Our Team

Dr. Anette Hammerschmidt

Global Leadership Consultant

Anette Hammerschmidt is a consultant, facilitator and executive coach with twenty years experience in organizational development; strategy design; integration and change management; global leadership; as well as the design and implementation of bespoke professional development curricula for various organizations.Her previous assignments include the post-merger consulting for the management board of a German mid-size company; the design and implementation of a two-year curriculum on consulting skills and organizational development of an IT department;self-leadership workshops for a Latin American corporation; and designing and conducting anti-racism trainings in academia in Germany and the United States.

In addition to being on the TAC Global team, Anette brings first hand executive and management experience as the head of a Center of Competence for cross-cultural trainings and project support in a multinational corporation. She was responsible for building and leading a multicultural team, strategy, portfolio and product design, quality management and financial budgeting and results.

As a German national, Anette grew up in Argentina and Brazil and has lived for some years in the USA and in Japan. Drawing from her broad international experience, many of her workshops and projects are conducted in complex and multinational contexts. Having worked with clients all around the world – from China and Japan, India and UAE, over Europe to the United States and South America – she is able to connect to the diversity of her clients’needs and address regionally relevant business challenges from a truly global perspective. Her workshops are highly interactive facilitating learning from the life dynamics at play.

Before joining the corporate culture, Anette has taught Cultural Studies as an Assistant Professor at universities in the United States and in Germany. Anette has a Masters degree in Philosophy from the University of Hamburg, where she also received her doctorate degree in Cultural Studies. Her Ph.D. thesis was on Cross-Cultural Understanding.

She has published various article and is currently co-authoring two books on coaching in the academic field and systemic organizational development.

She currently resides in Germany and is fluent in German, English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Sandeep Nair (he/they)

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Expert

With over 13 years of work experience, Sandeep has worked as an Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) Consultant for over a decade. He is experienced in working with various organizations across the India and Asian regions and delivers a global perspective on EDI when delivering as part of the TAC Global team. Sandeep's work focuses largely on creating an inclusive workplace environment for all, with a focus on the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and people with disabilities. Sandeep has led programs, campaigns, training and consulting services to drive EDI strategy across various organizations globally and is open to sharing his lived experiences, as well to drive the importance of allyship.

Sandeep has played a key role in developing three key research publications on 2SLGBTQIA+ Inclusion, to achieve success in creating a safe and inclusive society. He contributed his expertise at the global summit by Out & Equal for two consecutive years. Sandeep also led the, This is Me campaign which centres on the sharing of stories and lived experiences of disability and mental health, an initiative by the Lord Mayor's Appeal in London.

Sandeep's commitment to inclusion also extends to volunteering with youth and teens as a mentor with Vancouver Island BigBrothersBigSisters Foundation, and is part of the EDI committee for Volunteer Canada. He is also a volunteer with an organization working towards senior well-being. Sandeep is part of RAHM Community which is a global community of groundbreaking LGBTIQ+ leaders and was part of a global movement called It Gets Better Project. He was on the board of Nanaimo Pride Society and SIETAR BC (Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research).

Being a temporarily abled, gay, person of color with a vibrant cultural and ethnic background, Sandeep understands the role organizations can play in harnessing the power of business for a positive social change and full talent engagement. Sandeep moved to Canada from India with his husband in 2019 and has recently become an adoptive parent to an 11-year old child.

Kate Vernon

External Consultant and Researcher, TAC Global

Kate Vernon has joined TAC Global as an external consultant and researcher, bringing her subject matter expertise, design and project management skills as well as her passion and commitment to leveraging the power of business to impact positive change.

As former Executive Director, over the last 16+ years, Kate played an instrumental role in building Community Business, a leading not-for-profit organisation that works with companies to advance responsible and inclusive business practices in Asia. From strategies that have spanned thought leadership to collective action, this has included designing and delivering campaigns, conferences, indexes and benchmarks, and in particular establishing Asia’s leading Diversity and Inclusion in Asia Network, (DIAN).

