Shared from Northeast Today, original article here. An award-winning, gender, diversity, inclusion and career strategist – Rita Kakati Shah has recently been conferred with the ‘Presidential Lifetime Achievement’ award by US President Joe Biden for her contribution along international mentoring & volunteering to support young people, women and minority communities of all ages.
Rita Kakati-Shah proudly shows off her Lifetime Achievement Award medal; Photo Credit : Uma
Rita holds up her awarded certificate; Photo Credit : Uma
An Assam-origin social worker and New York resident, Rita is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the popular South Asian TV show ‘The Uma Show’ – an international platform that partners with organizations to attract, retain and develop women and minorities in the workforce through empowering confidence, inspiring success and building leadership and resilience.
Born to a London-based Assamese couple – Dinesh Chandra Kakati and Bhabani Kakati, Rita grew up in Hornchurch, UK, but moved to New York in 2011 where she lives with her husband – Rushin Shah, their 8-year-old son Raahi and 7-yr-old daughter Reia.
Some of Rita’s recognized work includes – empowering women in Assam and Zambia and helping students to draft legal bills around gender equality at the United Nations Parliamentary Assembly. She also volunteers to support senior citizens, thank local heroes in her neighborhood and provide motivational talks to school children.
Prior to Uma, Rita led Business Development globally in CNS healthcare. She 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 her significant contributions and leadership to furthering gender equality, diversity and inclusion around the world.
Besides, Rita is also a regularly invited speaker and guest lecturer at various academic institutions, multinational corporations and global policy forums such as United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris, European Parliament in Brussels and many more spanning Assam, Delhi, London, Madrid, Meghalaya, New York, San Francisco, Sochi, Toronto and Zambia.
She 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.