Shared from Achievers’ World, original article here. Rita Kakati-Shah is an award winning, gender, diversity, inclusion and career strategist, speaker, author and advisor to Fortune 500 companies.
Prior to Uma, Rita lead Business Development globally in CNS healthcare. 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 and a triple Stevie Awards for Women in Business winner, judge for the Middle East Awards, and recipient of several international awards in recognition for furthering gender equality, diversity and inclusion around the world.
Rita is a graduate of King’s Business School, is actively involved with the King’s Leadership, Diversity and Entrepreneurial Institute Mentoring Programs, and is also a member of the New York and Los Angeles Alumni Committees. Rita actively coaches and mentors business leaders, veterans, survivors of domestic violence, women in technology/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, spanning multiple disciplines and sectors, such as the JCC of Manhattan, ACP Women Veterans’ Founding Circle, New York City Bar Association, Democracy Without Borders India, Global Council for the Promotion of International Trade, and the London Bihu Committee.
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 Assam, Delhi, London, Madrid, Meghalaya, New York, San Francisco, Sochi, Toronto and Zambia.
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 Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Thrive Global, Dell Technology, CBS News, Fox News, Yahoo Finance and iHeartRadio. Rita also hosts the popular South Asian television show, The Uma Show, on Mana TV International. She is also a best-selling author, and has co-authored books on women in business, diversity and inclusion. Rita is also a trained and accomplished classical Indian dancer in the forms of Bharata Natyam and Xattriya, enjoys post-Impressionist oil painting, is a foodie and loves trying new spots for afternoon tea around New York City, where she lives with her husband and two young children.