UNBiased: Recent Episodes
Dharshi Harindra
All of us carry our own biases. They are a product of our environment, our upbringing, and our lived experiences. Through guest interviews and their stories, UNBiased explores the way bias affects the lives of others, and what we can do to address it.
Late last year I challenged myself to making 2024 a year of doing less and being more. First part of that challenge – figuring out what that means to me in practical terms. Turns out, "doing less and being more" is easier said than done!
That's also why my beloved podcast is taking a short break. At 50 episodes strong, it felt like time to hit refresh. I'm diving deeper, uncovering new themes, and lining up inspiring guests to explore:
- How our biases sculpt the world around us
- The tricky (and often unhelpful) role of labels
- And what it even means to be "normal" anymore
In the meantime, stay curious, stay tuned, and maybe find your own way to hit the slow button.
More insights from UNBiased will be back from Q2 2024.
Wrapping up 2023 with a commitment to bid farewell to burnout in 2024! Joined by DEI expert Khayshie Tilak Ramesh, who shares both her personal experiences with burnout as well nuggets from her tried and tested programmes for getting from burnout to balance. But Khayshie's systemic approach goes beyond quick fixes, addressing the energy drain faced by underrepresented groups in demanding systems, and we explored the need for systemic change alongside the personal.
✨ For any of you who feel the need for permission to slow down and rest, please take this episode as all the permission you need.
🌟 Quote stuck on Khayshie's laptop:
“Instead of asking 'have I worked hard enough to deserve a rest? ', I've started asking, 'Have I rested enough to do my most loving, meaningful work? '” – Nicola Jane Hobbs.
Joining me on the latest episode of UNBiased is Siang Lu.
Siang is the award-winning author of The Whitewash, the co-creator of The Beige Index and the creator of #dumbbookstagram. The Whitewash won Audiobook of the Year at the 2023 Australian Book Industry Awards and the Glendower Emerging Writer Award at the Queensland Literary Awards, and was shortlisted at the NSW Premiers Literary Awards.
In our conversation we delved into The Whitewash in all its punchy, poignant, entertaining and laugh-out-loud funny glory. Siang also shared openly about his own personal journey that led him both to writing (he quit his law degree pretty early on in favour of literature), and targeting representation in so many forms to build visibility of important issues in novel ways.
The Whitewash is a mockumentary addressing Asian representation in Hollywood. This led Siang to co-create The Beige Index - the Bechdel Test for race, exploring ethnic representation in the IMDb Top 250 Films.
Can't wait to read more from Siang.
Learn more about Siang here: https://www.siang-lu.com/
Check out the Beige Index here: https://thebeigeindex.com
Rounding off a series of episodes exploring cognitive biases that I uncovered through my own journey in private practice before studying bias itself – this week highlighting some of the biases that keep us tethered to the status quo.
Overcoming biases begins with understanding. Identify and unlock a new way of thinking to discover the unknown unknowns.
Ever been told not to be the first on the dancefloor? Well, that unconventional advice came from a senior partner rallying a large group of us at the launch of our "Innovation Committee" at a law firm I worked for some time ago.
"Why not lead from the front?" you might ask. The answer lies in understanding cognitive biases, which every one of us has.
We've heard so many varied stories and lived experiences of biases through the podcast. Today we take a step back to break down what we mean when referring to cognitive biases, and deep dive into a few of them - the bandwagon effect, social proof, status quo bias, and in-group bias, based on a lived example.
Cognitive diversity isn’t spoken about enough in the DEI world.
Conversations I’ve had over the past few weeks made me reflect on my early experiences as a new lawyer. When I started out in law school surrounded by the people who would become my colleagues for at least the next 2 years, I was convinced I’d found my people. I belonged. And there can be no better feeling, particularly in an industry known for its long hours – we were going to be spending a whole lot of time together.
When I first realised I felt this way because we were all thought in the same way the joy of belonging outdid any voices in my head that would speculate over whether this was problematic.
Today, we are much more aware of hiring for culture add, rather than culture fit. But a lack of cognitive diversity – an environment where teams all think and operate in one way, and who suppress alternative thoughts for fear of losing that sense of belonging, harms not only inclusion, but an organisation’s ability to survive disruption.
I felt compelled to share one of my law school stories after recognising that law firms which are genuinely invested in adopting an innovative future-focused mindset, have a blind spot when it comes to cognitive diversity.
If this resonates with you, I’d love to hear from you.
If this really doesn’t resonate with you, I’d also love to hear from you.
