True change can only be accomplished with transformational leadership. Diversity, equity and inclusion impact your way of being, and your way of leading your business. There are things you can do right now with your business to create lasting change.

The Thrive!cast episode, “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Your Small Business,” is moderated by Alan Wallner, President and Visionary, Conscious Branding. Panelists are Dr. Aparajita (AJ) Jeedigunta, Founder and CEO, AJ Rao, LLC, and Heather Nunley, Founder and CEO, Culture Fuel Group.

BONUS MATERIALS

The panelists referenced the following during the discussion:

Deloitte, consulting firm, https://www2.deloitte.com/

PANELISTS

Dr. Aparajita (AJ) Jeedigunta
Founder & CEO, AJ Rao, LLC 

As one of only 34 advanced certified practitioners of professional development assessment tools around the globe, Dr. Aparajita (AJ) Jeedigunta (she/her/hers) is a trained social-personality psychologist, a certified professional executive & leadership coach, an author, a podcaster, content creator, and a spouse and a parent. She is a two-time Traumatic Brain Injury survivor turned Mental Wellbeing Warrior and Advocate.

Dr. AJ is an award-winning Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belongingness & Leadership strategist, consultant, trainer and coach. She is the Founder of AJ Rao, LLC, a boutique firm whose motto is Making the Invisible Visible for Better Equity and Belongingness. Companies most often hire Dr. AJ when the status quo “best practices” don’t work for them. She works with leadership teams and decision makers to help them create customized and comprehensive strategies and solutions for intentional equity and inclusion in their culture and operations. High performing individuals with big dreams also hire her to help them radically increase their leadership presence, social impact and income while permanently eliminating the discontent of being overworked and underappreciated.

Dr. AJ is also the creator of the Culturally Competent Conversations for Equity and Belongingness (C3EB) Summit & Brand.

LinkedIn Profile: View

Website: www.ajrao.com

Heather Nunley — Founder & CEO, Culture Fuel Group

As a People & Culture Consultant and Executive Coach, Heather Nunley specializes in working with organizational leaders to elevate accountability and advance top talent. In 2013, Heather established Culture Fuel Group, a management consulting firm with a focus on leadership, culture and powering up individual and team contributions.

As a seasoned human resource executive, Heather’s leadership inspires change. With a record of helping leaders at Fortune 500 brands, including Marriott and Nordstrom, design their organizations for scale and agility, maximize their human capital and strengthen their talent pipeline, she has been developing business leaders for over 20 years.

Dedicated to creating workplaces that are more innovative, focused and engaged, she is passionate about helping leaders intentionally manage culture, improve results, better retain employees and deliver greater customer satisfaction.

Culture Fuel Group provides executive coaching, interactive workshops, executive roundtables and various customized consulting programs for organizations.

LinkedIn Profile: View

Website: www.culturefuelgroup.com

Alan Wallner

Alan Wallner — President | Visionary, Conscious Branding

When his middle child told him she was transgender, Alan had to deal with a lot of emotions and work to figure out what that meant for his daughter, himself and his family. This journey helped Alan to understand a different way of looking at the world and a different way of seeing people.

As a result, he realized that branding isn’t about physical attributes anymore. It’s about the inner presence of a person and of the team that creates the brand of a business – it’s the way we treat other people and work together to create something remarkable.

This is what we call Conscious Branding. It literally has changed how Conscious Branding works with companies, builds brands and aligns a greater purpose with beliefs, vision and action as the essence of the brand.

LinkedIn Profile: View

Website: consciousbranding.com