Strategic Influencing.

Elizabeth Co-Produced 'Rockumentary: Evolution of Indian Rock' - the first feature length documentary film about the history of Rock and Roll in India. The film has won many awards in global film festivals, attracted excellent press and will be distributed via video on demand platforms in 2020.

For her pioneering work in elite leadership development and advancing women, Elizabeth has received many awards over the past two decades including: 2018 & 2019 Woman Super Achiever (Times Ascent - India), 2007 Mentor of the Year (Women of the Future - UK) & 2001 European Woman of Achievement.

Dr. Don Trahan, Jr. is a licensed professional counselor (LPC), national certified counselor (NCC), approved clinical supervisor (ACS), professor at the University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA), and international consultant. He is recognized as a global leader in diversity, equity, and inclusion change management (World HRD Congress), with a demonstrated history of working in the higher education and professional industries.

As a research-driven practitioner, Dr. Trahan focuses his scholarly work on advocacy and culturally responsive leadership, which has led to the publication of several peer-reviewed articles, nationwide conference presentations, and international speaking engagements. His research and unique content delivery has enabled him to develop partnerships with organizations such as the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, the United States Department of Education, and the United States Department of Justice.

Dr. Trahan is a devoted advocate of social justice and educational equity, and he dedicates a significant amount of time to mentoring and community-based activities. Additionally, he is an active member of the American Counseling Association, the American Psychological Association, and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated. Dr. Trahan holds a B.A. in Psychology and a M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi; a M.A. in Educational Leadership and Ph.D. in Counselor Education from the University of New Mexico; and he is currently pursuing a D.B.A. from the University of Maryland Global Campus.

Alongside her profession, Vino is also recognised on an International platform as a mentor to business women. She has scooped multiple national and International awards for the role she plays in mentoring and uplifting women from all walks of life.

Vino is an International speaker and panellist addressing issues that affect women in the workplace, as well as the co-founder of NPO, Usizo Empowerment. Her contribution to social upliftment lead to her role as a global goodwill ambassador in recognition for her far-reaching humanitarian work.

Ludovic Lagesse is the CEO of Trimetys Hotels.Holder of a bachelor's degree in hospitality management from Vatel, Nimes, he has now more than 16 years of working experience in the Tourism& Hospitality industry in Europe and in Mauritius.

He joined Sakoa Management Co Ltdas the Chief Operating Officer with only one property in 2008.Since then, he has been in full swing in the development of hotel projects and now Trimetys manages four hotel properties of whichtwoare inMauritius and two in Rodrigues Island.

Ludovic has progressed in his career along with the development and acquisition of other properties. He was promoted to the position of Deputy CEO in 2015 and hence nominated CEO – Hotels Cluster in 2017.

Along with his team of 280 collaborators, hehas been continuously setting up strategies to position Trimetys Hotels as one of the new references of the Mauritian hospitality.Human Resources has been at the heart of the development of Trimetys Hotels and it lies in the belief that empowerment delivers great return on investment for both internal and external guests. While delivering the best is entrenched in all its hotel services, the Group also embraces cultural diversity and strives to adapt its culture to each hotel and each destination.

The development of Trimetys Hotels hinges on its ability to expand the scope of its existing brand to new properties in order to drive the best value out of its strengths and to allow for its evolution in line with our growth ambitions.

Through the years, I have had experience in Human Resource Business Partner and Recruitment with over 19 years of experience in recruitment, design thinking, strategic alliances and entrepreneurship; I have successfully created viable businesses in IT/ITE's as well that flourished till date.

I have in-depth experience as an Entrepreneur alike, making business alignment a regularly developed skill. In almost every position I have held, I have expanded the company's client network and substantially increased revenue.

My success can be attributed to my hard work, ethics, singular focus on revenue growth and strategic look to the future when building relationships with candidates & clients across different verticals. My strong analytical skills, a culture of accountability for both myself and my team & an innovative and integrated approach at hiring, has motivated and empowered the team to achieve benchmarked results.