If you are one of those lawyers who does think or operate differently but rarely use that voice at work for fear of losing your perceived sense of belonging, I’d love to hear from you.
Joining me today is Tash Menon - CEO & Co-Founder of global creative technology company, Mash. Founded in 2018, Mash’s foundational belief is that there’s a more creative way to do creative services. Having flipped the traditional agency model on its head — by curating bespoke creative teams from referral-only freelancers — Mash has cultivated a global community of creatives working across 28 countries, with global brands such as Netflix, Breitling, Accor Hotels and some of Asia Pacific’s fastest growing scale-up businesses.
The Mash of today has evolved into something almost unrecognisable from when it was started on a kitchen dining table. With the focus of redefining the future of work and continually building a culture that empowers and encourages both brands and creatives to benefit from remote work structures, Tash’s direct and transparent approach has led her to now build a global business that has been recognised in almost every industry and business publication in Australia. Dubbed the ‘Mighty Mouse’ of the advertising industry by Forbes USA and proudly named one of Campaign Asia’s ‘Women to Watch’, it’s safe to say Tash’s impact on the industry has spread far and wide, changing the way brands and creatives view their work for the unforeseeable future — and for the better.
Mash is also listed in Saari Collective’s 101 South Asian Australian Startup Founders List (which you can check out here: https://saaricollective.com.au/south-asian-australian-startup-founder-list/?v=1).
Tash so naturally embodies the qualities of a textbook founder with a twist – living and breathing inclusive leadership without rhetoric.
I hope you enjoy the conversation and all of Tash’s stories of the ups and downs of the startup game.
I’m joined this week by Sandeep Varma.
Sandeep is the Founder and CEO of award-winning South Asian Australian media startup SAARI Collective. SAARI works to build the capacity of South Asians to write and build media skills.
After being selected for funding by the Google News Equity Fund, SAARI Collective built a media list of 101 South Asian Startup Founders - a list and report which launched last month.
During this episode Sandeep shares his unique approach to storytelling and his mission to get greater visibility and representation of South Asians in the media, and reveal the value of narratives shared from underrepresented perspectives beyond identity.
Through his work Sandeep challenges the inherent biases that exist in the media industry which have managed to establish that a majority perspective is considered an objective perspective as a result.
Sandeep is a true advocate for community, creativity, diversity, conscious leadership and the value of play in bringing out the best in us and how we show up in the world.
I’d love to hear your thoughts. What ‘norms’ exist as mainstream, that just don’t reflect your own lived experiences? Is there a way you could share those more openly to disrupt the thinking of those around you?
You can connect with Sandeep here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandeepkvarma/
And read SAARI's work and find the 101 South Asian Startup Founders List here: https://saaricollective.com.au/
I’m joined this week by Charlotte Faul.
Charlotte is the founder of Purple Consulting a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Consultancy, uniquely specialising in Disability Inclusion.
Charlotte has a disability, chronic pain which resulted in Charlotte being on long term sick leave. When she returned to work Charlotte realised just how many barriers people with disabilities face in the workplace and how rarely disability is prioritised in DEI plans.
The fact that so many people in business already have disabilities and yet very few share them, is what compelled Charlotte to move into this space. So she set up Purple Consultancy to work with businesses who want to build better workplaces for their staff with disabilities.
As well as sharing her story, Charlotte and I talk language around disability, the lack of data in some areas versus the data that does exist to suggest that it’s rarely safe for people to share their health concerns openly with their employer, trust, and more.
If you’d like more detail on Charlotte’s personal journey with chronic pain, do check out a video created as part of Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place:
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CPBWUT0I32B/?utm_medium=copy_link
Connect with Charlotte here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlotte-faul/
This week’s guest on UNBiased is Jahin Tanvir, CEO of the Australian School of Entrepreneurship, 3-time TEDx speaker, board director, media personality, and angel investor who was named in the 2022 list of the 40 under 40 Most Influential Asian-Australians, at the age of 21.
Jahin shares his personal journey and professional insights as an award-winning advocate for young people, and diversity and inclusion.
It’s impossible not to be inspired by Jahin’s drive and optimism to effect change. Hope you enjoy. Would love to hear your thoughts!
6 months since moving and it’s time to lay all the questions on the table as I start to dig deeper into labels, identity, and how we shift the needle on D, E, and I when what it means can differ so much between groups, organisations and countries.
To those who work in and/or maintain their commitment to DEI, do you still get affected by your own biases?
