In this episode, Ashanti Bentil-Dhue talks to Rajiv Desai, a DEI practitioner originally from India, living in Berlin Germany, but considers himself a citizen of the world. Rajiv not only owns his own consulting practice, where he helps small and medium sized organisations get started on their diversity, equity and inclusion journey. He also serves as a Board Chair for Oran, which is the organisation for refugee asylum and migration to help LGBT IQ refugees, find safe spaces in the world. During this episode Rajiv and Ashanti will highlight many different topics,like why it is important to find your own personal niche as a practitioner whilst working in the field of DEI.

“What I tell every person who's aspiring to get into the DEI world is truly know your why. Why are you trying to get into this? Is it because everybody has told you it's the place to make money? I would say maybe not right? It's still, pretty hard to make money in this space. You know, really know your why in terms of why do you want to do this?

Episode Highlights: 

● What’s it like working with German companies in the field of Dei

● As  a professional what skills do i need to acquire in order to be competent in this space

● Understanding the importance of the inside of a business

About Rajiv Desai: 

Rajiv Desai (He/Him) is a leader in the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion  

(DEI) space. He takes a global and enterprise-wide approach to DEI,  

focusing not only on talent processes, but the business as well, and  

canvasses his efforts from internal focus to external clients and  

communities, through a lens of impact and equity.  

He has a particular interest and passion in getting smaller and more  

nascent organisations get started on the DEI journey. He founded Chrysalis LLC in October 2020  (incorporated in Washington DC), with the goal of helping small and medium-sized enterprises (both for  and non-profit) initiate their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) journey in an incremental, sustainable  and thoughtful manner. Some of his clients include Equal Justice Works, Relief International, Mathison,  Avita Pharmacy, Board.org etc.  

Prior to Chrysalis, he served as Vice President – DEI and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at  Gartner, where he helped build the function and strategy from scratch and ensured DEI efforts were  part of the broader organisational fabric. As Gartner’s first-ever head of DEI, he was also tasked with  building Gartner’s strategic CSR efforts and led the publication of their first CSR Report in 2019.  

Before Gartner acquired CEB, through CEB’s Diversity & Inclusion Leadership Council, Rajiv advised  senior D&I leaders at over 100 organisations, helping them with their DEI strategies through best  practices research, tools, and executive networking. He started his time at CEB in the Financial  Services practice since 2014, during which time, he was also involved with all employee resource  groups (ERG) and helped build the Pride ERG. Before 2014, Rajiv worked with FedEx for almost nine  years in Belgium, Dubai and the US, where he gained extensive business, operations, audit and  consulting experience.  

Rajiv holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (Finance & Marketing; minor in Spanish)  from the University of Pittsburgh. He also completed a certificate course in Strategic Diversity &  Inclusion Management from Georgetown University in 2017 and an Executive Education certificate in  Inclusive Leadership from University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business. Rajiv is fluent in  Spanish and Hindi and conversational in Bengali and Gujarati.  

Rajiv is an active philanthropist. Since March 2020, he serves as the Board Chair for ORAM  (Organization for Refuge, Asylum & Migration, which protects and empowers LGBTIQ asylum seekers  and refugees globally). He also served on the board of The Rainbow Theatre Project from 2016 – 2020.  At an international level, Rajiv has completed volunteering projects in Mexico, focusing on LGBTQ  rights and Costa Rica, focusing on marine wildlife and turtle conservation. He is also a proud foster  parent to 3 baby elephants at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Kenya.  

In the past, Rajiv has lived in India, Spain, Mongolia, the UAE, and Belgium; and has traveled to over  65 countries, bringing a truly global perspective and cultural agility to his DEI work. As an openly gay  person, Rajiv is currently working on his memoir that captures lived experiences of his coming out  journey across multiple countries. Effective March 2022, Rajiv calls Berlin, Germany home and is  excited about working in the DEI world in Berlin.  

Connect with Rajiv Desai: 

Phone: +49 151 65142748 

Email: rajiv@chrysalisdei.com 

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajivdesai/

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