Vasudha is an HR & Diversity professional with close to a decade of experience in the corporate world in People Function & Diversity roles and holds a Master's degree in Gender and Policy studies from the London School of Economics, UK. In her current stint, she heads McKinsey & Company's Inclusion and Diversity Recruiting for the Asia Pacific and Greater China regions. She is passionate about D&I and has spent several years being a strong advocate of the same across organizations and industries such as Consulting, Telecom, Mining, Oil & Gas and has done research and is actively involved in topics on inclusion and parity such as parental leave for working fathers in India, barriers of LGBTQ+ inclusion in organisations, unconscious bias trainings and achieving gender parity in hiring and retention and on the importance of male allies & mentors for female talent. She is passionate about creating equal opportunities for diverse candidates who are entering the workforce and has actively mentored many women who return to the workforce post sabbatical in India pro-bono.

A graduate from Delhi University and an MBA in HR from IMT Ghaziabad. Dipika Trehan, recently represented India in Haifa, on a 4 week scholarship awarded by the government of Israel for the "Innovation in Women's Health Program".

Her work has been applauded in person by Ms. Cherie Blair for her contribution in Corporate Well-being and Empowerment. Ms. Trehan is a certified Universal Mental Health First Aid Trainer. She has also been awarded "Iconic women creating a better place for all" by WEF.

Her organization focuses on holistic health, wellbeing including interventions on stress management, wellness, lifestyle discipline and mental health.

Having stayed abroad for close to a decade she understands the nuances of cross cultural barriers and prevalent well-being and leadership gaps. She has been consistently contributing towards employee health, well being and development, diversity and inclusion at workplace and has created an ever growing tribe of corporate sisterhood, through her flagship program on development of women in leadership, Corporate Diva; enabling women empowerment in Corporate India.

The H.O.W. Forum and Corporate Diva, are both impact oriented and purpose driven, under the able leadership of the founder, Ms. Dipika Trehan

Ritika Sahni is a Singer-Performer, Disability-Advocate and a Trainer. A gold medalist from RabindraBharati University, Kolkata, for a Master's in music, she is a playback singer, actor, television host and a Producer of Creative Music of contrasting shades. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Deaf Education (B.Ed) which has enabled her to Teach and Lecture at various institutions dealing with disability, and as a Consultant in Disability Inclusion she conducts sensitization and capacity building workshops for various stakeholders.

She founded her NGO Trinayani in 2006 which works untiringly for the cause of Awareness about the world of Disability and the promise of Equality for the "people with disabilities". Under the banner of this NGO, Ritika conducts workshops, publishes Literature and Poetry, broadcasts a radio show and creates Short Films, curates inclusive events, offers a puppet show, to achieve the objectives of Trinayani. Trianayani partnered with Chief Electoral Office, Maharashtra to produce an awareness film and brochure for the LokSabha Elections.

She combines her passion for performing arts with the effort towards achieving a more tolerant and thus an Inclusive society by leading her own inclusive music band PehliBaarish comprising musicians with and without disabilities and spearheads all advocacy initiatives of her ngoTrinayani.

Siddharth is a banker by profession with more than 15 years of experience in the world of trade finance. He is a person with cerebral palsy. After passing out from a special school to regular school he completed his graduation in Commerce and went on to do his masters in Economics from Loyola College Chennai. Professionally, he is a Certified Documentary Credit Specialist (CDCS) from Institute of Financial Services, UK and also holds multiple certifications in the banking domain. He is World's no 2 and India's first CDCS with cerebral palsy.

Siddharth is inspirational 4 time Tedx speaker. His talks touch upon topics like motivation, Time/Emotional management and Leadership He has spoken in more than 240 forums reaching out to 37,000 people and enjoys online global viewership of 15 million. He has served as Member of Advisory board of India Inclusion Summit for 4 years and now a member in the board of trustees of India Inclusion Foundation.