A recognised authority on diversity and inclusion in Asia, Kate has authored extensive research (some 50+ publications) spanning all subject matter areas – from gender, culture and LGBT+ to religion, caregiving and mental health. She has developed a variety of benchmarks and tools to help companies promote more inclusive workplaces in Asia - including Asia’s first LGBT+ Workplace Inclusion Index. A strong advocate of ‘adopting an Asian lens’ to the discussion of D&I, Kate is passionate about the need to better understand local market dynamics and perspectives in order to develop an approach that resonates locally. Her research approach has encompassed all types of stakeholder engagement, from expert and senior leader interviews to focus groups and employee surveys.

Prior to Community Business, Kate worked for 12 years in the private sector, holding senior international marketing positions for global companies such as Reed Elsevier, Aspect Telecommunications, Cable & Wireless and PeopleSoft. Kate has always had a passion for Asia, and holds a first class degree in Chinese Studies from Durham University. After spending 8 years in Hong Kong, she now lives with her family in England.

Marcelo Priotti

Cross-Cultural and I&D Trainer and Facilitator

Marcelo Priotti is a passionate and engaging global trainer and facilitator since 1997 and has participated in a variety of projects and delivered training sessions in English, Portuguese, and Spanish for 8,000+ leaders at different levels of global organizations located in 30+ countries around the World, in both face-to-face and virtual modes.

In association with consulting and training firms, Marcelo has been pleased to serve organizations like AIG, ExxonMobil, Edelman, SAP, Unilever, Coca-Cola, Caterpillar, Dell, Discovery Communications, John Deere, Oxiteno, Lego, Lenovo, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Oracle, Syngenta, TE Connectivity, TNT, Verizon, WalMart, Cooper, HSBC, Huntsman, Kinross Gold, Laureate University and INSEAD NYC Business School amongst others.

Marcelo enjoys helping teams, groups and individuals develop awareness and competencies on topics like I&D, unconscious bias, intercultural interactions, global leadership, working in virtual teams, and other personal and team effectiveness competencies. Some countries where Marcelo has experience delivering face-to-face are Angola, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, the United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Virtual deliveries include audiences from all continents.

For many years, he also has helped expatriates and their families thrive through their relocation processes and has assisted global managers in conducting business more effectively across cultural diversity.

Prior to moving into global training, Marcelo worked in the IT field; leading, amongst others, educational information system projects in the construction industry. Later on, he was a coordinating manager of SBAM, leading teams of multicultural professionals providing language translations and radio & TV broadcast communication services. He did volunteer work for AFS Intercultural Programs in the USA and then co-founded AFS in Rosario, Argentina, and led the intercultural hosting program and served as liaison/advisor for international students. Marcelo co-authored the tools Diversophy: Argentina and Cultural Detective: Argentina.

Marcelo graduated with a degree in Communication and Journalism from UCU University. Other studies and certifications: administrative information systems analysis at UTN University (Rosario Argentina); GlobeSmart certified facilitator; certified trainer of the WI (NW Arkansas); he holds a national license for radio and tv broadcasting; coaching principles at Ola Coach (Barcelona, Spain); ELE certificate at IH (Barcelona).

Marcelo resides in Argentina. mpriotti@sbam.net Skype: marcelopriotti

Nagaraja Rao Padavala

L & OD Professional, Coach, and Technologist Facilitator & Consultant, TAC Global

Nagaraj is a L & OD professional and a Technologist with over 26 years of experience with over 11 years in designing, developing and delivering learning interventions for all levels including senior executives and developing role-based competency development frameworks and learning solutions.

He is the founding partner of Pragna Services (2014), which specializes in capability development initiatives for corporations as well as Rural Alive Ventures, a social venture that focuses on Rural education and employability skills.

Prior to founding Pragna Services and Rural Alive Ventures, as a technologist, he has managed large scale ERP implementations globally, built an integration technologies practice from ground-up to profitability, and lead large multi-cultural and globally dispersed teams. He also led change initiatives impacting large teams in excess of few thousands in multi-billion dollar mergers and acquisitions through success.

Nagaraj has over 11 years Learning & OD experience – delivering end to end capability development solutions both in professional development areas as well as in leadership development areas. He has successfully facilitated mind-shifting interventions for senior executives, hard core technologists as well as banking professionals using unconventional and out of the box solutions. He has also designed and delivered business transformation initiatives for country leadership teams in both services and retail sectors.

