Which diversity and inclusion leader inspires you the most?
We asked 331 international diversity and inclusion professionals this question as part of the d&i Leaders Global Benchmarking Survey 2023.
Below we highlight these inspirational individuals nominated by their peers. We encourage you to connect and follow them on social media so they can inspire you too!
This annual list offers a tiny snapshot of some of the many inspiring people accelerating workplace inclusion across the globe (view 2022 list).
Who inspires you? We encourage you to share who inspires you in the comments on our LinkedIn post about the list here.
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Inspirational d&i Leaders 2023
(Listed A to Z by first name)
Anna Whitehouse
Founder
Mother Pukka
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Annie Wu
Global Head of Inclusion & Diversity
H&M Group
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Anushka Davies
Head of Talent, Engagement & Diversity
Softcat
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Ashleigh Ainsley
Co-founder
Colorintech
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Asif Sadiq MBE
Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer
Warner Bros. Discovery
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Aubrey Blanche-Sarellano
Founder & CEO
The Mathpath
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Audra Jenkins 
Global Chief Equity Officer
Randstad
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Bernadette Thompson OBE
Associate Director of Inclusion
Barts Health NHS Trust
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Bernie O’Connor 
Diversity & Inclusion Specialist
ESB
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Birgit Neu
Senior DEI
Advisor
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Buks Akinseye
Global Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Leader
IKEA
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Camilla-Astrid Robinson
Manager – DEI & Engagement
Philip Morris International
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Carla Grant Pickens
VP HR & Change Agent
IBM
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Carolanne Minashi
Global Head of Inclusion
HSBC
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Carrie Adams
Global Head of Inclusion
Reckitt
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Celia Chartres-Aris
Founding Director
Access2Funding CIC
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Celia Sandhya Daniels
Founder & CEO
Rebekon Consulting
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Char Bailey
Director of People
Birmingham Pride (UK)
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Charlotte Sweeney OBE
Chief Executive Officer
Charlotte Sweeney Associates
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Claire England
Head of Responsible Business (UK, Ireland & Middle East)
Dentons
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Claire Harvey
Head of Inclusion, Wellbeing & Engagement
TP ICAP
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Daniel Winterfeldt MBE
Founder & Chair
InterLaw Diversity Forum
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Deborah Dagit
President
Deb Dagit Diversity LLC
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Deepa Pursooth
Manager & Lead, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Strategy for Europe
Toyota Motor Europe
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Diane Lightfoot
Chief Executive Officer
Business Disability Forum
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Elizabeth Cameron
Strategic Lead – Equality Diversity & Inclusion
One Manchester
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Emma Cumming
Director of Global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Quadient
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Dr. Eva Voss
Head of Diversity, Inclusion & People Care, Germany & Austria
BNP Paribas
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Farhana Kuddus
Director:
Global Head of Diversity & Inclusion
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Fiona MacDonald
Group Head of Diversity & Inclusion
ANZ
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Fleur Bothwick OBE
EMEIA Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
EY
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Frank Douglas
CEO
Caerus Executive
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Funke Awoderu
Director, Diversity & Inclusion
Live Nation Entertainment
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Gamiel Yafai
Founder & CEO
Diversity Marketplace
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Hanna Naima McCloskey
Founder & CEO
Fearless Futures
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Harjeet Pruthi 
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Center of Excellence
VMware
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Helen Choudhury 
Head of Diversity, Equality & Inclusion
Music Publishers Association UK
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Hermann Trepesch
Global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Director
Sanofi
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Isabella Lenarduzzi
Founder & Managing Director
JUMP
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Jagtar Singh
National Officer
Asian Fire Service Association
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Janet M. Stovall
Global Head of DEI
NeuroLeadership Institute
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Javier Leonor-Vicente
Global Inclusion & Diversity Senior Manager
Accenture
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Jenifer Denby
Global Head of Inclusion & Diversity
WTW
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Jenny Baskerville
Director, Head of Inclusion, Diversity & Equity
KPMG UK
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Jenny Lay-Flurrie
Chief Accessibility Officer
Microsoft
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Jo Foster
Head of Diversity & Inclusion
The Royal Society
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John Amaechi OBE 
Founder & Everyday Jedi
APS Intelligence
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John Elliott
Chief Technology Officer & Exec Sponsor, LGBT+ Colleague Network
Sainsbury’s
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Dr. Jonathan Ashong-Lamptey
Founder & Managing Director
Element of Inclusion
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Jonathan Saw