Being a National awardee as Best Employee with Cerebral Palsy" given by the then Honorable Vice President of India in 2008, he has authored his own memoir – Simply Being Sidds – My fight with Life and God ! His website: www.siddharthjayakumar.com is a must visit !

On personal front he lives in Bengaluru with his parents, wife and son.

As Associate Partner I lead the Industrial ,Diversity and Legal Practice - with more than 20 years plus experience in search having successfully executed domestic and international senior mandates for Legal and Non Legal in practices such as BFSI, Power, Energy, Oil and Gas and Infrastructure sectors. Prior to joining Quess, I was with Essar Steel India ltd as Head Talent Acquisition and was also the HR SPOC for international locations like Dubai, Tehran, China and Indonesia. My expertise lies in hiring of critical, legal and Non legalroles more importantly currently in the Diversity segment. I have closed almost 100 plus CXO searches at leadership and Board level for corporates in India and across globe.

I am an avid animal lover and currently have 10 dogs and 11 cats. I also run an NGO for animal adoption center called "Jiv lives Jaan" that helps support animals wellbeing.

Nandini Sarkar is a leading Inclusion Strategist who never leaves any opportunities unturned to cook up a delectable palate of talent pool, when it comes to workforce mix. An HR professional with over 2 decade of experience, Nandini brings in a rich blend of experience as an L&OD Professional, Culture Curator, Mentor and a Nurturer of Leadership Excellence. She has extensively worked across all diversity spectrums and looks into equal employment opportunity compliance.

She has immense exposure and understanding of the needs of the hour in D&I space at a global level and in India. In her stint with IBM, she led the D&I programs for 10 delivery centers that span across geographies - APAC, Latin America, South Africa, and Central Europe. She is most sought after consulting partner for enterprise level projects in her organizations.. She is highly an effective leader when it comes to operating in a virtual environment. She has been extremely successful in the role of designing D&I journey for Sodexo, Cummins and Boeing. She is very strong in engaging leaders at all levels and build actions adapted to company reality. Her voice is always clear, relevant, humble, but strong and friendly. She continues to contribute to the field of research and white papers at a National level. She is a teacher but have not stopped being a student.

Nandini is extremely passionate about making a true difference and her work transcends beyond organizational boundaries. She has impacted approx.10000 people via her social change. She holds key positions in Industry Associations both at State & National levels. She is passionate about promoting inclusion at all levels and has remained a key influencer in various policy decisions at the country level. She is a respected speaker on issues of Unconscious Bias', 'Inclusive Culture', 'Psychological safety', 'LGBTQIA+ Inclusion & Practices', 'Accessibility & Disability Inclusion', and 'Women in Leadership'. She is a strong PRIDE Ally and engages with NGOs working in the space of Women Rights and Disability. She is a mentor to women - in mainstream and on hiatus, and students and has touched more than 5000 lives. She is the voice for the voiceless, minorities and underrepresented armed with a degree in law. She believes – "It's not what you Gather, but what you scatter tells what kind of life you have lived. So, Enrich and Empower".

Dr. Don P. Trahan, Jr., Ph.D., LPC, NCC, ACSis a strong advocate for multiculturalism and social justice.He specializes in multicultural counseling with an emphasis on advocating for historically marginalized groups and/or individuals. Hisscholarly work, advocacy, and clinical supervision focuses on culturally responsive practices in contemporary society, which has led to the publication of several peer-reviewed articles,nationwide conference presentations, and internationalspeaking engagements addressing such issues. He endeavors to assist his students and the various audiences he engages with developing the competencies required to examine, address, and resolve issues in their communities with a critical lens. This same critical lens is the driving force behind his platform for social change.