He has lead and facilitated global initiatives focusing on diversity and inclusion such as Taking the Stage, Different Strokes, and Perceptions & Paradigms at global IT product and services organizations. He has introduced, using optical illusions and mind conditioning puzzles, initiatives to unmask perceptive errors in human relationships for executive leadership teams.

He has masterfully implemented a combination of neurolinguistics practices and traditional questioning paradigms into his coaching practice to address behavioral challenges at core values and beliefs level for long lasting results.

In his illustrious carrier that spans over 26 years, he has travelled across geographies, led team and worked across cultures including USA, Canada, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Philippines, Brazil, Sweden and Paris. Bringing those experiences, and business context to learning interventions is his forte.

Nagaraj has a bachelor’s in engineering from Andhra University and Masters in Technology from IIT-Delhi. He is accredited with MBTI-Type II suite of instruments, and DiSC. He is a certified Scrum Master and was a certified PMP till 2012. He is also an authorized Executive Coach & Results Coach using whole brain thinking methodologies by Neuro Leadership group, certified NLP Master Practitioner by NFNLP, Florida, certified NLP Coach, certified Instructional Designer and certified in Outbound & Experiential Interventions.

Katharine Nisbet

Diversity & Inclusion Consultant

Katharine Nisbet is a seasoned global professional, who has worked for major multinationals in London, New York, Singapore and Hong Kong. She has worked in-house in Financial Services (American Express, Nomura, Bank of America Merrill Lynch) and FMCG (CocaCola), and as a consultant (Hay Management Consultants, Diversity Works Asia) and heading up the diversity & Inclusion (D&I) practice for Community Business, a leading not-for-profit organisation advancing responsible & inclusive business practices in Asia

Katharine’s previous roles include global head of leadership and Asia Pacific heads of leadership, talent and D&I. Her particular area of expertise as a thought leader and strategic consultant is in Diversity and Inclusion. As a public speaker she has delivered talks in North America, Europe, Asia, Indian Sub-Continent and Australia, and has provided consulting services and facilitated training and development for industries as diverse as car manufacturing, national curriculum education, technology, mining and finance.

Katharine has been immersed in the corporate development of diversity and inclusion since 2006. She knowsthat all businesses can harness the power of D&I, and she has helped companies to maximise the rewards through a company-wide strategic approach. Her deep subject knowledge and benchmark setting experience is backed by focused implementation of programmes that fit the organisation’s size, leadership and structure. From bare bones to a thriving integrated part of core business values, her approach to D&I is not only ethically driven, but covers corporate cultural development, risk management, competitive advantage, delivery with measurement, integration and effective process design, she helps improve business results and she strongly believes that the returnsfrom investing in D&I are measurable and valuable.

With a personal belief in the power of cooperative and collaborative relationships in business, Katharine, while at American Express Singapore, was a driving force behind the foundation of Diversity & Inclusion in Asia Network (DIAN) in 2007, a cross industry, multi-corporate sponsored think tank, research platform and benchmark setting organization managed by Community Business. The leveraging of collaboration is not only inter-corporate, but she advocates the development of networking within organisations as a tool for the sharing of best practice and problem solving. She invests in relationship building and works closelyat all levels to create and introduce locally relevant metrics and engage leaders and stakeholders to build sponsorship and traction throughout their businesses.

Katharine holds a Masters Degree in Occupational Psychology from Goldsmiths College, University of London, and a Bachelor Degrees in Psychology from University College London).

Marilyn Nagel

Diversity & Inclusion Consultant

Marilyn has an unusual background that includes over 30 years of experience in the corporate world as a C-Suite executive, entrepreneur and executive coach. In addition to being Chief Learning Officer of SAMI, a game based training company with a diversity focus, Marilyn has her own consulting firm Ready-Aim-Aspire. Her consulting work is widely recognized in the field of diversity and inclusion as well as women’s leadership development.

Prior to starting Ready-Aim Aspire, Marilyn served as CEO of Watermark leading strategic initiatives designed to help women in the Bay Area enhance their personal and professional impact.

Before leading Watermark, Marilyn was Chief Diversity Officer at Cisco. At Cisco, Marilyn facilitated the global I&D council, set the I&D agenda and strategy for the company, and measured progress toward goals. She enhanced Cisco's innovation, by driving policy changes to create a more inclusive environment. Marilyn was recognized as a thought leader in creating inclusive environments, and served as co-chair of the Conference Board Global Diversity Group as well as senior advisor to the Center for Talent and Innovation.

