Our Services

Keynote Speaking

Engage bci for Your Next Speaking Event

Our DEI and leadership speakers have now presented to hundreds of thousands of people around the world, consistently garnering praise for their ability to inspire people and engage with the largest of audiences. Our thought-provoking keynote speaking sessions motivate participants to commit to behavioral change in a positive, practical and immediate way.

We are experts at presenting at large forums:

Conferences

Retreats

Offsites

Celebrations

ERG Events

Virtual Events

Our Most Popular Keynotes

Authentic Leadership: Creating Cultures of Inclusion and Belonging

Organizations are more diverse than ever, but many workplaces still struggle to cultivate belonging. To create cultures where all team members feel like they can bring their whole selves to work and contribute to their fullest, leaders must commit to authentic leadership. This keynote delves into how leaders can leverage authentic leadership to unlock belonging for all.

Ritu Bhasin presenting a keynote on stage with blurred people in the gallery above in the top right corner

We’ve Got This: Unlocking the Beauty of Belonging in the Workplace

Many of us struggle to experience belonging at work because of negative messaging about our identities. But it doesn’t have to be this way! There are concrete practices and strategies we can use to embrace who we are, stand in our power, use our voice, and experience belonging. This practical, empowering keynote uncovers how to make this happen.

Ritu delivered a keynote remotely to an in-person crowd of 3,500. Her ability to deliver her keynote remotely to a live audience was truly amazing. Her delivery was great — she is smart and funny and her content is compelling.

Beth Aldana

Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA), Chief Administrative Officer

Ritu will have you engaged from the moment she begins! Her message is very clear and interactive, and she is high energy! Her ability to engage the audience and relate her information to your form of industry is refreshing and so exciting to see. HIGHLY recommend Ritu! She will instantly become one of your favorite keynote speakers!

Rachna Luthra

McDonald’s USA, Director, Communications

The “How” of Inclusive Leadership: Transforming Organizational Cultures Through Allyship

More than ever, we’re hearing about the critical importance of allyship in the workplace, but while many of us want to be an ally, we may not know how to make this happen. This keynote digs deep into how effective allyship enables leaders and team members to interrupt bias, develop their cultural lens, and create environments that are rooted in psychological safety, belonging, innovation, and empowerment.

Ritu Bhasin keynote speaking on a stage in front of a projector screen with both hands held in front of her and a remote in her left hand
Dr. Komal Bhasin in a bright conference room presenting a keynote speech

What Do I Say? Holding Inclusive Conversations Around Mental Health

Mental health concerns are on the rise among employees and leaders alike, who want to create workplace environments where team members are equipped with the skills required to hold supportive conversations around mental health. This keynote provides teams with the language and frameworks for holding inclusive mental health conversations.

Rise Through The Authenticity Principle: Live, Work & Lead More Authentically

We know from research that experiencing bias and judgment in the workplace causes professionals to conform and mask aspects of their identities, striking at inclusion, psychological safety, and belonging. But how can we address this? This inspiring and practical keynote highlights how we can live, work, and lead in a more authentic, empowered, and inclusive way — even in the face of bias.

Other Keynote Speaking Topics

The Foundations of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Disrupting Bias: Overcoming Our Discomfort with Differences

Burnout Prevention in the Workplace

Being Well at Work: Cultivating Personal Mental Health & Resilience Practices

Our Speakers

Ritu Bhasin

she/her

CEO & Founder

Dr. Komal Bhasin

she/her

Senior DEI Consultant
Mental Health Expert-in-Residence

Ritu Bhasin is an entertaining, compelling, and captivating speaker. She effectively leverages her own experiences and insights to engage the audience in a deeply personal journey that demonstrates the importance of inclusion and what it means for each of us.

Rima Alaily

Corporate Vice President & Deputy General Counsel, Competition Law Group, Microsoft

Our leaders benefitted tremendously from the virtual [keynote] on inclusion delivered by Komal Bhasin! The information that Komal presented and how she presented it was simply outstanding; her tailored approach enhanced our understanding of DEI and unconscious bias.