At a time when DEI fatigue has set in and budgets are getting slashed, does DEI need a rebrand?
I’m joined this week by Junie Baptiste Poitevien. Junie is the Founder & CEO of Propel Innovations, a boutique for UX research and inclusive design, tapping into overlooked niche markets for consumer brand businesses to give them a competitive edge. Junie is a co-Author of Undefeated, Junie is also host of the podcast Uncover Untapped Markets, and is training for her third Ironman70.3.
Junie has broken into the tech industry as a non-tech by tapping into her entrepreneurial spirit to start seeing better representation in tech and with a wild goal to remove biases in the design of products and technology.
During our conversation Junie shares both her personal story and the stories of those around her that drive her to push businesses to operate in a more inclusive way and reach untapped markets to drive up their commercial success at the same time.
Tune in this week to hear the dynamic Pernilla Nordstrom share her story of high achievement, being driven by a mix of passion, dedication and FOMO (fear of missing out), only to lead to burnout. What followed was Pernilla learning in her forties, that she has ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder).
Pernilla joins a growing number of adult women getting diagnosed with ADHD, and amidst some degree of controversy around this development it was great to hear some of her firsthand experiences and the importance to Pernilla of being able to identify a diagnosis and put the tools to manage it in place.
She has made it her mission to always walk her own way and talk about her story and diagnosis to address misunderstandings around ADHD in women as well as hopefully remove bias around what it means to live with ADHD and other types of neurodiversity in the workplace.
Tune in this week to hear my conversation with Vividhata Founder, and Physicist, Arti Agrawal to hear about her journey to combine her 2 core passions of science and social justice as an Indian woman and proud member of the global LGBTQIA+ community.
As well as hearing Arti's story navigating academia and science as an Indian, lesbian woman, we reflect on just how far we’ve come in terms of addressing intersectionality compared to when Arti was starting out her scientific career, and the importance of having allies to move the needle on inclusion.
I encourage you all to listen and to follow Arti’s social enterprise, Vividhata, where Arti is seeking to inject innovation into the DEI space whilst giving back to community.
https://vividhata.co/
Rakan Brahedni is on a mission to inspire others to live more mindful and meaningful lives.
He is a technologist, futurist, health coach, father-of-two, and author of 2021 book, Mindful Futurism - Paving the Way for future generations.
Through Rakan sharing his journey both personal and professional we engaged in a thought-provoking discussion on bias, technology, and the importance of adopting a mindful approach to innovation with a preference for being an “early experimenter” rather than an early adopter.
Founder, D&I practitioner and podcast host Lisa Mulligan joins me on UNBiased this week.
Lisa is the Founder and Director of The Culture Ministry. It has been her dream to establish a pragmatic and experienced business offering D&I consultancy and support services that are provided by experienced people who have actually delivered D&I work within organisations across Asia.
Not only has she realised this dream, but Lisa has been instrumental in building communities of DEI professionals across Asia and is one of the first in the region to develop a diversity and inclusion salary survey within Asia.
Find out more about Lisa, her community, and offerings here: https://www.thecultureministry.com/
Such a pleasure to chat with Melbourne-based coach, freelance general counsel, DEI consultant, speaker and author, @Niti Nadarajah on the latest episode of UNBiased podcast.
Niti advocates for a range of issues including gender and racial equity, and through her business, Coaching by Niti, helps to empower women who are feeling stuck in their careers to get unstuck by connecting them to their inner compass.
Niti was recognised as a LinkedIn Top Voice (Gender Equity) in 2022 and is also a certified Master NLP practitioner, Coach and Gender Equality Expert with Grace Papers, DEI practitioner on the NASA Astrophysics IDEA practitioner database, legal adviser to, and consultant with, The Creative Co-operative, an angel investor at Nobody Studios, a founding member and DEI Ambassador at Human Leaders, and was recently awarded Mentor of the Year Future Women. Niti also provides support to women who’ve suffered miscarriage as a Peer Support Companion at The Pink Elephants Support Network and Community Partner for White Ribbon (Australia) and mum to two.
We chat inclusive leadership, authenticity and “getting out of your head and into your body and feeling all the feels”.
I hope you enjoy.
My guest today is someone who truly brings her absolute whole self to everything she does, I'm joined by Krystle McGilvery.
