Belinda Parmar, OBE

Belinda Parmar OBE is a diversity campaigner and the CEO of The Empathy Business and a Non-Executive Director for the Ministry of Defence. Belinda uses the science of empathy to change the way companies transform their organisations focusing on leadership, communications and operations. Belinda Parmar OBE and her team at The Empathy Business are the creators of the original Global Empathy Index published in the Harvard Business Review using their EMBRACE model. Leveraging generative AI, Belinda and her team have now scaled their Empathy Index to give companies an empathy ranking.

Belinda works with large companies to implement hundreds of ‘nudges’ and interventions that organically build an empathy revolution and give people simple practical ways they can create more inclusive cultures. Her focus is on belonging  and diversity and creating more courageous cultures.

“Just wanted to give you some feedback on Belinda, who spoke at our IWD event today as we really couldn’t have asked for a better speaker. She took the time to prep with us (more than once), she really listened to our goals for the event and tailored her content with examples to match our audience expectations. Her delivery on the day was incredible;  personable, funny, authentic and solicited really strong feedback from our attendees. We would absolutely recommend her to other businesses looking for someone to speak in her area of expertise and please don’t hesitate to contact me if anyone needs a reference.” -Laura Hillier, Marketing Director EMEA, Bullhorn

Belinda was Empathy-In-Residence at Barclays, Lloyds and Centrica and she created the first ever Empathy Hub in Europe’s largest bank. Belinda was chosen in 2019 to speak at Davos as she is a Young Global Leader for the World Economic Forum.

“It was an empowering session and I personally found Belinda’s way of influencing and storytelling very inspiring. I will be applying the lessons learned in my professional and personal life.” -Matt Hammonds, NHS

Belinda was awarded an OBE in 2015 by the Queen for her services to women in technology. In 2020, she was chosen as one of the top 20 Global Public Figures in Diversity and in 2021 she was voted a top 20 Diversity Champion.

Belinda has a law degree and a languages degree and believes that the magic in companies happens when you combine rational and emotional thinking to drive change.

Belinda is the author of Little Miss Geek which is used in schools to inspire young women to become tech pioneers and is currently shortlisted for Woman of the Year 2022 in the Women in IT Awards.