81: Conversations with DEI leaders: Richa Singh (she/her)  VP HR - D&I and CSR at Max Life Insurance

Shownotes:We all know that countries and cultures are not monolithic and homogeneous. That when we speak about diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), we are at different points in our journey; sensitivity and awareness levels may wildly differ from country to country within a region or a continent. So, the drivers for DEI will differ from one geography to another. For practitioners to not force fit HQ policies in local markets, a level of cultural intelligence is critical to understanding this.Over the coming weeks I will share insights from my conversations with DEI leaders and C-Suite from the Indian subcontinent in an attempt to better understand the priorities, socio-cultural barriers, legislation, and best practice. My guest on The Elephant in the Room podcast, this week, is Richa Singh (she/her)  VP HR - D&I and CSR at Max Life Insurance. In 2020 Richa was featured in the Top 50 Global Ally Executives Outstanding list by Yahoo Finance. In this episode I spoke with Richa about her DEI journey, acknowledging her privilege and becoming an advocate and ally. We also spoke about how organisations could leverage the current buzz around all issues of inclusion and diversity👉🏾 The biggest challenges to building an inclusive business👉🏾 The relevance/importance of ERGs to building an inclusive organisation👉🏾 DEI talk vs action. The slow pace of change and movement on pay, representation and culture👉🏾 What she finds rewarding and frustrating in her line of work👉🏾 Her advise to those starting on the journey👉🏾 Businesses with great stories to tellAnd what inspires her and keep her motivated.Memorable passages from the podcast:👉🏾Thank you for having me Sudha, it's a pleasure. 👉🏾 I'm you know, usually not very good at doing this, talking about oneself, but as a means of introduction I'm Richa, I'm based out of Delhi, India.👉🏾 I'm a cisgender woman, my pronouns are she and her. I'm also a single mother who is a mother to a teenage son. And in work front I lead DEI and CSR at Max life insurance. I'm also a certified coach and a mentor to young women. I've had almost 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry.Richa: I used to head learning and development and diversity and inclusion, for a group of five-star hotels. And I also helped set up the Keshav Suri Foundation, which is a not-for-profit organisation, working for the inclusion of the LGBTQ youth in India.👉🏾 Actually, I love telling that story Sudha I completely acknowledge my privilege. Raised in the capital city of India, I had the best of education, I had very supportive parents. Not once I think growing up, did I ever feel that there was any difference between the way me or my brother were treated, which is actually the case in many Indian families. So that difference was never apparent to me.👉🏾 I went to a co-ed school and boys and girls were treated as equals and healthy competition. So I think this was a blind spot and I kind of grew up with the understanding that I was a very inclusive person. 👉🏾 And when I started in my previous organisation, this talk about diversity and equity and inclusion was a very fresh topic in India. Somewhere in the year, 2017, end 18, that was also the time when section 377