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Ranjini Manian - Founder and CEO, Indian Culture Coach
Joanne Grady Huskey - Co-founder of Global Adjustments, Chief North American Representative
Anita Krishnaswamy - President - Corporate Division
Susanna Kurian - Vice President - Retail & Culture
Anupama Arvind - Vice-President – Sales, Chennai
Preeti Bindra - Vice-President, Delhi
Arathy Madappa - Vice-President, Bengaluru
Suzanne McNeill - Chief UK and Europe Representative
Bindu Menon - Head – Relocation Services, Chennai
Srinivas K - Manager - Destination Services, Hyderabad
Ruchika Srivastava - Senior Manager – Operations, Delhi
Margaret Thorpe - Cross-Cultural Training Consultant and US Representative
Shanti Puducheri - Cross-Cultural Consultant and Coach, Chennai
Neil Miller - Manager - Business Strategy
Lakshmi Krupa GE - Associate Editor – Culturama
Jayakrishna Behera - Creative Head
Ranjini Manian - Founder and CEO, Indian Culture Coach
Background
Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and French from Elphinstone College, Mumbai, and a Diploma in French literature from the University of Sorbonne, Paris. Ranjini is fluent in French, Japanese and Spanish besides English and several Indian languages.
Vital Stats
During the past 15 years working in the relocation industry in six cities in India, Ranjini has worked with thousands of clients from over 75 nationalities. Her passion for quality relocation and cross-cultural coaching services began quite by accident when an American friend needed help acclimatising to the challenges of living in India. Ranjini’s deep knowledge of the Indian ethos, her excellent orientation and communication skills and understanding of western etiquette proved to be the perfect combination to help expatriates understand the nuances of Indian culture for personal as well as business needs. What began as a two-people workforce has now grown to a 50-strong company, with offices in Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai, and an exhaustive client base that includes companies including Nokia, IBM, Ericsson, Motorola, Saint Gobain, Dow Chemicals, Caterpillar, Daimler, BMW, Fidelity, GE Capital, Goldman Sachs, and Cisco to name a few.
Ranjini was mentored for ten years by Robert Kohls, the American cross-cultural pioneer, and is an expert at sharing this knowledge with Indian and foreign business professionals and coaching a new generation of aspiring ones.
Recognitions
Author of Doing Business in India for Dummies and co-author of India chapter in The Sage Handbook of Intercultural Competence. Editor of Culturama, India’s first free cultural magazine for expatriates (formerly known as At a Glance – Understanding India), architect of www.globalindian.com, an e-learning portal for young Indians. Co-chaired the Worldwide Employee Relocation Council’s Global Workforce Symposium and received their ERC Meritorious Service Award. Ranjini served as an Executive Committee member on the Women's Leadership Board at Harvard University. She recently founded the India Immersion Centre in Chennai, and produced Aikya India 2010, the first in a series of annual cultural events celebrating the spirit of oneness in India. She writes regular columns in leading business dailies and is a sought-after speaker.
Passions outside GA
Student of Indian philosophy, and avid travel buff
Favourite quote
“I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any.” – Mahatma Gandhi
Invite Ranjini as a speaker :
Speakers Profile
Contact : ceooffice@globaladjustments.com
Joanne Grady Huskey - Co-founder of Global Adjustments, Chief North American Representative
Background
Joanne has a Bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin and a Master's degree from Harvard University, and is a cross-cultural trainer and international educator by trade. She has worked with people in over 80 nations to promote international understanding. She presently is Program Officer at the Meridian International Center in Washington, DC, where she coordinates the International Visitors Leadership Program for the Department of State. Joanne speaks Chinese, Spanish, French and American Sign Language. As part of a Foreign Service family, Joanne has lived with her husband and two children in Beijing, Chennai, Nairobi, and Taiwan. Prior to the Foreign Service, she was the International Director of VSA Arts at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington D.C and as such initiated innovative arts programs in nations throughout the world.
Vital Stats
Joanne has worked with many international companies to assist their employees in transition to living abroad, as well as coached international business people on cultural competency and globalization. In addition to serving on the Boards of international schools in Taipei, Rome and Chennai, she co-founded the American International School of Chennai. She now lives in Bethesda, Maryland.
Recognitions
Joanne is also a free lance journalist and has published articles in Newsweek, Washington Post, State Magazine, Foreign Service Journal, United Airlines' Hemispheres, and Centred on Taipei magazines. Her book, The Unofficial Diplomat, was published in 2009.
Passions outside GA
Joanne loves to dance, sing, read great books, play tennis, and travel to exotic places. Most of all, she likes to spend time with her dear friends and big Irish family.
Favourite quote
"There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?" Robert Kennedy
Anita Krishnaswamy - President - Corporate Division
Background
Anita is a graduate in Advanced Mathematics and Science, and has spent many years teaching, including conceptualising an e-learning portal.
Vital Stats
Anita handles the corporate division of GA, nationally, out of the Chennai office, with a winning combination of warmth and professionalism that endears her to customers and team members alike. This encompasses destination services for expatriates in realty and relocation, training in cross-cultural awareness, event management, creative design and publishing, as well as the production of corporate promotional material including videos and newsletters. She contributed significantly to the launch of the Global Indian portal – the company's cross-cultural e-learning platform.
