Moderators and Co-hosts
SpeakerS
Ritika Wadhwa
Chief Operating Officer, UK
The Cultural Intelligence Centre
Ritika Wadhwa is the COO at the Cultural Intelligence Centre. She is responsible for leading the Centre’s work in the UK and beyond. Ritika has over 25 years of extensive experience in client retention, marketing, business development, and project management – experience she has gained by working with senior stakeholders across continents, the corporate and Government sector.
Born and brought up in India, Ritika has the unique experience of living, studying and working in senior roles in several multicultural countries. She is passionate about Cultural Intelligence and is a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion champion. Ritika is part of British Telecom’s Ethnic Minority Mentorship programme and also sits on the Independent Advisory Board for British Transport Police. She has recently been made a Fellow at the Society of Leadership Fellows at St George’s House, Windsor Castle.
Sal Naseem
Regional Director for London, Independent Office for Police Conduct
Sal is currently Regional Director for London at the Independent Office for Police Conduct. He is the first South Asian and Muslim to hold this post and has been recognised as one of the top 100 most influential Muslims in the UK.
Sal’s work has focussed on some of the most high-profile issues affecting policing in recent years both in London and at a national level. He is considered a national expert in race and policing and leads the organisation’s thematic work on Race Discrimination. Sal has spoken extensively in both the national and international media on these issues.
With over 8 years’ experience in the police regulatory oversight system, and 20 years’ leadership experience, under Sal’s leadership his team has been recognised with a Civil Service award for their operational delivery.
Sal also leverages his lived experiences of racism and hate crime growing up in the early 80s in Scotland, and through his own challenges experienced in the workplace, to lift, inspire, and motivate others in his work with the wider Civil Service and charities.
As a passionate champion for equality, diversity and inclusion outside his day job and Sal tries to use his platform for change. Sal sits on the Board of the Electoral Commission as the independent advisor on equality, diversity, and inclusion. He chairs national conferences which are focussed on empowering ethnic minorities into leadership and giving people the practical tools to progress. He also sits on the advisory board for the charity Tell MAMA who work to fight against anti-Muslim hate.
Sal is a recognised thought leader on equity, diversity and inclusion on LinkedIn and regularly speaks on the topics of; EDI, allyship and Islamophobia. His work has led to him being nominated for the National Diversity Awards 2022 in the category of positive role model for race, religion, and faith. He was also shortlisted for the 2022 Asian Achiever Awards in the Uniformed/Civil Service category.
Rob Neil
Director
Krystal Alliance
Rob has spent much of his illustrious career working in the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). Over almost 40 years in the civil service, he has made a huge impact in HR, race equality, employee engagement, and diversity and inclusion. He was a founding member of the MoJ’s BAME Staff network in 2001, namely P.R.O.U.D. He ended his tenure as Chair of Civil Service Race Equality Network [CSREN] – known today as CSRF – but continues to support the CSRF as an advisor.
After two years at the DfE as Head of Culture Change and a total of 38 years with the civil service, Rob departed the public sector to launch his own consultancy to support organisations across all sectors to be more inclusive. In October 2021 Rob was included in HR Magazines list of fifty ‘Most Influential Thinkers’.
Rob was also awarded an OBE in the 2018 New Year’s Honours list for ‘Services to Race Equality in the Workplace and the Community’ and received his gong from the Queen at Buckingham Palace. He was also the inaugural winner of the Investing in Ethnicity’s Workplace Hero Award in November 2018.
David Livermore
Founding Partner
Cultural Intelligence Center
David Livermore, PhD co-founded the Cultural Intelligence Center with Linn Van Dyne and served as the President for the first eleven years. He continues to serve as a strategic advisor and board member. Dave has written over a dozen books on cultural intelligence and global leadership and has worked with companies, governments, and non-profits in more than 100 countries. He speaks at several international conferences annually. Dave and his wife have two adult daughters. They love traveling together (fortunately!) and sampling the local delicacies, wherever they go. For a full bio, visit Dave’s website.
