In a follow up to our “Let’s Talk About Race” panel this past June, we will discuss the complexities of navigating race and intersectionality in the workplace.

Experts will provide guidance on how race, identity and bias play out in professional settings and how to have effective conversations with managers, colleagues and HR about these concepts.

The panel will cover:

• The roles of power and identity and how they contribute to the experience of employees

• The importance of embracing inclusion in the workplace

• How to empower teams to address these issues and take tangible action to combat racism

Our hope is to help members of our community build a capacity to broach these issues and develop useful strategies to continue educating yourself and others. We will also provide tools for how you can turn these conversations into tangible action. 

A Q&A session will follow the panel. We recommend submitting your questions in advance when you register. You will also have the opportunity to submit questions throughout the webinar. 

If you’re unable to attend, register anyway and we’ll send you a link to the recording.

Featuring insights from:

Ananda Seeram, Moderator

Ananda is the Public Diplomacy Coordinator at the British Consulate General New York, where she has worked since 2015. Her portfolio includes arts & culture, LGBTQ+ human rights, mental health and intersectionality. A born and raised New Yorker, Ananda is a proud alumna of the New York City Public School System, where she graduated with a Bachelors of Business Administration in Industrial/Organization Psychology at CUNY Baruch College.

Rita Kakati-Shah

Rita is an award-winning, gender, diversity, inclusion and career strategist, speaker, mentor and advisor to Fortune 500 companies. She is the Founder and CEO of Uma, an international platform that empowers confidence, inspires success and builds leadership in women and minorities. Rita began her professional career at Goldman Sachs in London, where she was awarded the prestigious Excellence in Citizenship and Diversity Award. She is also a Distinguished Alumna of King’s College London, triple Stevie Awards for Women in Business winner, and judge for the Middle East Awards. Rita actively coaches and mentors business leaders, veterans, survivors of domestic violence, women in STEM, schoolgirls and students. She also serves as an advisor, ambassador, and diversity and inclusion expert to multiple boards and global organizations around the world. Rita is Founding Member of Democracy Without Borders in India and Founding Circle Member of ACP Women Veterans in the US. Rita is also a regularly invited speaker and guest lecturer at various academic institutions, multinational corporations and global policy forums such as UNESCO in Paris, European Parliament in Brussels, and many more spanning Delhi, London, Madrid, Moscow, New York, San Francisco, Sochi, and Toronto. Rita has been featured as an expert on multiple international television and news shows, interviewed and quoted in various podcasts and publications such as the WSJ, Fast Company and Thrive Global, and also hosts the popular South Asian television show, The Uma Show, on Mana TV International.

Kamillah Knight, MPA

Kamillah has a passion and purpose to be a change superhero—changing the way that people interact with their environment and with other people. Kamillah is the co-founder of Éclat Culture LLC which focuses on coaching and consulting individuals and organizations on learning and development practices, in addition to building cultural competency rooted in diversity and inclusion. Kamillah is also currently the Diversity and Inclusion Lead for a major CPG company, where she is focused on attracting, cultivating, and elevating diverse talent.

She joined the company in June 2015 and has served in roles in Supply Chain Procurement, Customer Development, and now Human Resources, all with a focus on helping to bridge gaps within the business and bring Unilever’s brands and employees closer to the consumers they serve.

Prior to starting her career, Kamillah was a student at Cornell University where she received an MPA in 2015, a BA in Economics, a BA in Sociology and Spanish minor in 2013, also from Cornell University. Kamillah is currently working on her Executive MBA at Cornell University, from which she will graduate in 2022.

Currently Kamillah serves as the VP of Programming for the Cornell Black Alumni Association, a class officer for the Cornell class of 2013, a member at large of the Cornell Mosaic Steering Committee, a member of the Cornell Alumni Admissions Ambassador Network, the youngest board member of the Montclair Fund for Educational Excellence, and a board member of the International Girl’s Academy.

Jeffrey Wright, EdM, MA, LMHC

Jeffrey is a NYC-based bilingual (EN/ES) psychotherapist in private practice and an adjunct professor at Teachers College, Columbia University. Jeffrey holds two Master’s degrees in psychological counseling from Teachers College as well as a post-Masters certificate in psychodynamic psychotherapy from PANY, affiliated with NYU School of Medicine. He is currently working on a graduate certificate in Gender Studies at SUNY and fulfilling practice hours to become a 500-hour certified Modo yoga teacher. Jeffrey’s approach to psychotherapy and teaching is informed by person-centered, intersectional, psychodynamic, somatic, and mindfulness perspectives.

Learn best practices and proven techniques that improve virtual engagement and efficiency with Own the Room’s Bill Hoogterp.

Whether you’re leading or participating in a meeting, or giving a presentation, you will learn the essential skills to exude executive presence on-screen, hook listeners from the beginning, and keep everyone motivated as if you were in the same room. Like all of Own the Room’s trainings, expect peer and coach feedback, on-the-spot practice, and constant interactivity. 

For those who have not experienced Own The Room, it’s pretty interactive. From minute one you’re practicing, using tech, and getting feedback. It’s work, with lots of reps and practice as you learn new tips and techniques, but you'll enjoy it and will be thrilled with what you take away.

Please join us for this private training with your peers.

Due to the interactive and proprietary nature of the content provided, a recording of the webinar will not be made available.

