
Making a Career in Diversity & Inclusion with Sudesh T
05/06/21 • 54 min
Sudesh Thevasenabathy is the Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Asia at Manulife based in Hong Kong. He is a true believer and advocate of diversity and inclusion in the workplace and with customers, and has been actively works and speaks in supporting inclusion of all forms be it disability, race, gender, sexuality and multigenerational employees.
In 2019 he won the Hong Kong LGBT+ Ally Award and then was named as part of the 2019 Global Top 50 OUTstanding Ally Executive Role Models and he only started working in a diversity and inclusion role 6 months ago.
While diversity and inclusion roles have been around for a while, particularly in the United States, there hasn’t been a massive number of people doing these roles in Asia. Now in the wake of Black Lives Matter, George Floyd’s death and Covid-19 we have seen a massive shift towards organisations realising they haven’t done enough and scrambling to employ leadership roles in this space.
Sudesh is a great example of how you can take the leadership and other skills you have learnt throughout your career and apply them to something new that has purpose and meaning. If you too are thinking you would like to work in Diversity and Inclusion, you will learn lots from my conversation with Sudesh.
The Culture Ministry exists to create inclusive, accessible environments so that people and businesses can thrive.
Combining a big picture, balanced approach with real-world experience, we help organisations understand their diversity and inclusion shortcomings – and identify practical, measurable actions to move them forward.
Go to https://www.thecultureministry.com/ to learn more
If you enjoyed this episode and maybe learnt something please share with your friends on social media, give a 5 star rating on Apple podcasts and leave a comment. This makes it easier for others to find A Dog Called Diversity.
A Dog Called Diversity is proud to be featured on Feedspot's 20 Best Diversity And Inclusion Podcasts
Thanks for listening. Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.
Sudesh Thevasenabathy is the Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Asia at Manulife based in Hong Kong. He is a true believer and advocate of diversity and inclusion in the workplace and with customers, and has been actively works and speaks in supporting inclusion of all forms be it disability, race, gender, sexuality and multigenerational employees.
In 2019 he won the Hong Kong LGBT+ Ally Award and then was named as part of the 2019 Global Top 50 OUTstanding Ally Executive Role Models and he only started working in a diversity and inclusion role 6 months ago.
While diversity and inclusion roles have been around for a while, particularly in the United States, there hasn’t been a massive number of people doing these roles in Asia. Now in the wake of Black Lives Matter, George Floyd’s death and Covid-19 we have seen a massive shift towards organisations realising they haven’t done enough and scrambling to employ leadership roles in this space.
Sudesh is a great example of how you can take the leadership and other skills you have learnt throughout your career and apply them to something new that has purpose and meaning. If you too are thinking you would like to work in Diversity and Inclusion, you will learn lots from my conversation with Sudesh.
The Culture Ministry exists to create inclusive, accessible environments so that people and businesses can thrive.
Combining a big picture, balanced approach with real-world experience, we help organisations understand their diversity and inclusion shortcomings – and identify practical, measurable actions to move them forward.
Go to https://www.thecultureministry.com/ to learn more
If you enjoyed this episode and maybe learnt something please share with your friends on social media, give a 5 star rating on Apple podcasts and leave a comment. This makes it easier for others to find A Dog Called Diversity.
A Dog Called Diversity is proud to be featured on Feedspot's 20 Best Diversity And Inclusion Podcasts
Thanks for listening. Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.
Previous Episode

Choosing a new country to have a family....with Jaco van der Merwe
I had the most fun speaking with Jaco van der Merwe. I wished I could meet him in person and share a bottle of wine with him and his husband. Both from South Africa, they decided a few years ago they wanted to move countries for a better life and more opportunities. But to where?
From that point they worked up the criteria, set up a spreadsheet and got to reviewing countries for their next home. An important consideration was a place that is safe for LGBTIQ+ people and a place where they could have a family. I loved learning about their decision process, but also how they met each other and got married, how they have worked together, and how they set goals each year for their life together. So where did they end up moving to? Dive in and listen.
The Culture Ministry exists to create inclusive, accessible environments so that people and businesses can thrive.
Combining a big picture, balanced approach with real-world experience, we help organisations understand their diversity and inclusion shortcomings – and identify practical, measurable actions to move them forward.
Go to https://www.thecultureministry.com/ to learn more
If you enjoyed this episode and maybe learnt something please share with your friends on social media, give a 5 star rating on Apple podcasts and leave a comment. This makes it easier for others to find A Dog Called Diversity.
A Dog Called Diversity is proud to be featured on Feedspot's 20 Best Diversity And Inclusion Podcasts
Thanks for listening. Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.
Next Episode

Pushing the boundaries.....with Lisa Cox
So yes you might be wondering what I’m doing with a woman in this series.....after all it was supposed to be all men!
I actually had planned a pretty special and personal episode planned for the last episode of this series with men, but after I heard this persons story I wanted them to go away and think about what they want to share and maybe what they don’t want to share. I know this sounds mysterious but I want to make sure all my guests feel safe when they tell their story and I wasn’t sure if this guest was going to feel this way when the episode was realeased.
I hope to bring you this story a little later....maybe in series 3, but for the time being I decided I couldn’t wait to introduce you to Lisa Cox.
She’s Australian, smart, articulate and attractive. She’s a writer and content creator, and a model (she actually models for one of my favourite bloggers Nikki Parkinson who has the fashion label Styling You. Lisa is also an educator and advocate for people with disabilities, having acquired physical and invisible disabilities herself.
We talked about her story, about covid, inspiration porn (I learnt a new term), about dating, travel and about being grateful. You can get in contact with her for work here or check out her instagram here.
The Culture Ministry exists to create inclusive, accessible environments so that people and businesses can thrive.
Combining a big picture, balanced approach with real-world experience, we help organisations understand their diversity and inclusion shortcomings – and identify practical, measurable actions to move them forward.
Go to https://www.thecultureministry.com/ to learn more
If you enjoyed this episode and maybe learnt something please share with your friends on social media, give a 5 star rating on Apple podcasts and leave a comment. This makes it easier for others to find A Dog Called Diversity.
A Dog Called Diversity is proud to be featured on Feedspot's 20 Best Diversity And Inclusion Podcasts
Thanks for listening. Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.
If you like this episode you’ll love
Episode Comments
Generate a badge
Get a badge for your website that links back to this episode
<a href="https://goodpods.com/podcasts/a-dog-called-diversity-225860/making-a-career-in-diversity-and-inclusion-with-sudesh-t-25597341"> <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/goodpods-images-bucket/badges/generic-badge-1.svg" alt="listen to making a career in diversity & inclusion with sudesh t on goodpods" style="width: 225px" /> </a>
Copy