Marsha Ramroop
Founder & Director
Unheard Voice Consultancy Ltd
Marsha was the inaugural Director of Inclusion at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), applying CQ across the organisation and introducing it to the architecture and built environment sector. She has her own strategic organisational inclusive culture consultancy, bringing CQ as a foundational behavioural framework in order to better embed EDI/DEI efforts. She worked in broadcasting and journalism for 30 years before moving solely into EDI work, but always with a view to give the unheard voice a place to speak – an inclusive and mindful approach to storytelling, that formed the basis of thinking and prompted the need to cultivate expertise in this area, and led to her setting up Unheard Voice Consultancy Ltd.
Asif Sadiq
Chief Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer
Warner Bros Discovery
Asif is the Chief Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer at Warner Bros Discovery. He was previously the Global Head of Diversity & Inclusion at Adidas and has a long and rich career in the diversity and inclusion space with senior executive roles at The Telegraph Media Group, EY Financial Services and the City of London Police. He is a board member for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and a member of the board of advisors for Hedley May. Over his 20-year career he has worked in Europe, North America, South America, Middle East, Africa and Asia.
Asif has been credited with impactful global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion activities and programmes across organisations, that have created a strong sense of belonging for all and resulted in truly diverse workplaces. He has been key in building synergies between internal and external D&I efforts within organisations, ensuring diversity and inclusion is embedded in all elements of a business, resulting in innovative, creative and inclusive products and services.
He is a multi-award winning Diversity and Inclusion expert with a proven track record in D&I, sustainability and social impact, being listed as one of the most influential global D&I leaders by Hive Learning, the CIPD’s Top 20 Power list and a LinkedIn Influencer. He is winner of numerous awards including the highly commended Head of Diversity Award at the European Diversity Awards and was honoured with an MBE in 2017 by the Queen and granted the freedom of the City of London in 2016.
Shereen Daniels
Managing Director, HR rewired + Chair
African Diaspora Economic Inclusion Foundation
Shereen is Author of The Anti-Racist Organization – Dismantling Systemic Racism in the Workplace (Wiley, 2022), founder + Managing Director of HR, anti-racism and racial equity advisory firm, HR rewiredand Chair of the African Diaspora Economic Inclusion Foundation which supports Black female entrepreneurs.
A leading HR influencer, Shereen has become the go-to voice for household brands and international corporations who want to dismantle systemic racism across their workplace cultures and wider ecosystems. As a sought-after speaker and advisor, Shereen’s story has been featured in Forbes, she’s been recognised as one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices in 2020 and 2022, and is the winner of HR Most Influential Thinker 2021.
Shereen also hosts Advancing Racial Equity 4.0 (the podcast), is the Founder of Advancing Racial Equity: Moving Beyond The Conversations (the conference) and via HR rewired TV, is a vlogger to the tune of over 300 videos and 30 live broadcasts dedicated to sharing insights about what it takes to build anti-racist and equitable cultures where everyone can thrive.
Prior to founding HR rewired in 2019, Shereen embarked on an MP Leadership Scheme with the House of Commons and Operation Black Vote, and as a trustee and director, Shereen has occupied previous roles for Kent & Medway Economic Partnership Board, Trustee to Endeavour Mat and Women’s Aid (Bexley) and is former Vice Chair of the Black Business Association with the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Antony Quinn
Corporate Role-Player, Lead Facilitator and Co-Founder
The Communication Practice
Antony became a role-play actor in 2016 after a long career in software development, design and genomics. He specialises in bespoke role-play, a fully-improvised technique that draws on participants’ real-life experiences to practice challenging and often high-stakes conversations. He has worked as a role-player with clinicians on Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust’s leadership programme, lawyers at Cambridge University’s Judge Business School, technical leaders at design engineering multinational ARM, and trainee coaches at Germany’s Solutions Academy.
As a facilitator, he designs and delivers creative leadership training and events for organisations in science and technology, drawing on theories and practices from agile software development, improvised theatre, design thinking and cultural intelligence. He has run public workshops on interpersonal communication for The School of Life and the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and workshops on creativity and collaboration for engineers and designers at major conferences.