Dr. Don P. Trahan, Jr.is a licensed professional counselor (LPC), national certified counselor (NCC), approved clinical supervisor (ACS), professor of counseling at the university level, and international consultant. He is recognized as a global leader in diversity, equity, and inclusion change management, with a demonstrated history of working in thehigher education and professional industries. More specifically, Dr. Trahanleads enterprise diversity and inclusion workforce development initiatives and psychoeducation driven professional development trainings to inform organizational culture and management practices. His efforts have directly influenced targeted recruitment and retention endeavors as well as academic and industry-based curricula aligned to culturally responsive pedagogy. Dr. Trahan’s areas of expertise include executive leadership development and coaching, multicultural pedagogy, distance education, organizational culture, conflict resolution, crisis intervention, policy drafting and implementation, and program development and evaluation.

As a research-driven practitioner, Dr. Trahan focuses his scholarly work on advocacy and culturally responsive leadership, which has led to the publication of several peer-reviewed articles, nationwide conference presentations, and international speaking engagements. He utilizesboth qualitative and quantitative research methodologies toevaluate equity within organizations. Through his work, he has developed metrics for assessing organizational climate and targeted trainings for managing diversity within and between groups. Dr. Trahan’s research and unique content delivery has enabled him to develop partnerships with organizations such as the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, the United States Department of Education, and the United States Department of Justice.

Dr. Trahan is a devoted advocate of social justice and educational equity, and he dedicates a significant amount of time to mentoring and community-based activities. Moreover, he is an active member of the American Counseling Association, the American Psychological Association, and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated. Dr. Trahan holds a B.A. in Psychology and a M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, aM.A. in Educational Leadership and a Ph.D. in Counselor Education from the University of New Mexico, and he is currently pursuing a Doctor of Management from the University of Maryland University College.

“Liliane Rocha is the CEO of Gestao Kairos (Sustainability and Diversity consultancy) founded in 2015. She is a professional with 14 years of experience in the sustainability and diversity area, working to multinationals in the position of Latin America Executive in Brazil, Peru and Colombia.

She holds a Master degree in Public Policy Management by FGV, Executive MBA in Sustainability Management by FGV, Master in Coaching by SBC and Bachalor degree in Public Relations by Cásper Líbero.

She is also a teacher in the Post Graduation Sustainability program at SENAC and at FIA/USP (most recognized university in Brazil). She is also the designer and teacher of the Diversity class to the Marketing course in ESPM.

Liliane is the author of the book “Como ser um líder inclusivo” (How to be an inclusive leader) that has been acquired by a large number of Brazilian companies and shared among great leaders.

Currently, the main clients of Gestão Kairós are: Instituto Unibanco, Coca-cola FEMSA, Renner, VF Corporation (Jeans lee, Timberland, Kliping, and others), Novelis, Via Varejo (casino). And, taking into account only the past two years, approximaely 6 thousand employed professionals were trained, more than 80 workshops were held and more than 100 articles were written.

Hitesh is a Paralympic Medal winner with the Singapore Cerebral Palsy Football Team and the author of the book "Better Than Normal" which has sold more than 11,000 copies worldwide. He has received the South-East Asia Excellence Awards-Special Mention of Outstanding Achievements for being an exceptional role model to youth all around the world.

Hitesh is also a certified Jack Canfield Success Principles Trainer and is featured regularly on local and global TV, Radio and Magazines for his crazy mission to inspire 50 Million People by 2050!

Hitesh was born with Cerebral Palsy. But despite his condition, till date he has touched and won the hearts of more than 1.2 Million people from over 32 Nationalities. He is consistently voted as the best speaker in every event he speaks at, and has delivered keynotes at Microsoft, TATA Steel, Prudential, Great Eastern, Buhler and Deutsche Bank.