Krystle is an award-winning Founder of Mind Over Money, a finance training and education consultancy, she is a Behavioural Finance specialist, Podcaster, Mentor, and Coach. Krystle combines finance and psychology to improve financial decision-making, confidence, and wellbeing. She has worked with the likes of Equifax, Moonpig, and AllBright. Krystle comes to us from the UK and she’s appeared on ITV, been featured in several papers such as the Telegraph, on Refinery29, and on BBC Radio. Krystle is also the Board Director of several charities, a Chartered Accountant, and Mental Health First Aider.
Krystle shares openly about her journey to entrepreneurship success as a neuro-divergent, black woman, and how she leverages her differences to help other "others" reach a state of financial wellbeing.
Welcoming back my second repeat guest on UNBiased, Rohan Wickremesinghe. Rohan joined me as my very first guest recording from our closet in Canberra, Australia.
As well as holding the coveted position of being my life partner and Husband, Rohan spent close to 2 decades working with huge players in the Banking, Insurance and Consumer industries around the world managing technology projects and technology risk.
Hear his perspectives on the Big Move to Singapore; being the first and only in his organisation to take 3 months' parental leave as a Dad; leaving to set up his own company, and how he lives in to his values every day at work.
Less than 3 weeks into moving the family to Singapore, it's just me sharing my first impressions and experiences and reflections in the context of tackling bias.
More guests to come in the following episodes.
Stay tuned!
A slightly different format to usual today. I’m still joined by an inimitable guest who’s committed to addressing bias through their work combining their lived and learned experience. But I wanted to take some time out to chat about some of the challenges with doing this work, particularly where it may be a side hustle, or an additional burden to the daily lives of underrepresented groups, which it often is.
And kicking this off, I’m joined this week on UNBiased podcast by Daizy Maan where we discuss “the left eating the left”.
Daizy is the founder of Australian Digital Job Accelerator which empowers women to gain financial independence through freelance work, and is the Co-founder of Australian South Asian Centre (ASAC), a community of purpose driven South Asian women who are creatives, founders and leaders. ASAC's work has been featured on SBS World News, ABC and SBS. She has recently been awarded Melbourne Asia Game Changer Awards by Asia Society in 2022 for her work on empowering South Asian women.
Join us as we discuss the not uncommon experience, which has more recently been backed up by research, that those on the left (politically) are more prone to call out people within their own group for their actions. This is compared with those on the right, who place more value on group loyalty and are more likely to call out people outside of their group or echo chamber.
I loved shooting the breeze with Daizy on this. Reach out and let me know if this resonates with you, and if there are other topics you’d like to hear addressed this year on UNBiased
Kicking off 2022 on UNBiased with the inimitable Dinesh Palipana.
Dinesh is a doctor, lawyer, disability advocate, researcher, and author of his memoir, Stronger published in 2022. He was the first quadriplegic medical intern in Queensland, having suffered a spinal cord injury as a result of a motor vehicle accident halfway through medical school.
Following too many accolades over the last few years to call out within LinkedIn word limits, Dinesh was listed as number 33 in the Courier Mail’s top 100 power list for Queensland’s most influential in health and wellbeing.
I highly encourage you all to read his book where he shares so openly about a whole gamut of biases he’s been triumphing over during the course of his life so far.
My final guest for 2022 on UNBiased podcast is an emerging changemaker who is committed to engaging across cultures within community, Joseph Kolapudi. Joseph currently serves as Creative Director for SolveSquad, a 100% online response platform utilising virtual volunteering to connect with young professionals post-pandemic. He also serves on the board of the Australian Refugee and Migrant Care Services (ARMCare), a nonprofit organisation providing support services to the most vulnerable. What is particularly striking when you listen to this episode is just what an impactful leader Joseph is. So enriching to talk to such a great role model on how to get the best out of teams, and how to best combine global learnings to effect change.
Joining me this week on UNBiased podcast is award-winning human rights advocate, lawyer, diversity and inclusion practitioner, author, media commentator and CEO of Media Diversity Australia, [@ ] Mariam Veiszadeh.
Mariam was born in Afghanistan and came to Australia in 1990 with her family as a refugee.
With many accolades to her name including the Fairfax Daily Life 2016 Woman of the year, the 2015 Westpac Woman of Influence and Welcoming Australia Life Member Award in 2021, Mariam is renowned for influencing positive change both in the workplace and in society more broadly.
Mariam shares openly about her own personal journey, including the toll that her unending commitment to inclusion has brought along the way.
Since recording, Media Diversity Australia released “Who Gets To Tell Australian Stories 2.0” a follow up to its landmark 2020 report evaluating progress in the diversity of media representation in Australia. The report highlights the long journey ahead for the media, particularly news and current affairs, to reach a point where it represents the society it serves. I appreciate all the work Mariam and her team is doing in this space, and encourage you to check out the report for yourselves: https://www.mediadiversityaustralia.org/who-gets-to-tell-australian-stories-2-0/.