Antony studied economics in France, computer science and interaction design in London, genetics in Cambridge, and improvised theatre with improv pioneer Keith Johnstone. Alongside his native English, he speaks fluent French and Spanish.
Viviane Vicente
Master Facilitator
Cultural Intelligence Center
Viviane Vicente is a global professional with a legal background and over 20 years of experience in both government and corporate settings. Prior to joining the Cultural Intelligence Centre, she operated her own consultancy, specialised in educating business people, military personnel, nonprofit staff, and other professionals on how to communicate, present, and successfully lead in domestic and international environments. She is passionate about organisational behaviour topics and has spoken on matters of Business Etiquette and Cross-cultural Management at various events around the world.
Viviane possesses a Law degree and an MBA from Brazilian universities, a Master of Laws degree (LL.M.) in National Security and U.S. Foreign Relations Law from The George Washington University Law School, and a Certificate degree in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) from Georgetown University. She is a speaker of English, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.
Syrus Lowe
Corporate Role-Player, Lead Facilitator and Co-Founder
The Communication Practice
Syrus has worked in every corner of the economy as a role-player and facilitator. He has 15 years’ experience covering many areas including Personal Impact, Diversity and Inclusion, Health and Safety, and Pivotal Conversations. Syrus is very experienced in all forms of role-play including Briefed, Bespoke and Forum Theatre. His work as a role-player has seen him work with clients including KPMG, John Lewis, Defra, Hachette and Thames Valley Police.
As well as being an excellent role-play actor Syrus is very experienced at giving evidence-based developmental feedback. One of Syrus’s main facilitation clients is the British Army. Syrus has facilitated sessions with up to 100 soldiers around their core principle of Respect for Others. This work sees him facilitate Forum Theatre, hot-seating, voting and very robust discussions. Syrus is also a lead Facilitator on the Diversity and Inclusion module of the Army’s promotional courses. These more intensive sessions look at bullying and harassment, unconscious bias, leading with empathy, active listening and questioning techniques. Syrus’s other facilitation clients include the Government Commercial Organisation, Public Health England, the Submarine Delivery Agency and The Telegraph.
As a facilitator Syrus has delivered countless sessions where he has had to use the following models: GROW, Mehrabian, Johari’s Window, Transactional Analysis, the Change Curve and the Cultural Iceberg.
In 2016 Syrus created the Role-Play Masterclass for Actors. This one-day workshop introduces actors to the world of corporate role-play. Many of Syrus’s participants now work as role-play actors for some of the UK’s top role-play companies.
Qualification: BA Hons Acting
Nicola Paul
Founder
Good Work Life
Nic is a culture, inclusion and ethics expert. She is a specialist in Cultural Intelligence (CQ) and holds a Master’s degree in Intercultural Communication for Businesses, for which her first-class thesis was in CQ.
Nic has been a strategic cultural consultant for organisations such as McDonald’s, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Marks and Spencer, Carnival UK (P&O and Cunard Cruises), Saga, Charles Tyrwhitt, Nomad Foods and Howdens Joinery.
Nic is a founding partner and board member of Inbeta; a revolutionary executive talent business that uses technology and intelligence to mitigate bias and provide due diligence for decisions on talent. She is the organisation’s moral compass and provides advisory services to clients.
Prior to consultancy, Nic was the first Head of Diversity and Inclusion for the John Lewis Partnership following a career as a Waitrose Branch Manager.
Samara Hakim, JD
Master Facilitator and Consultant
CulturGrit, LLC
Samara Hakim, JD, is the Founder of CulturGrit, LLC. She is an international culture and inclusion thought leader, data strategist, speaker, writer, coach, and facilitator. For over a decade, Samara has equipped leaders with the cultural intelligence to work with those who are different, by mitigating bias and integrating culture into business practices and metrics. She has extensive experience in communication, conflict transformation, diversity, equity, inclusion, implicit bias mitigation, and culture transformation. Samara is a dynamic speaker who engages people to think beyond their comfort zone and to work across differences. She draws on a range of experiences including her work across cultures, acculturation in the U.S., her legal career, and her personal background. Samara grew up in Lebanon. She has traveled extensively and is fluent in French, Arabic, and English, and conversational in Spanish. Samara loves chocolate, biking, and dancing. She currently resides in San Diego, CA.
