Women's Leadership Programme

Programme leaders

Dr Deirdre Anderson Deirdre is Director of the Gender, Leadership and Inclusion Centre in the School of Management at Cranfield University, leading and coordinating the Centre’s work in inclusive practices within organisations. She is a Chartered Occupational Psychologist with extensive teaching experience with undergraduates, postgraduates and in executive education, working with students and clients to challenge, review and develop their approaches to more inclusive cultures through individual actions and organisational practices. Deirdre frequently presents her research at academic and practitioner conferences in the UK and internationally. Her research encompasses inclusive leadership, gendered working practices, flexible and hybrid working, and work/ family challenges in varying cultures. Deirdre has held senior roles within Cranfield and elsewhere, navigating and challenging organisational systemic and structural processes as she has progressed through her career. Prior to academia, Deirdre spent over 20 years working within organisations as a business psychology consultant. Her expertise focuses on design and delivery of creative and innovative development programmes which promote change within individuals, groups and organisations. She continues to specialise in executive leadership programmes for women. Dr Manjari Prashar Manjari is a visiting fellow at the Gender, Leadership and Inclusion centre at Cranfield’s School of Management and regularly lectures on inclusive leadership and cross-cultural management. She also contributes to research, including the Parker Review of ethnicity on boards. As an executive-level facilitator and executive coach, she brings an intersectional and cross-cultural lens to her work. Manjari works with individuals to help shape personal career journeys that embrace authenticity, visibility and confident action towards self-defined progression. She has expertise in facilitating individual and group discussions to identify barriers and forge a purpose-driven path towards an inclusive leadership practice. Manjari worked with Delta Alpha Psi at organisations such as Black Women in Asset Management, British Black Business Awards, EY’s gender and race/ethnicity programmes and 100 Black Women Professors Now. She has contributed to the award-winning Linklaters Women’s Leadership Programme for accelerating female talent and has coached executives at HSBC through Cranfield’s Customised Executive Development team. Her experience as an account manager at the Bank of Montreal and Scotiabank and as a communications consultant at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) grounds her in the everyday realities of work. Manjari has lived and worked in India, Canada, the United States, France, and the UK, and she speaks English, French, and Hindi.

www.cranfield.ac.uk/som/wlp

+44(0)1234 754500

execdev@cranfield.ac.uk

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