Cindu Thomas- George is a disrupter of injustice and cultivator of inclusion. As the Founder and Principal Trainer of Shakti Diversity and Equity training, she designs and facilitates professional development experiences that promote inclusion, equity, antiracism, and intercultural intelligence. As a DEI practitioner, she works across industries to help cultivate workplace cultures that foster a sense of belonging and inclusion for today's increasingly diverse workforce. In her nearly twenty years of experience, she has developed a mastery of creating and facilitating meaningful and impactful learning experiences that work to empower individuals to become agents of change and champions of inclusion and equity. As a nationally recognized speaker, Cindu’s speaking engagements are focused on encouraging cross-racial allyship, disrupting anti-Asian hate, moving beyond color-blindness to color consciousness, understanding and embracing equity, disrupting anti-Blackness in communities of color, empowering women of color in the workplace, and cultivating inclusive organizations.

In addition to her role at Shakti, Cindu is a tenured professor at the College of Lake County, specializing in Public Speaking, Intercultural Communication, and Online learning. Recognized with the 2017 NISOD Teaching Excellence Award, Cindu is a distinguished and recognized educator. She also partners with Northwestern University's Kellogg School for Non-Profit Management, teaching and coaching on inclusive leadership

Cindu began her career as an adjunct faculty member at San Francisco State University and City College of San Francisco. She holds an M.A. in Communication Studies from San Francisco State University where she learned the art of teaching, public speaking, and the importance and relevance that diversity and social justice education has in our world. It was her own lived experiences of being the daughter of Indian immigrants and navigating her role in Higher Education as a woman of color that drew her to a career committed to driving inclusion, equity, and anti-racism forward. Her dedication transcends professional boundaries. Cindu is a co-founder of the Chicago Women’s Leadership Accelerator, a conference dedicated to increasing the representation of women in leadership roles. She also actively volunteers and serves as a co-founder of Malayalees for Social Justice, the South Asian Solidarity Project, and co-founder and co-chair of the Women of Color Employee Resource Group at the College of Lake County.. Previously, she contributed her expertise to the advisory board of Orion3 and was also on the board of YWCA Lake County, helping direct the organization’s racial justice initiatives and programming.

Cindu resides in Chicago’s Ukrainian Village neighborhood with her husband and children.

 To learn more about Cindu, please visit www.cinduthomasgeorge.com