MISSION: TO INSPIRE 50 MILLION PEOPLE BY 2050 TO BECOME BETTER THAN NORMAL

“Hitesh literally had 800 people from tears to laughter. He is not just motivational but transformational! I highly recommend you reach out to Hitesh and invite him to your organisation to share his message and mission!”
EVAN KLASSEN, BEST SELLING AUTHOR & SPEAKER

"Hitesh delivered one of the best keynote speeches I have ever witnessed in my 20 years career. His stories and case studies resonates with everyone's heart and mind and after hearing his talk, my team is definitely fired up to achieve BETTER THAN NORMAL results!" Goh KhongShung, Executive Director, Great Eastern

"Hitesh tells his story with humour, he tells it with humility, and he tells it with just so much passion. He moved the audience in a way that I haven't seen before in such a large group!"
IRA GUPTA, HEAD OF HR, MICROSOFT

Martin D. Shanahan is CEO of IDA Ireland. IDA (Industrial Development Agency) is Ireland’s inward investment promotion agency responsible for the attraction and development of foreign investment in Ireland. Martin took up this position on the 1st September 2014. Prior to this, Martin was Chief Executive of Forfás - Ireland’s policy advisory board for enterprise, trade, science, technology and innovation. Martin has been at the forefront of the development of enterprise and innovation policy in Ireland for many years including leading the development of the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs 2011-2014.

Martin is a board member of IDA Ireland and Chair of its Investment Committee. Martin is also a member of the National Competitiveness Council. He has previously been a member of the Management Advisory Committee of the Department of Jobs, Enterprise, and Innovation, the Advisory Council for Science, Technology and Innovation, and Ireland’s Expert Group on Future Skills Needs.

Martin holds an M.Res (Educational Research) from Lancaster University, a M.Sc. and H.Dip from Dublin Institute of Technology and a B.Sc (Mgmt) from University of Dublin, Trinity College. He has undertaken executive education in economics at Oxford University and in innovation for economic development at the Kennedy School of Government in Harvard.

Mr. Osman serves as AGCO’s Vice President and General Manager for Africa since January 1, 2017. He has been leading the Africa and Middle East operations for AGCO Corporation since 2011.

Mr. Osman joined AGCO in May 2005 and prior to his current position also served as the Special Assistant to AGCO’s Chairman and CEO, Martin Richenhagen & the Senior Staff and was based in AGCO’s Headquarters in Duluth, USA. He was then promoted to the position of Global Inventory Director while his responsibilities for the Chairman and Senior Staff continued. In 2011 Mr. Osman took on the position of AGCO’s Director Operations for Africa and Middle East and relocated to the AGCO EAME head office in Switzerland.

In 2014, Nuradin was ranked among the top 100 Economic Leaders of Tomorrow. In 2013 Nuradin was also recognized for his leadership talent and awarded the Tutu and Oxford University Fellowship Award to African leaders.

In 2017, Mr. Osman was promoted to Vice President and General Manager, AGCO Africa, Mr. Osman relocated to Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa, where AGCO new regional headquarters is based.

Siddharth is a senior banker by profession with more than 14 years of experience in the world of trade finance. He is currently with Indusind Bank Ltd as Associate Vice President. After passing out from a special school to regular school he completed his graduation in Commerce and went on to do his masters in Economics from Loyola College Chennai. Professionally, he is a Certified Documentary Credit Specialist (CDCS) from Institute of Financial Services, UK and also holds multiple certifications in the banking domain. He is World's no 2 and India's first CDCS with cerebral palsy.

Siddharth is a person with Cerebral Palsy, post a jaundice attack when he was few days old which significantly impacted his body movement and speech clarity. This has consequential impact on his ability to write and general reaction time. Having said the above, Siddharth has never let this condition as an impediment to his goals towards life. While he went to a “special school” earlier, but soon got into the main stream and since then leads a life in a society which make things extremely difficult and challenging for him.

Siddharth is inspirational Tedx speaker on motivation, Time/Emotional management, Leadership and he has been invited by Organizations/ Corporate like TCS, Cognizant, Wipro, World Bank; and Management institutes: IIM A; IIT Chennai; Christ University, Bangalore, IIM- B, Forums like TedX Chennai; TedX Gateway; TedX EMWS; Tedx Sonacollege and Many more…….

