Shachi Irde

Shachi Irde is the Executive Director of Catalyst India WRC, a leading not-for-profit organization with a mission to expand opportunities for women and business. Ms. Irde has been instrumental in building Catalsyt’s presence in India and support member organisations in creating inclusive workplaces.  Prior to joining Catalyst, she served as the Head of Diversity at Infosys, where she developed and managed the organization’s D&I initiatives including the first leadership development program for women and D&I Councils. She also played an integral role in launching the organization’s ground-breaking employee resource group (ERG) for India-based LGBT employees. In addition, she conceptualized and delivered successful employee engagement programs focusing on communication, health and safety.

Ms. Irde delivers workshops and advisory sessions across a variety of topics relating to the advancement of women and inclusive workplaces—within India and globally, and is often quoted in the media. She is a frequent speaker on the topics of gender sensitization, networking, sponsorship, engaging men, unconscious bias, inclusive leadership, diversity councils and work-life effectiveness.

She has also held HR leadership roles within Wipro –e-Peripherals Ltd. She was a member of the Advisory Council of D & I at NASSCOM.

Ms Irde was invited to share her views on the amendment to Companies Act 2013 for inclusion of women on board by BBC & CNN. Ms. Irde has featured in the 2016 edition of Vodafone’s “Women of Wonder” for building communities. She has been recognised by ALL Women Economic Forum as “Iconic Woman in leadership”. 

In addition to writing articles and blogs she has also co-authored a book chapter in the book Globalization of Professional Services published by Springer. A strong advocate for women’s empowerment, she works with voluntary organizations supporting under-privileged women in her spare time. .