Dr Varina Michaels is all about people.

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Dr Michaels is an Executive Director with over 15 years of experience in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), education and HR. She has developed and led impactful multimillion dollar programs shaping culture, developing inclusive leaders and breaking systemic barriers, with a proven track record in achieving business outcomes and driving change.

 

With a PhD in Intersectional Identities from UNSW Business School, Dr Michaels is an inclusive leader, international speaker, published academic and Professor of Intercultural Management at IESEG School of Management, Paris. 

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Working with some of the most senior organisational leaders in business today, Dr Michaels and her team create forums where Boards, executives, managers and employees find meaning and develop the courage and self-awareness to confront complex issues and enact change. But meaningful change cannot happen without meaningful engagement. With extensive experience working with and co-creating research with marginalised communities, she leads with purpose to ensure that an intersectional lens is applied in the work of herself and her team.

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Personally, Dr Michaels identifies as a neurodivergent Woman of Colour, second-generation migrant and carer. She has a multi-ethnic, multi-faith family. Her passion for intersectionality stems from her own lived experience that cuts across many intersections.​