Joining me this week on UNBiased podcast Kaley Nicholson, Co-Founder of Yilam, a 100% Aboriginal owned and female led startup that is changing the face of the camping industry by embedding Aboriginal philosophies of interconnectedness and caring for Country across the sector through their range of ethically and sustainably sourced camping equipment and bespoke on Country experiences.
After a rewarding career in the public service, working across all levels of government including local, state, and federal, Kaley found her true passion as an entrepreneur and has been sweeping the board at pitch nights, particularly those aimed at supporting female founders.
In this candid conversation Kaley shares her journey from raising kids as a single teenage mother, with the support of her own Mum, studying, working, earning financial freedom and challenging misconceptions left, right and center along the way.
Joining me on UNBiased podcast today Hawanatu Bangura.
Hawanatu is an award-winning filmmaker and social worker who specialises in mental health.
She is the founder of Mahawa Creative, a storytelling agency that crafts socially impactful videos for organisations that want to tell compelling stories.
As a mental health clinician she is passionate about helping people enhance their wellbeing and self-worth. As part of her social enterprise she runs Rejuvenate, a workplace wellbeing program supporting employees to be more connected to themselves, their work and feel a greater sense of belonging that leads to higher productivity and performance.
Hawanatu has managed to combine her training, work and expertise in film making, social work and clinical mental health practice into a truly unique offering which serves to help underrepresented groups find the space to bring their authentic selves to work, and also supports established film makers with the tools they need to be able to tell untold stories from similar underrepresented groups.
So refreshing to speak to someone forging a new path with such grace and confidence.
Engage with Hawanatu:
www.mahawacreative.com
www.hawanatu.com
Instagram/Facebook: @mahawacreative
This week’s guest on UNBiased podcast is Michelle Sheppard, or “Mama Mish” as she is affectionately known.
Michelle is a highly respected presenter, advocate, and trainer in the gender equity space. As a transgender woman, she appreciates the difficulties within the grey created by the gender divide and traverses them herself and willingly takes others on the ride with her.
Michelle brings her lived experience of being a trans woman into her work, running diversity, equity, and inclusion training, mentoring colleagues, and providing extra support to anyone transitioning or affirming their gender. In her work Michelle lays out the sobering statistics around violence and discrimination against transgender people, unemployment, financial troubles, and mental health issues but mixes them with anecdotes and funny stories from her life.
Michelle's goal is the achievement of a work environment in which all individuals are treated fairly and respectfully, have equal access to opportunities and resources, and can contribute fully to the organization's success.
Michelle shares openly her journey made up of more than 1 kind of transition, the impacts on her mental health, family and relationships, and how she found the resolve to lean in to living an authentic life as the antidote to discrimination and unwarranted biases.
Marian is a marine biologist, academic, lecturer, researcher and founder of Mooch Denim Upcycled.
More recently, Marian founded new venture Mooch Denim Upcycled, where she designs and makes bags and other fashion items from unwanted denim and remnant fabrics. By upcycling jeans and fabrics that would otherwise go to waste, she aims to spread the word about the environmental impacts of fast fashion on the planet.
By supporting upcycling and taking a slow fashion mindset, Marian believes in the power we all have to help reduce the enormous amount of waste that piles up each day.
It was so refreshing to chat to someone who doesn’t let labels define her, surrounds herself with people driven by purpose and the aim to solve big problems collaboratively, who lives her values daily and combines passion, experience and purpose into everything she does.
For more information and how to get involved you can follow Marian here:
Website: www.moochdenim.com.au
Email: info@moochdenim.com
Instagram: @moochdenim
Facebook: @mooch_denim
Marian’s tip on where to go for a guide on fair trade clothing brands: https://goodonyou.eco/
Caroline is my first repeat guest on UNBiased having joined me last year in episode 7 to talk about her work as CEO of Organise Curate Design. To recap on Caroline’s bio, for over almost two decades, Caroline Brunne has mastered the art and science of supporting high-performing leaders via strategic life management.
Now Caroline adds “author” to her CV through an act of unshakable courage; sharing her own true story and becoming someone new. In writing her debut book More Than One Thing Can Be True: a story of survival, Caroline not only bravely changed her world but ignited a mission to change the world for children today and for future generations. Her story is a compelling account of healing despite the odds. It speaks to the reality of trauma, and also the power we have to transform and heal. It is a story of one courageous woman, who, despite carrying decades of shame, chose to own her voice. In doing so, she is paving the way for survivors to own their voices and live a life of courageous intention.