Dr. Harry James Kowal

Principal, Royal Military College of Canada

Ritu Bhasin, LL.B. MBA

Ritu is an award-winning speaker, consultant, author, and internationally recognized
expert in DEI, leadership, belonging, anti-racism, and empowerment. Since 2010, Ritu has worked with hundreds of top organizations and senior leadership teams around the world and, as a professional speaker, she has presented to hundreds of thousands of people globally.

She is a certified cultural competence coach and a certified neuroscience strategies coach who has personally coached over a thousand people, as well as a yoga and mindfulness teacher and practitioner, and very shortly she will complete a trauma professional certification program.

Before founding bci, Ritu spent ten years in the legal profession – first as a civil litigator and then as the director of legal talent for the preeminent Canadian law firm, Stikeman Elliott LLP. Ritu also served as an instructor in the Executive Programs at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto for three years. She regularly appears on national television and radio in the U.S. and Canada as an expert on DEI, belonging, leadership, and empowerment.

Ritu’s personal experiences with adversity and her desire to help others have led her to work as a social activist for over twenty-five years, volunteering with dozens of organizations and mentoring dozens of youths and young professionals. She has won numerous awards and distinctions for her work, including: Success Magazine’s Woman of Influence, The Women’s Center Leadership Award, the South Asian Bar Association Diversity Award, the Indo-Canadian Chamber of Commerce Female Professional of the Year Award, the City of Toronto’s William P. Hubbard Award for Race Relations, and Western University’s Young Alumni of the Year Award.

Ritu has written two bestselling books: We’ve Got This: Unlocking the Beauty of Belonging (2023), and The Authenticity Principle: Resist Conformity, Embrace Differences, and Transform How You Live, Work, and Lead (2017).

Ritu lives in Toronto, Canada. When she is not working, you’ll find her traveling around the world to eat, swim, hike, dance, and chill.

To explore Ritu’s empowerment tools and resources for individuals, visit her personal empowerment blog, ritubhasin.com.

Education:

  • MBA, Rotman School of Management (Executive Program), University of Toronto
  • LL.B. (With Distinction), University of Western Ontario
  • B.A. (With Distinction), University of Toronto

Dr. Komal Bhasin, MSW, MHSc, DocSocSci

Komal is bci’s Senior DEI Consultant and Mental Health Expert-in-Residence and an accomplished DEI facilitator, coach, and strategist. Komal has over 20 years of experience in providing strategic and advisory guidance and program development across a range of sectors, with a particular concentration in mental health and racial inclusion. Komal is also the founder of Insayva Inc., a social enterprise focused on providing accessible DEI and health equity support to charities and non-profit organizations.

Komal has extensive experience in creating and delivering programming in a range of DEI areas, including unconscious bias, cultural competence, mental health inclusion, psychological safety, and allyship. She is passionate about driving transformational change in workplaces and has worked closely with bci clients — corporations, professional services firms, health care providers, and educational institutions — to embed cultures of DEI within their organizations.

Komal has provided one-on-one inclusion coaching to hundreds of senior leaders and brings a unique approach that is informed by her background as a therapist. She is able to expertly handle sensitive conversations and situations and works with leaders to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to advance racial/ethnocultural, gender, and mental health-related equity across teams and organizations. Komal also offers a performance coaching program designed specifically for BIPOC leaders. This program aims to help BIPOC leaders harness their place, position, and identity to thrive in the workplace and beyond. Komal is a qualified administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI).

As bci’s Mental Health Expert-in-Residence, Komal offers tremendous expertise around workplace mental health. As a doctoral trained mental health clinician, certified health executive, and registered social worker, Komal has assisted organizations looking to advance employee mental health inclusion and well-being through offering programming on inclusive dialogue, anti-stigma, burnout prevention, psychological safety, resilience, and self-care. Komal is committed to advancing mental health and wellness across the life course; she currently serves on the board of the Alzheimer’s Society of Ontario and previously served on the board of Children’s Mental Health Ontario and the YMCA of Greater Toronto.

When Komal is not working, you’ll find her painting, cooking or snuggling with her cat.

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