He has spoken in more than 210 forums and has reached out to 30,000 people. Siddharth is on the board of Vidya Sagar since 1999 and had been on the Board of Trustee of Skill Share International, a UK based NGO for 3 years. He also served as Member of Advisory board of India Inclusion Summit for 4 years and now a member in the board of trustees of India Inclusion Foundation.

As an actor, he debuted with Ab TumhareHawaleWatanSaathiyon. It also starred Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar and Bobby Deol. His next venture as an actor, also debut in writing was the internationally acclaimed Dunno Y Na JaaneKyun. The film won 11 international awards, including the Best International Film on Human Rights in Italy. He also won the Best International Actor award in Greece. This was the first Indian mainstream film which conveyed the message to abolish 377 law. His next film was its sequel, Dunno Y2 Life Is A Moment. The first Indian Norwegian collaboration film, in which again he was the writer and lead actor. Its European version is called Life Is A Moment, which was directed by a Norwegian filmmaker. Bharat Ratna, Lata Mangeshkar sang for this film. Kapil is one of the pioneers in Indian digital content. He debuted in direction and was the writer and actor of India’s first web series which starred popular names from Bollywood. FeaturingZeenatAman, this web original is called Love Life & Screw Ups!!! It has been awarded as the Best Indian Web Series at Nashik International Film Festival. At present, Kapil is shooting its second season along with a suspense murder mystery thriller film called Lights! Camera! Murder!! He is also making a trequel of Dunno Y called Dunno Y3 Love Is Love and a social drama Moksha ToMaaya. Incidentally, Kapil’s father is the veteran film producer K.C.Sharma and elder brother is the popular director Anil Sharma.

Naren Krishna is a BITS Pilani Alumni (2011-2015). He is currently serving as the CEO of Stockroom.io and Equiv.in, which is India's #1 job portal for diversity talent. The company currently works with 40+ Multinationals like Amazon, Microsoft, McKinsey and many more to help them in terms of diversity hiring.

He is also the Indian representative at Draper University Batch of 2014. Draper University is a highly selective entrepreneurial boot camp for young entrepreneurs across the globe. It’s run by Mr. Tim Draper who is one of the investors in companies like Skype, Tesla, and Hotmail etc.

Naren was also the Country ambassador for the 17th World Business Dialogue hosted in Cologne, Germany. He was also awarded as a Young Challenger at Global Social Business Summit, Vienna hosted by Prof. Yunus, Founder Grameen.

He is also been recognized and awarded by BITSAA (BITS Alumni Association) as Mantra Entrepreneur of the year and Mantra award for outstanding leadership.

Madhu is a staunch optimist and believer. She considers herself lucky to have been blessed with great family and friends.Madhu feels thatmotherhood was not just a gift and boost to her personal life, but waswhat led her tocreateThinkStride.

ThinkStridewas founded with the vision to help women step up, shine and show the world the way, through distinctive coaching and leadership development programs.Madhu is confident of a future where women have an equal place at the workplace and where gender balance & inclusion are a reality.

Prior to starting ThinkStride, Madhu has over 8 years of corporate experienceworkingin large multi-national organizations where she held multiple roles acrossHuman Resources. As an Organization Development specialist, she managed & led large scale people transformation projects in the areas of Culture, Diversity & Inclusion and Leadership Development.

Madhu is a post graduate in Human Resource Management from Tata Institute of Social Sciences and a certified Leadership& Transformational Coach.She is an avid painter & caricaturist and uses her creativity to develop visual learningframeworks.

Madhu currently resides in Adelaide, Australia with her family. In addition to running ThinkStride, she is also an author in making and looks forward to creating apositive impact on the career & life of women through her upcoming book.

26 years old Ankit Bhuptaniis a Gay Rights activist from Mumbai.

His efforts to fight for LGBT rights have touched many lives of the nation. He alone travelled around the country for 6 months after the Supreme Court’s judgement on IPC 377 on 11th December2013 and delivered 500 public talks on constitutional fundamental rights.