I encourage you all to tune in to the latest episode of UNBiased where I’m joined by multi-award-winning, marketer extraordinaire, and founder of Suits&Sneakers, Anne Miles.
Anne is the quiet achiever at pushing people outside the box - for business performance and cultural gain. Most of all, that includes the need to remove negative stereotypes and old ways of targeting customers.
Anne believes in diversity in the way that she works, and for the end products produced as well as advocating for change to Government to change the rules on stereotypes.
Anne shares her personal experiences openly and how those experiences drive her to effect change in the advertising space where there is much to be done to ensure that advertising is truly representative of the consumers being targetted.
Trigger warning: some of the content depicts experiences of sexual violence in the workplace and at home which some listeners may find distressing.
Joining me today is Nusrat Uddin.
Nusrat is a British human rights lawyer of Bangladeshi origin.
Nusrat joined Wilsons Public Law Department as a solicitor in 2014 and she is now a partner specialising in public law and human rights, with a particular focus on modern slavery, forced labour and human trafficking bringing cases against central and local government bodies for failing their duties, as well as claims against those who have exploited their workers.
Nusrat is growing the firm’s Business and Human Rights work, specifically in relation to modern slavery in supply chains. She has provided evidence for several US investigations into complaints against companies, from the fashion industry through to rubber gloves. The US authorities have banned certain products from entering the US where indicators of forced labour in supply chains have been found. She believes the UK’s approach is far weaker and is critical of the Modern Slavery Act’s approach.
Since recording the podcast earlier this year Nusrat won a ground-breaking, and world-first case in the UK’s highest court which held that a diplomat is not immune from modern-slavery charges and will be subject to action for subjecting a domestic worker to modern slavery.
In recognition of her work in this field, Nusrat has been shortlisted in the 2019 Anti-Slavery Day Awards, for Outstanding Contribution to the fight against Slavery, in the Enabling and Supporting Survivor Rights and Entitlements category.
As well as going after employers and those who contravene anti-slavery legislation at scale, Nusrat also has an interest in improving state support for victims of modern slavery, by challenging the cuts to susbsistence monies paid to victims, and she has helped victims to earn back rebates of around 1 million pounds in aggregate for victim support payments.
Nusrat was Highly Commended at the 2019 Law Society Excellence Awards for Human Rights Lawyer of the Year. Nusrat was also shortlisted as a finalist for Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year 2019, organised by the Legal Aid Practitioners Group.
Her passion and sense of purpose in this area is so evident in how she has spent her time in and around her work, through volunteering in the UK and internationally, including work with the Human Rights and Legal Aid department of on of the world’s largest NGO’s, BRAC in Bangladesh, (formerly Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee).
Bedi (she/her) is the co-founder of DivTal, an online job platform that connects inclusive organisations to migrant or culturally and linguistically diverse jobseekers.
Bedi is a passionate Human Resource professional with over 10 years’ experience within the finance industry. Her areas of expertise include Graduate and Early Career Talent Management, Diversity & Inclusion, Change & Communications, and Recruitment and Program Management. Bedi is involved in numerous diversity & inclusion committees and advocates for minority women and youth empowerment.
Divtal was born out of Bedi, and her fellow South Sudanese Australian co-founder Lorna Deng, both seeking to improve employment opportunities for job candidates from underrepresented backgrounds having faced and overcome their own employment barriers in Australia.
From the moment you encounter and engage with Bedi it is abundantly clear that she is a force to be reckoned with and a force for good and equal. She is a driven co-founder and a great example of a committed entrepreneur who is currently successfully navigating both the start-up and corporate HR worlds.
You can learn more and connect with Bedi here:
https://divtal.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bedi-othow-91952667/
It's taken a while to get back on schedule with these podcast episodes, and you'll hear from this one that it was recorded on International Women's Day! But conversations like these can't stay in the can forever! So I'm delighted to be back in flow of publishing and recording more great conversations on all things bias and equity. This week's guest is Julia Arnott-Neenee. Julia is driven by social justice, people and futures, and as you'll hear from our conversation she is truly aligned with that purpose.
