Team - Great Britain & Europe Region
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.