Marilyn holds a Bachelors degree in fine arts as well as two Masters degrees, one in Public Administration with a focus on organizational development and one in Social and Systemic Studies. She is also ABD on a Doctorate in Public Administration.

She serves on the Board of Directors of Ceres Community Project, and has served on the Board of Directors of Watermark, Professional Business Women of California, the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, Inc. (NACME), UPWARD, and Family and Children Services. Marilyn also currently serves on the Advisory Boards of The Everest Project, YOL as well as the Advisory Council of Courageous Leadership.

Marilyn is a recipient of the Women of Influence Award, the Women Leading the Way TWIN Award, Women Worth Watching award from the Diversity Journal, Black Enterprise Top Executives in Diversity, and Diversity Officer Leadership Award.

In addition to her current work with numerous startups, Marilyn also consults with fortune 500 and multinational companies on developing and implementing diversity strategies. She is an internationally recognized speaker and workshop facilitator on topics such as Building Intentional Connections, Building a Culture of Inclusion, Inclusive Leadership, Creating Influence, as well as Women’s Leadership. She is a regular blogger for the Huffington Post and frequently contributes to numerous publications. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marilyn-nagel/

www.linkedin.com/in/marilynnagel

Christie Caldwell

Global Leadership Consultant

Christie Caldwell is a consultant, designer and facilitator with over 11 years’ experience in global talent development. She collaborates with clients to design and deliver highly bespoke talent solutions in the areas of global leadership, global teams, learning agility and diversity and inclusion. She is committed to research, writing and thought leadership in her field and has published extensively, particularly on the area of high-potential leadership development in Asia’s fast-growth markets.

Christie’s previous experience includes consulting for The Harvard Program on Negotiation, focused on track-two peace initiatives in the Middle East. She also served in a public relations role for the Taiwanese Ministry of Education and as a researcher and writer for The Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and for The Southern Center for International Studies, a think tank in Atlanta.

Highly collaborative and creative, Christie works closely with clients to deeply understand their needs and create solutions that exceed their expectations. She is energetic and experience-oriented in the classroom, facilitating learning from the live dynamics at play. With over 20 years’ working experience in Asia and EMEA and a previous role as Director of Consulting for APAC, Christie is equipped to address business challenges from a truly global perspective.

Christie has co-authored two books in the global leadership space: Leading Across New Borders: How to Succeed as the Center Shifts and Global and Culturally Diverse Leaders and Leadership. She also writes regularly on these topics, publishing articles in Human Resources People and Strategy, Society for Human Resource Management and HR.com. In addition to her thought leadership, Christie has designed and delivered long-term, holistic change initiatives for global clients across the world, including Ford Motor Company, Coca-Cola, Novartis, TE Connectivity and Lenovo. She is committed to the authentic and sustainable growth of both individuals and organizations.

Christie holds Masters Degrees fromHarvard University and from Johns Hopkins University.

She speaks fluent Mandarin and is currently based out of Bangalore, India.

John Fu

Recognized Advisor, Speaker and Executive Coach, TAC Global

John Fu is a recognized advisor, speaker and executive coach who partners closely with TAC Global.

What makes John unique is that he has lived and worked in many parts of the world and is able to design and facilitate in both English and Mandarin. These experiences and skills enables him to understand the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion. His recent projects include:

- Keynote on diversity, equity and inclusion for a top tier global tech company with offices in Silicon Valley, London and Beijing

- Designed and facilitated the Inclusive Leadership programs at a multi leadership levels for a global healthcare company

- Advised a global pharmaceutical company to create its inclusion strategy in Asia

John has developed consulting and learning solutions for a large number of clients including ABInBev, Amazon, AstraZeneca, Bentley, BMS, CITI, Coca Cola, Mercedes-Benz, Merck, Danone, Estee Lauder Companies, Facebook, GSK, Mars, Mondelēz, NIKE, Nestlé, Novartis, P&G, Schneider Electric, Stripe, TikTok, Unilever, Volkswagen, Volvo and many more.

He also has senior advisor roles at McKinsey and Center for Creative Leadership.