Julia is a Sāmoan, Chinese & British Global Strategist with her career spanning across Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, UK & USA in the Technology sector. Julia has recently joined Emerge Aotearoa as the national manager of transformation Emerge Aotearoa is New Zealand’s largest NGO, whose mission is to strengthen whānau so that communities thrive. She is also the only Pacific member of the Digital Council for Aotearoa New Zealand, a member of World Economic Forum Global Futures Council on AI and Humanity (Inclusion), Trustee of Hi-Tech Trust, Board Member at Middlemore Foundation, Mentor at First Foundation and has also co-founded her only Social Enterprise – PeopleForPeople: a youth-led Pacific organisation on a mission to ensure that everyone confidently participates in the Digital World of today and tomorrow.
In this conversation Julia shares openly about her upbringing and heritage. We get real on the importance of psychological safety in the workplace, tokenism, and creating safe technology.
You can connect with Julia here.
Before resuming regular programming with more fabulous guests, I'm hogging the mic for International Women's Day 2022 #BreaktheBias. Couldn't be more on point really.
I am also shamelessly plugging a new initiative Women for Impact - Set up to create safe spaces and empower Women of Colour Founders to secure more funding, we are launching over drinks, networking and a fantastic panel discussion to kick things off. If you're around in Melbourne this Friday 11th March 6:30pm, register for free tickets to join us! https://events.humanitix.com/international-women-s-day-2022-break-the-bias?_ga=2.83055829.219392571.1645519930-1825002683.1644552808
Happy IWD!
My guest to round off 2022 is Tanaya Joshi.
Tanaya wears many hats, including her current role in Impact and Communications at Earthwatch Australia, an environmental not-for-profit that uses nature-based experiences to empower people in saving nature.
She is also a science and culture writer at SAARI collective, a media start-up aiming to diversify Australian media, and is part of the Science Gallery Melbourne's Sci Curious, a group of young people shaping a gallery which brings together sciences and the arts. While working, Tanaya is also completing a Masters in Environment and Sustainability at Monash University.
Her current passions lie in science communication, systemic change to slow the climate and biodiversity crisis, and striving to platform First Nations and people of colour in the movement for a liveable future.
I'm joined on this week's episode by Khin Kha. Khin is a cultural diversity champion and co-founder of Phoenix Sisters, a volunteer-based network which aims to help people and organisations to understand and cultivate their cultural intelligence through professional development conferences, career workshops and mentoring programs.
Khin shares so warmly and openly about her upbringing in Myanmar as the daughter of Burmese film star Kyaw Hein, moving to Australia with limited English, and working her way up the corporate ladder at Ernst and Young, co-founding Phoenix Sisters and being recognised as a nominee for Asia 21 Young Leaders.
Despite her relatively unique upbringing there is so much of Khin's story and experiences that will be relatable to many.
Joining me today is Founder and CEO of Inner Ambitions, Lanre Sulola.
Lanre found his calling to dedicate his career to the pursuit of diversity and inclusion in the midst of a corporate career which led him to set up Inner Ambitions in 2013 and he's never looked back.
Lanre shares the story of his journey which began as a side hustle, chipping away and building his network whilst creating programmes for under-represented communities, to today, where, based in London, Inner Ambitions has an enviable list of blue chip clients seeking out his services to help them foster an inclusive environment in their workplaces.
Lanre shares some valuable practical tips for both leaders, and individuals who want to thrive whilst being able to be their authentic selves at work.
In this episode I'm joined by Psychologist specialising in childhood trauma, Dr Rana Tayara. Dr Rana was born and brought up in Lebanon, and has studied and worked in the UK and Australia.
She has been a psychological consultant for a number of NGOs in Lebanon, Jordan and the UK, working with refugees, delinquent youth and individuals with special needs.
Since moving to Australia in January 2016, Rana has continued to hone her focus on raising awareness against child abuse and more specifically child sexual abuse.
Rana shares openly her story taking her from war-torn Lebanon to Australia, and we talk biases, commonalities and differences in the factors affecting childhood mental health from her experiences across the Globe.
For those of you who joined me earlier this year for the launch of UNBiased as a brand new podcast, I'm back after a Covid-19 Delta variant-induced hiatus. Here in Australia, we were forced to move swiftly from trying to keep Covid-19 off our shores, to vaccinating and living with it like the rest of the world. As a result we were thrown back into lockdown - my first one having to home school a 5 year old, whilst juggling full time work, setting up a new business, and generally riding out the ups and downs that came with closed international borders when all our family support is based in the UK.
But I'm back! I'm double vaxxed. Kids are back in school and daycare. And international borders are starting to re-open.