He is founder and chairperson of The Gay and Lesbian Vaishnava Association, Mumbai

He is also the organiser of Mumbai LGBTQ Pride pared since 2010

Ankit serves an Editor of a Gujarati Lit Magazine named - PatraSetu & is a poet at heart.

Regular speaker & commentator on Faith, Diversity, Human Rights & Inclusivity at various public & interfaith platforms

Advisor to corporates on Diversity & inclusivity

Currently he is working for an educational Non-Profit organization named VIDYA as program officer, which is working for less-privileged communities of India.

Vasu Primlani is a celebrated speaker, social entrepreneur, actor (her latest film was Badrinath ki Dulhaniya), environmentalist, professor (IIT, XIMB, University of Michigan, USC), somatic therapist, triathlete, social entrepreneur, and is one of India’s leading comedians.

Ms. Primlani is one of the most prominent social entrepreneurs in the United States. For her innovation, she received over a dozen environmental and economic leadership awards globally.

Ms. Primlani employs comedy to disseminate issues of social messaging, particularly around boundaries, civic sense, gender equity, and the concept of consent, per US civic society standards. As a somatic therapist she works with deep trauma: people who have attempted suicide several times, have been raped or gang-raped, are the caretakers of autism or ADHD, and she has started working on rapists. It is her belief that we need to de-traumatize both victims and criminals if we want a safe society. She works to reverse the trauma, and establish safety and self-esteem in all her clients, victim and criminal, and police alike. She is also a police trainer on rape sensitization and de-traumatization for the Indian police force.

Ms. Primlani is among the most internationally recognized Indians with the following awards conferred upon her:

Sonal is an HR leader with over 18 years of experience in spearheading and enabling talent strategies. Her expertise spans strategy development, hiring, organizational & leadership development, talent management, employee engagement and change management. She’s passionate about Diversity & Inclusion and Corporate Social Responsibility.

Sonal holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Mount Carmel Institute of Management. She is a certified Executive Coach, Outbound Facilitator and Six Sigma Black Belt. She also has several certifications in Assessments to her name.

Sonal lives in Bangalore with her husband and her 9 year-old daughter who keeps her creatively engaged and energized. When she’s not working, Sonal enjoys running, reading and practicing yoga.

He is Producer, Actor and Choreographer. In 2010 He made bollywood first film shown first man to man kiss, The film name is Dunno Y na jaane kyun, the film had lot of bigg names from bollywood like zeenat Aman, Helen, Kabir Badi, Kapil Kaustubh Sharma and Rituparna Sengupta, Lata Mangeshkar has sung a song for it, The film got 11 international awards including best film.

In 2015 he made Dunno Y2 and was first indo Norwagin collaboration.

In 2017 he made a web series Love Life & Screw ups

His up coming projects are Love Life & screw ups season 02 and a film Lights camera murder.

Yuvraaj Parashar is from a small town Agra and it's was not so easy for him to make a place in bollywood as actor and Producer but still he tried hard and still trying to make more good films, web series and music videos

Vishal is an eminent speaker and trainer and has been regularly talking about #MeToo Movement and The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition & Redressal) Act, 2013 and its implications for organizations at various public events organized by National HRD Network, World HRD Congress, Institute of Company Secretaries of India, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs, ASSOCHAM, PHDCCI, NASSCOM, Retailers Association of India, The Press Club – Mumbai, Public Relations Council of India, Jain Advocates Federation, Hotel & Restaurant Association of Western India amongst others.

Complykaro is empanelled by Ministry of Women & Child Development, Government of India as a Resource Company for providing PoSH training.
Vishal has also conducted several full day classroom training seminars covering more than 35,000 Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) members and hundreds of employee sensitization seminars across India.
Vishal has won “Global Diversity & Inclusion Leadership Award” at 25th World HRD Congress 2017, “The Leading CEO of the Year Award” at the 6th Annual Greentech HR Awards 2016 and “The Achiever’s Award 2018” by JCI Marine Lines in recognition of his efforts to prevent sexual harassment in Corporate India.

