Aarti Shyamsunder

Global Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

In a career that has spanned boundaries, Dr. Aarti Shyamsunder (she/her) has worked in various applications of psychology and behavioral science to help leaders and organizations reach their greatest potential.

At YSC, Aarti is the Global Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and is responsible for creating distinctive, research-based and impactful client solutions and thought leadership in the DEI space.

Prior to YSC, Aarti ran her own research and consulting practice, “Psymantics Consulting”. Her work with clients from around the world focused on applying evidence-based solutions to organizational talent management issues such as leadership assessment and development and DEI. Before that Aarti worked at a global non-profit organization where she conducted and disseminated research related to women’s advancement in the workplace and helped organizations in India become more inclusive. Prior to that she worked at a multinational technology firm focusing on assessment and development of their senior leaders.

In addition to her current role at YSC, Aarti is also the co-founder of Metamorphosis, a DEI consulting collaborative, a founder-advisor for Cymorg – a platform for virtual gamified leadership simulations and is the founder and President of “COSI” (the Community of Organizational Sciences in India). With over 70 invited talks ( APEC forum, SIOP) and publications (book chapter “Inclusive Leadership: Transforming Diverse Lives, Workplaces and Societies, Journal of Business and Psychology, and HuffingtonPost) to her credit, Aarti focuses on evidence-based practices in her consulting, research, writing, speaking and teaching. Aarti obtained her Masters and PhD in industrial-organizational psychology from the University of Akron (Ohio, USA) and a BA in psychology from St. Xavier’s College (Mumbai, India).

Whether strategic consulting, running DEI systems audits, teaching graduate students or coaching leaders, Aarti brings to bear a balanced perspective combining customer-centric design and scientific rigor. Outside of work, Aarti is passionate about travel (volunteering to lead trips for women’s groups around India), music and quizzing!

“Working with Aarti was a revelation for us at Godrej and a redefinition of what a consultant should be. Her unique academic training as well as hardcore on the ground business experience give her both a bird’s eye as well as a close to the ground view of business realities and how they might be changed for the better. I worked closely with her to design and conduct a bespoke program for our most senior leaders at Godrej and her rigour and insistence that we see frame inclusion through a wider lens of equity and justice made all the difference between it been a good program and a great program. While conducting the sessions, her empathy, humour and firmness while handling difficult conversations bowled all our senior leaders over.”

Parmesh Shahani,

Author of Queeristan: LGBTQ Inclusion at the Indian Workplace, & former head, D&I, Godrej Industries

"Aarti became associated with our startup, Cymorg, when it was little more than a fun idea and a scribbled design. She believed in the idea, gave structure and substance to it, infused it with philosophy and purpose, and gently, politely, cheerfully but ever so firmly, constantly pointed us in the direction of good evidence-based science. She co-authored our competency and consulting frameworks and our pending patent application, facilitated client workshops with aplomb and was always ready with words of encouragement when those were needed."

Sriram Padmanabhan,

Founder & CEO, Cymorg