Bill Hoogterp

World-class speaker, philanthropist, author of the book “Your Perfect Presentation,” Co-Founder of Cafemedia, and CEO & Founder of Own The Room, Bill Hoogterp has provided professional communication training and consultation to business leaders, politicians and celebrities around the world.
He founded Own The Room in 2011 with the goal to train the world and unleash human potential through his trademarked methodology. In only a few years, Own The Room has become a shining star in the field of communication, leadership and sales training, with more than 310,000 professionals trained from over 200 multinational companies in 46 countries. Bill’s unique training methodology, developed from his extraordinary talent in public speaking, quickly takes communication skills and confidence to a new level.

Before Own The Room, Bill co-founded Cafemedia in 1991. Co-developing it from a community forum to a multimedia company, it is now one of the top 20 most visited sites in the US, ranked ahead of LinkedIn and eBay.

Despite his accomplishments, Bill lives a simple life. He keeps only what is necessary to operate the company and donates the rest to nonprofit organizations. Money, in his eyes, is more valuable for those who need it most. Which is why Own The Room has a gives back initiative that provides free training to local communities and non-profit organizations. Bill has also founded several charities and nonprofits, including Do Something and Into The Streets. He deeply believes that education can empower people to unleash their full potential.

In partnership with

Own The Room, a division of Blue Planet Training, Inc., is a professional development company on a mission to unleash human potential. Whether a virtual instructor-led training session or an immersive in-person learning journey, all of our training programs are powered by a uniquely experiential approach to learning & development, a highly interactive and innovative methodology, technology, and a team of world-class expert Coaches. Since founding in 2011, we’ve partnered with more than 200 companies in 46 countries and 7 languages, empowering individuals and teams with the breakthrough skills they need to drive progress, increase efficiency, and improve collaboration — all while boosting the bottom line. To learn more, visit: www.owntheroom.com.

The Black Lives Matter movement has gone global and the events in recent weeks, such as the unjust killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, represent a reckoning. It is time for us to talk about race. 

In this discussion, a panel of experts will explore how to have rigorous, honest and effective conversations about race. They will also discuss how these concepts play out in our personal and professional lives.

The panel will cover:

• How to have difficult conversations about race

• What being an ally means and how to practice anti-racism

• The historical context for oppressive structures

• Ways to be more inclusive in the workplace

Our hope is to help members of our community build a capacity to broach these issues and develop useful strategies to continue educating yourself and others. We will also provide tools for how you can turn these conversations into tangible action. 

A Q&A session will follow the panel. We recommend submitting your questions in advance when you register. You will also have the opportunity to submit questions throughout the webinar. 

If you’re unable to attend, register anyway and we’ll send you a link to the recording.

Featuring insights from:

Claudine Moore, Moderator

Listed on the UK Powerlist: Britain’s Top 100 Most Influential Black People, Claudine is an award-winning global Public Relations consultant and Managing Director of C. Moore Media International Public Relations, a New York-based boutique PR agency. With 15+ years of experience, Claudine has worked with a wide range of organizations including global PR agencies, Fortune 100 brands, global heritage brands, Foundations and startups across multiple international markets and sectors.

A sought-after global speaker and thought-leader, Claudine has hosted on stage fireside chat interviews with global leaders, delivered keynotes, hosted master classes and most recently was invited to moderate a panel of African First Ladies at the United Nations during the 74th United Nations General Assembly.

Passionate about corporate social responsibility, social impact and the empowerment of women and girls, since 2017, Claudine has been an Adjunct Professor at New York University, teaching CSR and social impact alongside global engagement, global PR and marketing and communications writing.

Claudine is a founding board member of Social Media Week Lagos and as an avid writer has provided content for HuffPost, the Holmes Report, CNN, Black Enterprise and PR Week US. She was elected to St. George’s Society’s Board of Directors earlier this year.

Linda Evans, M.A.

Linda Evans has worked in higher education and career services for 9 years, and is a student and educator of multicultural competence. She has a B.A. in American Studies and minor in Ballroom Dance from Brigham Young University, and a M.A. in Psychological Counseling from Columbia University. Linda has an Advanced Diploma in Coaching from New York University and is a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach. She started her career coaching business, Launched by Linda, in 2011. She was born in China, grew up in Seattle, went to Utah for college, lived in DC and NYC for graduate school, returned to Utah in 2017, and moved to San Antonio in 2020. She currently serves as the Assistant Director for Assessment and Technology at Trinity University.

Dr. Anisha Patel

Dr. Anisha Patel is an active member of St. George's Society and a clinical psychologist with a background in developmental neuroscience and psychopathology. She has worked in both private and public hospital settings including St. George’s Hospital London, NYC Health and Hospitals, and Yale Child Study Center with a primary focus on early childhood trauma in historically vulnerable and oppressed communities. She currently practices in lower Manhattan working with children, teenagers and adults specializing in anxiety, mood, trauma as well as life transitions, professional difficulties, and relationship struggles.

Sonny Singh

Sonny Singh is a social justice educator, activist, and musician based in Brooklyn, NY. He has over two decades of experience facilitating workshops and giving talks on anti-oppression and social justice issues. He regularly leads trainings for nonprofit organizations, activist groups, schools (grades 4-12), and colleges/universities, and is sought after for his transformative approach to education and social change. Sonny is also a member of the training teams at the Center for Racial Justice in Education and Race Forward. Sonny is currently a board member of TakeRoot Justice.

Sonny has been active in movements for social and economic justice since he was a teenager and worked as a labor and community organizer in his 20s. He received his Master’s Degree in Social Justice Education at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where he studied and practiced the art of using education as a tool for liberation.