I'm excited to introduce you to some great guests, and take our conversations into new territories.
Kicking off with Prerana Mehta: CEO, Board Director; Mum of 3. The sheer breadth of Prerana's career and the amount that she has given back to her community through her work with notable NGO's SisterWorks and BraveHER; and to Australia's cyber-security efforts both here and overseas through her work with AustCyber, is breathtaking.
In this episode Prerana shares her story behind her immense CV and gives us a glimpse into biases that she's overcome, and why we should be hopeful for all that can be achieved with the right mindset.
Shiralee Lawson is extremely passionate about Aboriginal education, Aboriginal youth, and community. On this episode Shiralee shares her lived experiences as an Aboriginal woman, and we discuss truth telling in schools, and empowerment for Aboriginal girls and women.
You can follow Shiralee's work here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shiralee-lawson-3a34bb16/
Today I'm joined by Natalie Silvester, personal trainer and co-founder of More Than Muscle. Natalie and I talk myth busting, and having a holistic view to health and fitness. The majority of Natalie's clients are women, and Natalie's unique approach gives her a real edge when it comes to connecting with women and getting results both inside and outside the gym.
Learn more about More Than Muscle here: https://www.morethanmuscle.co.uk/
And follow Nat on Insta @ptnatsilvester
Today I'm joined by Ainslee Hooper. Ainslee is an Anthropologist & Disability Inclusion Consultant and founder of Ainslee Hooper Consulting.
Ainslee is passionate about disability inclusion because of her lived experience of disability and the benefits for all she sees when others embrace disability inclusion. Ainslee combines her unique knowledge of disability with Anthropology to foster an understanding of the diversity of humans and their experiences.
During this episode, Ainslee shares how her own experiences have shaped her work in this space, and highlights how imperative the changes in working life brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic have been for those with disabilities.
You can follow Ainslee's work and awareness-raising on https://www.linkedin.com/in/ainsleehooper/.
My regular chats with one of my closest friends, Emma Clark, are part of what led me to start this podcast. As a career corporate lawyer whose role within the same firm has seen her practice across the globe, Emma is a passionate advocate for equality in the corporate workplace. Together we discuss Michelle P King's book, "The Fix, Overcome the Invisible Barriers that are Holding Women Back at Work", mental health, and micro-actions that can snowball into lasting change.
Joining me today is Brenda Denbesten. As a chemical engineer with over 15 years' experience in the manufacturing and mining industry, Brenda’s passion is to showcase the amazing work engineers do in shaping our world. Her vision involves inspiring more girls to get into engineering and empowering young women who are here to stay in this industry and excel.
She provides speaking, mentoring and coaching services to driven female engineers so they can gain clarity on their unique strengths and skills and the confidence to leverage these for maximum impact in the workplace.
Through sharing her story of overcoming adversity in a momentous way, by emerging from false imprisonment, we can learn so much from Brenda in how to develop resilience - a skill that is so important in today's unpredictable environment.
Today's guest, Caroline Brunne, is the founder of Organise. Curate. Design., a life management agency with a focus on assisting people to streamline their life in order to refocus their time on what matters to them the most. We are being made increasingly aware these days, of the "mental load" carried by many women. Caroline and I discuss the almost inevitable burnout that can result, and how Caroline uses her business, skills, and passion to address these issues and help provide women with the tools to alleviate unwanted burdens on their time, enabling them to thrive.
Shelin David, Founder and CEO of CFO Worx talks openly on today's episode about some of the mental health implications of racism from her own personal experience.
David Stranger-Jones joins me today to chat about privilege, the power of networks, and how he's trying to address diversity and inclusion in a different way through his new programme, Equals.
Turning the mic briefly on myself in this episode to share a bit more about me and why I've started this podcast.
In today's episode I'm joined by American activist, academic, data scientist and entrepreneur Robyn Hillman-Harrigan. We chat about growing up as part of an activist family in New Jersey, her journey to Australia and her experiences in the tech start-up world, and how she hopes to use technology as a means to combat racial injustice.
In today's episode I chat to Lawyer and Founder of Dec + Dash Legal Consulting about identity, connection, representation of women of colour in small business founders, and the discomfort yet necessity of confronting our own biases.
Welcome to my podcast! Through sharing stories, we aim to understand the biases that affect our daily lives and how to address them. In this, my pilot session, I'm joined by Rohan Wickremesinghe who shares his journey from rural New South Wales to boarding school in the big smoke and the factors that affected his choices between a corporate career and elite sport.