Ep.24/ Cultivating Diversity In the Workplace
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Hey hey! Welcome to another episode of the Career Confidence Podcast. I’m in your ears today bringing to you an interview episode with an amazing guest who I met at the InView Legal Conference earlier this year in Sydney. We connected after the event and I thought I’d have to have her on the podcast because she has so much to share in relation to the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion space.
My guest is Darshana Parekh and she is a lawyer with 14 years experience, and recently moved into the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion profession as Head of Partnerships with Cultivate Sponsorship.
As a lawyer, she worked in insurance litigation in private practice before moving in-house. Darshana has experience as an in-house lawyer in the duty free retail, supply chain and not for profit sectors.
In her current role, Darshana works with large government departments and private companies who are looking to implement gender equality practices within their workforce. She does this by implementing a sponsorship program over a period of 6 months that provides leadership training to both sponsors and sponsees.
When she's not advocating for gender equality, speaking on podcasts or contributing to publications, you can find Darshana at her local Pilates and yoga studio.
In this episode, Darshana shares with us:
what her career pivot into the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion space has taught her about herself;
what leaders can do to champion diversity within an organisation to make meaningful change rather than just paying lip service;
the importance of sponsorship in the workplace and how this is a beneficial collaboration and process for both leaders and junior employees;
And so much more.
Let’s dive into this episode!
Connect with Our Guest
Website: https://darshana.com.au/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darshana-parekh/
Instagram: @dashana_is_dash
Articles/Resources:
https://hbr.org/2021/06/dont-just-mentor-women-and-people-of-color-sponsor-them
https://www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/women-at-work-global-outlook.html
https://cultivatesponsorship.com/five-benefits-of-sponsorship/
Connect with me
Website: https://marijaduka.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marija-duka/
Instagram: @marija.duka