Keyla Waslawski
Vice President, Sales and Marketing
Cultural Intelligence Center
Keyla Waslawski is our Vice President, Sales and Marketing and Secretary. She oversees all of our sales and marketing processes and projects. Keyla also leads our business development, communications, client relations, and technology initiatives. Keyla graduated from Michigan State University with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and earned her M.B.A., Financial Accounting at Wayne State University in Detroit. She enjoys applying her analytical skills and eye for numbers to support and lead the Sales & Marketing team at the Cultural Intelligence Center. Keyla’s hobbies include gardening and home improvement projects, but what she enjoys most is spending time with her husband and two children.
Devi Virdi
Group Head of Diversity & Inclusion
Centrica
Devi was previously Head of Diversity & Inclusion for Women in Hospitality & Travel-Tech and supported partners across travel-tech sectors and was proud to have delivered global and regional I&D programmes. She was recently awarded and recognised in 2021 as a Top 50 Women in Travel Industry by WiNiT at the Global Business Travel Association for her work in Diversity & Inclusion across the travel sector. Prior to that Devi was the Managing Director and D&I Lead for Northern Europe at a tier one travel technology provider. With over 25 years of experience in the hospitality and tech industry across HR, sales, marketing, operations, she believes being dynamic, curious, bold and courageous in today’s business environment is key to achieving lasting success.
Devi sits on a number of UK and Global committees supporting and driving DE&I. She is a mentor with women both in Fast Forward15 2021, 2022 program and The Girls Network, supporting girls from underrepresented backgrounds.
Originally from Hong Kong, she studied in Australia and has been in the UK for over 27 years, giving her a great insight in cultural and regional nuances and has supported her across leading global regions successfully in her roles. She now lives in Greater London with her family and two young children.
Bernadette Thompson
Associate Director of Inclusion
Bart Health NHS Trust
Bernadette is the Associate Director of Inclusion for NHS Barts Health. Prior to this role, she spent 23 years in the Civil Service where she held a range of operational and HR roles, across many Government departments and agencies, including, Ministry of Justice, Home Office, HM Treasury, Legal Aid Agency, Cabinet Office and Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
For five years, Bernadette co-chaired a multi-award-winning cross government race network; she is a pivotal influencer and trusted partner to senior leaders across a range of sectors. She has a proven track record of engaging with employees at every level, reaching hearts and minds and supporting people to be the best that they can be. She is also a Different Woman Ambassador and actively advocates for or a more inclusive gender agenda, amplifying the voices for women of colour.
Ritika Wadhwa
VP, Global Diversity Practice
Cultural Intelligence Center
Dr. Sandra Upton is Vice President, Global Diversity Practices with the Cultural Intelligence Center, and is responsible for providing leadership and expertise on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) matters for CQC clients across the globe. She has over twenty-five years of experience training and consulting with businesses, educational institutions, governmental agencies, and non-profits around the globe. She has led CQC’s response to the growing demand from global companies such as Amway, Starbucks, Steelcase, Hallmark, Fiat-Chrysler, Perrigo, Cintas and institutions and schools like Harvard University, London School of Economics, University of Michigan, Queensland University, Stanford University, Cornell University, Boston Public Schools, Dallas ISD, that are committed to integrating CQ into their diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
Sandra is also the subject matter expert for the Center’s work in unconscious bias and has led the Center’s unconscious bias certification programs across the globe. She is a frequent speaker and consults with numerous businesses and institutions on how to effectively integrate CQ and unconscious bias assessments and training into business and educational settings. She travels frequently and has consulted with organizations and facilitated trainings in places such as Brazil, China, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Israel, Singapore, South Africa, and several countries throughout Europe.
She and her husband Robert, are the proud (and excited empty-nesters) of two amazing college-aged children, Alexis and Devin.
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