Ng Mui Hwa

Global Leadership Consultant

Mui Hwa Ng is a consultant, designer and facilitator with 20 years’ experience in global talent development.

Mui Hwa’s facilitation and training repertoire covers a range of executive training programmes from Leadership Development, Executive Coaching, High Potential Talent Development, Cultural Diversity, DISC Personality Profiling, MBTI, Workplace Big 5 debriefs, Negotiation and Sales, Successful Business Communication, Conflict Management, Building Client Relationships, Diversity and Inclusion.

Mui Hwa has delivered programmes in English, Mandarin and Cantonese for organizations in the Energy, FMCG, Pharmaceutical, Bio Tech, Finance and Technologyindustries. To date, she has worked with more than 10,000 executives across 30 nationalities.

She is certified in Globesmart, MBTI, Workplace Big 5 and is also familiar with other tools like DISC, Hogan, Strengthfinder, FiroB, Hofstede, Trompenaars, World Navigator and WorldPrism.

Her mantra is To Make a Positive Difference

Mui Hwa started work in the advertising industry after completing her tertiary education. She built her career as a client-facing manager in three international advertising firms, culminating in a regional role after 12 years. Of that, she spent more than a decade working in Hong Kong and Greater Chinawhere she co-founded and conducted "Assertiveness and Empowerment" workshops for working women in Hong Kong from 1995-1997. She also spent 3 years working in London.

Mui Hwa holds a BA in Sociology and English from the National University of Singapore and a post graduate qualification in Education. A Singaporean Chinese, Mui Hwa is proficient in English, Mandarin, Cantonese and several Chinese dialects. She is currently based in Singapore.

Peter Raar

Senior Consultant, TAC Global LLC

Peter Raar is a seasoned global professional, who has started his career in the hospitality industry in the Netherlands in management and sales positions. As he wanted to be more involved with people in organizations he made a career switch in order to become a Human Resources and Learning & Development Leader. During his 24 years career in HR and L&D he worked for major multinationals in Europe, Africa, Middle East, India and Asia Pacific. He has worked in-house for the Automotive Industry (Renault), in Financial Services (American Express, Credit-Suisse, Royal Bank of Scotland, Rabo Bank) and in the Food and Nutrition sector (Kerry Food & Taste). Peter is a collaborative partner with TAC Global and other global consulting organizations.

Peter’s previous roles include country, regional and global HR and L&D leadership roles. In these roles he has been responsible for creating and executing the HR and L&D strategy to support the business strategy and driving personal engagement and belonging of all employees. His particular area of expertise and passion is the development of employees. This is the reason why he has specialized himself for a number of years in Learning & Development, Talent Management and Change Management, key components to create engagement and success for the organization.

In all of his roles Peter has gained an in-depth experience of the facilitation of strategic workshops with leadership teams, leadership workshops (Authentic Leadership, First Line Leadership, Situational Leadership), performance management & talent development and professional skills development workshops (presentation and communication, emotional intelligence, multi-generational workforce, cultural differences).

He is a very pragmatic, energetic and passionate driven professional who is sincerely interested in people and has the ability to work across boundariesand different cultures. He is a strong believer of cross functional and diverse & inclusive teams to set up organizations for success.

Peter holds a Bachelor Degree in Human Resources Management from the University of Amsterdam Applied Sciences, a post-academic degree in Strategic Human Resources Management of the University of Groningen and a certification of HR Strategies in Transformational Organizations from the London Business School LBS.

Pooja Shahani

Equity and Inclusion Strategist, TAC Global LLC

Pooja Shahani, partners with TAC Global as a global diversity, equity and inclusion strategist with experience working with multinational organizations and non-profits across the globe including in India, Hong Kong, Japan, the UK and the US.

In her previous roles, she led Diversity and Inclusion for Goldman Sachs India and was the Country Manager for Community Business in India, a D&I consulting practice headquartered in Hong Kong.

Pooja has received the Global Diversity Leadership award by the World HRD Congress for her contribution in the diversity space in 2015 and 2016. She is the co-author of a publication called Diversity & Inclusion: Building the Business Case - Stories from India.

Pooja holds degrees in English and Economics from Middlebury College and is an alumnus of Stanford’s Graduate School of Business Ignite Program. Pooja is also a certified coach and employs a range of methodologies to serve CXO clients across geographies.