Sathya Bala Profile Picture

Keynote SpeakerSathya Bala

Empowering women of colour through community, Top 100 Ethnic Minority Executives Award, Board Member, Keynote Speaker

Sathya Bala (she/her) is an energetic leader, business owner and community builder fueled by her commitment to building a more equitable world through her work. She brings her experience as a senior influencer and on the ground change maker, starting at Deloitte in risk and audit, then moving into data... Read more

Biography

Sathya Bala (she/her) is an energetic leader, business owner and community builder fueled by her commitment to building a more equitable world through her work. She brings her experience as a senior influencer and on the ground change maker, starting at Deloitte in risk and audit, then moving into data governance at Sainsburys, Barclays, HSBC and Deutsche Bank.

Sathya Bala then moved into diversity, equity and inclusion, sponsoring these initiatives in her last role at Chanel as Head of Global Data Governance. Now Sathya is a consultant, entrepreneur, thought leader, Board advisor and speaker focused on using data and stories to make organisations more equitable.

She is also founder and community organiser for My Skin My Story which empowers women of colour all around the world. In 3 years she has run 30 events and built a membership of over 500 people. Sathya sits on the Board of a national cancer charity and dance company.

In speaking, she demystifies identity, bias, intersectionality, inclusion and how to champion equity by tapping into stories and humanising data. Sathya embraces her lived experience, as a Sri Lankan Tamil woman, born in Singapore, who grew up in Sydney and moved to London as a young adult. She inspires others with her story and is proud to amplify underrepresented voices.

Sathya Bala was awarded Top 100 Ethnic Minority Executives by Yahoo Finance. Sathya has been recognised by the UK National Diversity Awards, YunoJuno Freelancer Awards as well as interviewed for WPP TV, The Female Lead Women at Work Research and DataIQ.

“I have worked with Sathya Bala in various capacities, as a data leader and, most recently, an expert on intersectionality, inclusion and allyship. I can absolutely recommend Sathya as a reliable D&I partner and an inspirational speaker. Sathya builds on her lived experiences and her versatile professional background to speak her truth in an authentic and compelling way, connecting with diverse audiences.”
“Sathya led two very engaged global webinars on how to make our organization more inclusive. She engagingly drew in our attendees’ participation through questions and surveys, and craftily demonstrated our numerous commonalities through shared experiences, behaviours and likes.”
“Sathya is a highly skilled leader and educator in the DEI space. I worked with Sathya to develop and deliver an in person workshop and panel discussion. I found her to be an incredibly engaging speaker and facilitator who was able to navigate inclusion and intersectional topics. She demonstrated an ability to command the room at the same time as providing an open and safe space to enable our delegates to be curious and learn about the topics discussed. I hope to be able to work with her again in the near future.”
“A million thank you’s for sharing your story with our team....authentic and inspiring.”
“Wow wow wow. It was so inspiring and we are so grateful. I am now a super fan and will be looking forward to watching more of your talks in the future.”
“Sathya's session on identity and intersectionality for the EMEA Legal team was really insightful. It really made us think about things we can all do every day to be more inclusive and bring our whole selves to work. This was a really beneficial discussion for the whole team. Thank you very much!”
“Sathya did an amazing fireside chat for us as part of our International Women’s Day celebrations. Sathya spoke from the heart, sharing her experience as a woman of colour. I would recommend Sathya and her presentation to any company looking to expand their knowledge on diversity.”

Popular Talks by Sathya Bala

  • Activating the ally in each of us
  • Exploring bias and inclusion through stories
  • Intersectionality made simple - navigating multiple layers of diversity
  • Celebrating diverse experiences
  • Why we can’t separate ESG from DEI (Environmental, Social Governance and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion)
  • Inclusive workplaces - the power of data
  • The power of diverse ideas
  • Equity by design in a modern world