Complykaro has been awarded “Best Compliance Training Program” for its training solution, at The India Human Capital Summit & Awards, 2016. and “Compliance Consulting Firm of the Year” at The India Leadership Awards 2016 organised by World Leadership Federation powered by Collabera.

Complykaro has been awarded “Start Up Company of the Year” Award at the HR Tech Conference | Awards at 15th Asia Pacific HRM Congress. Vishal is a post graduate having completed his Executive Masters in Business Administration (EMBA) from National University of Singapore and a Diploma holder in Business Finance from ICFAI, Hyderabad.

Shweta (she/her) is a Senior Creative Head at Indigo Consulting - a digital advertising company.

Over 8 years, she's worked in diverse categories such as Telecommunications, Healthcare, Automobile, FMCG, Banking, and Entertainment. In the process, she has created impactful and award winning work for key brands.

Shweta loves putting creativity to purpose by bringing LGBTQI+ issues mainstream. Makeup is her warpaint. Playing the keyboard gives her peace. Nothing gives her more joy than experimenting with various musical instruments. She's fearless, and not afraid to push both, boundaries and buttons, at the same time.

Shweta is associated with Rainbow Angels - a gender positive group for Indians all over the spectrum. Started by Rohini Mondal, the aim of Rainbow Angels is to create a safe space for anyone who identifies off the binary. The group is graced by people across the country and from all walks of life during LGBTQI+ events or planned group outings. Rainbow Angels actively collaborates with other queer groups across the year.

Dr. Vaishali Kolhe is Associate Professor and former Chairperson of The Centre for Disability Studies and Action, School of Social work, Tata Institute of Social Sciences. She has been working at TISS since June 2002. She joined TISS as assistant Professor in Department of Medical & Psychiatric Social Work in June 2002 and worked till June 2006. She joined Center for Disability Studies & Action in June 2006. She has been engaged in teaching, training, research & consultation in the field of health & disability, rehabilitation, governance, convergence, inclusion, micro level planning, Employment, Skill development, early intervention, family, education, livelihood and accessibility. She graduated in 1996 with Bachelor's in Audiology and Speech Rehabilitation from Ali Yawar Jung National Institute for the Hearing Handicapped. She completed her masters in Medical and Psychiatric Social Work from TISS in 1998. After that She worked as speech pathologist & Audiologist in a Deaf school for three and half years. The passion to work in disability sector with hearing impairment facilitated to continue work in Disability Studies & Action.

In 2003-2005, She actively engaged & worked with mental health issues of child laborers in Dharavi & their Skill based empowerment and needs of child laborers for more than two years as part of field work of students. She worked with Dharavi and Shivaji Nagar slums on health issues of children & youth rack pickers & their needs as a part of field work for more than two years. In 2013, 2004, She worked TISS Disaster relief activities at Tsunami at Cadloor district with coastal villages on needs assessment & Trauma Counseling and youth in crisis during disaster in 2004.

She is doing a research project on "Micro Level Planning of Disability in M-Ward" which is lowest in human development Index in urban slums of Mumbai. Regarding her teaching assignments & areas of teaching involved “Disability Policies & Laws” in Access to Justice course in LLM programme at TISS, Rehabilitation Context of Persons with Disability which involves life span approach with PWD, Sustainable Livelihood framework, Job fairs and youth with disability. Other courses are Social Case Work, Agency administration and Family Centered Intervention for persons with disability and their families. She has worked at grass root level in context of field work of students in urban slums at Dharavi,Bainganwadi, Dumping ground and Shivaji nagar as urban slums of Mumbai.

She has organized We Care film festivals on Disability for three years at TISS and conducted disability network workshop & consultation workshop for State Action Plan for Disability with various government officials and NGO's to a way forward. She was a part of the PWD Act restructuring process /consultative meeting at Mumbai and Nagpur Zone with a core focus on UNCRPD and constitutional amendments in 2009. 2010, on draft on Rights of PWD 2011.