VP, Head of Diversity & Inclusion North America
Pernod Ricard
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Dr. Julie Humphreys
Group Head of Diversity & Inclusion
Reach plc
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Julie McKay
Chief Diversity, Inclusion & Well-Being Officer
PwC
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Dr. Julie Scanlon
Consultant, Trainer, Facilitator & Coach
Julie Scanlon Consultancy
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Justin Farrance
Ambassador for DE&I
Allen & Overy
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Karina Govindji
Senior Director, Global Workforce Diversity – LEAD (Leading through Equity & Diversity)
Google
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Kate Matthews
VP DE&I Global External Engagement and Talent Development
BP
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Katie Lloyd
Global Head of Culture & Organisational Development
The LEGO Group
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Katy Murray
Director, Creator
Catalyst Collective
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Kirat Kaur Nandra
Co-Founder, Social Mobility Committee
Chubb
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Kris Phelps
Inclusion & Wellbeing Lead
Veolia UK
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Leon Donald
Black Action Plan Lead
Tesco
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Lily Zheng
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Strategist,
Author & Consultant
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Liz Grant OBE
Director
Fantail
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Loraine Martins OBE
Global Director for Diversity & Inclusion
The Nichols Group
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Mahzarin Banaji
Founder – Outsmarting Implicit Bias Project
Harvard University
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Mandeep Rupra
Director of Equity & Culture
Citizens Advice
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Marc McKenna-Coles
Head of Inclusion & Diversity
easyJet
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Marie Sandler
Associate Director – Human Resources
Firstsource
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Prof. Marcia Wilson
Dean of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
The Open University
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Dr. Maria Angelica Perez
Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Fitch Ratings
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Dr. Min Rodriguez
Head of Culture & Inclusion
NHS Property Services
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Mitchell Coe
National Officer – LGBT+ Equality
Unison
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Monica Stancu
Senior Diversity & Inclusion Manager
Lloyd’s
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Nancy Kelley
Chief Executive Officer
Stonewall
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Neil Morrison
Group Human Resources Director
Severn Trent Water
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Nicke Harrison
Head of Inclusion & Wellbeing
ISG
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Nicola Paul
Founder
Good Work Life
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Nova Reid
Activist, TED Speaker, Podcast Host
& Author
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Oona King
VP of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Snap Inc.
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Pamela Hutchinson OBE
Global Head of Diversity & Inclusion
Bloomberg LP
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Pari Dhillon
Director
Social Justice Collective
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Patrick McCann
Global Head of Learning
Linklaters
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Phyll Opoku-Gyimah
Executive Director, Kaleidoscope Trust & Co-Founder & Executive Director
UK Black Pride
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Rachel Osikoya
Head of Culture, Well-being & Inclusion
LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group)
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Rohini Anand
DEI Board Member, Sanofi
& Strategic DEI Advisor & Author
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Ronald Reeves
Chief Diversity Officer
Corebridge Financial
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Ronni Abergel
Founder & Director
Human Library Organization
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Rukasana Bhaijee
Experienced Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Leader
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Ruth Hunt
Director & Organisational Change Consultant
Deeds and Words
Sámi Ben-Ali
Head of Diversity Recruiting Programs – EMEA & LATAM
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
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Shani Dhanda
Disability Inclusion & Accessibility Strategist
& Consultant
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Sheena Amin-Liebman
Global Director of Diversity & Inclusion
Fishawack Health
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Sheree Atcheson
Group Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion
Valtech
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Shereen Daniels
Managing Director
HR rewired
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Sukhi Kainth
Diversity & Inclusion Specialist
Save the Children UK
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Thymée NDour
Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse and Sexual Harassment Specialist
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
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Tiernan Brady
Global Director of Inclusion
Clifford Chance
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Vernā Myers
VP, Inclusion Strategy
Netflix
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Winnie Annan-Forson
Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Royal Mail
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Yacine Samb
Senior Diversity Specialist, Race Equity, EMEA
Google
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If you are listed above any have any changes you would like to make to your details, please email info@sircula.com
d&i Leaders is a global community of senior diversity, equity, inclusion and HR related professionals, looking to collaborate, network and accelerate their workplace inclusion strategy.