Passions outside GA
Classical Indian dance and music, poetry and contemporary theatre.
Favourite quote
"Nothing except knowledge can purify your heart." – Swami Dayananda
Susanna Kurian - Vice President - Retail & Culture
Background
Bachelor's degree in Economics & Sociology from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, and a Masters Diploma in Computer Studies from the National Computing Centre, UK.
Vital Stats
16 years work experience in the Corporate world has been across Industries from IT, to FMCG, to the Luxury Industry in a Sales and Marketing function. In India she worked for Microland, the IT Company that was a pioneer in Computer Retailing , followed by Gillette, Estee Lauder Cosmetics, Sirocco (Heineken JV) , and Prestige Products Distribution, in Kuwait, Dubai and Singapore. Susanna's Pan-Asian, professional and personal experience, has strengthened her understanding of different Cultures, and gives her a Global Perspective and understanding. The deep experience across the Sales and Marketing function across Industries positions her, as a proven performer of growing sales, and P/L through skillful Brand Management.
Susanna is excited to be back in India after 16 years, and to take up this challenge, to head the New Global Adjustments Retail & Culture division, as Vice President, and be part of the expansion of the Global Adjustments Brand.
Passions outside GA
Fitness and Health, Travelling and Watching Football Games.
Favourite quote
Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass. It is about learning to dance in the rain.
Anupama Arvind - Vice-President – Sales, Chennai
Background
Anupama has an MBA from the University of Technology
Vital Stats
Life in both Australia and India has given Anupama the multi-cultural exposure which helps her relate to our expatriate and Indian clients with equal ease. She has ten years' hands-on experience in corporate sales and account management in a variety of service industries, and is an articulate and effective team member with strong coaching skills.
Passions outside GA
I am passionate about raising my four-year-old son, Advaith, to
be a good human being.
Favourite quote
"Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future". John F. Kennedy
Preeti Bindra - Vice-President, Delhi
Background
Preeti is a long-time entrepreneur who brings her skills of running a business to bear when making customer-focused decisions while running the Delhi, Noida and Gurgoan regional operation with the help of a committed team of professionals.
Vital Stats
Preeti is an expert at negotiation skills, particularly in real estate. She embodies some of the best Indian virtues of hospitality, charm and warmth. Her unwavering customer focus causes expatriates to rely on her routinely to help them with the challenges of moving into a new country.
Passions outside GA
Cooking and playing Scrabble
Favourite quote
"If you can imagine it, you can create it. If you can dream it, you can become it." William Arthur Ward
Arathy Madappa - Vice-President, Bengaluru
Background
Arathy has academic qualifications in psychology and public relations
Vital Stats
Arathy successfully leverages her strong management, marketing and people skills to manage our Bangalore operations. Her creativity and resourcefulness has seen the Bangalore team grow in number and expand in office space over recent years to cater to our fast-expanding clientele base in the city, one which includes industries both within and without the IT core.
Passions outside GA
As passionate as she is about her work with GA, a long day sees Arathy unwind, by playing scrabble on the net and doing some light reading!
Favourite quote
"Don't worry when you are not recognized but strive to be worthy of recognition." Abraham Lincoln
Farah Bakhshay - Vice-President, Mumbai
Background
Farah has a degree in Business Management from the University of Massachusetts and experience running her own entrepreneurial venture in Mumbai. She is fluent in Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil and English.
Vital Stats
Farah lived in California before moving back to Mumbai. Her time in the USA, and her experience in product marketing, has given Farah much opportunity to interact with people from different cultures and nationalities. An excellent public speaker, Farah now has the exciting responsibility of heading up Global Adjustments in the financial capital of India. Passions outside GA: Spirituality is important to Farah. She enjoys playing squash and is a fitness enthusiast , is interested in organic foods and the environment, and loves travel and her dog Dash!
Passions outside GA
Spirituality is important to Farah. She enjoys playing squash and is a fitness enthusiast , is interested in organic foods and the environment, and loves travel and her dog Dash!
Favourite quote
"A child gives birth to a mother." – Vithal Venkatesh Kamat
Bindu Menon - Head – Relocation Services, Chennai
Background
Bindu has a Master's degree in English. She is familiar with French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish.
Vital Stats
Bindu is the first person in Global Adjustments with whom most of our expatriate customers interact, often well before landing in India! She has a flair for presenting India objectively to a first-time visitor, and ensures that relocating families have a smooth transition during the initial stages of moving here.
Passions outside GA
Learning languages and understanding human behaviour and
relationships. Books and music are two things Bindu cannot live without, and she loves travelling to the mountains and forests of India with her family. Bindu has earned a name as Global Adjustments' "official mimic"!
Favourite quote
"Everything happens to everybody sooner or later if there is time enough." George Bernard Shaw
Srinivas K - Manager - Destination Services, Hyderabad
Background
Srinivas is a science graduate from Osmania University, Hyderabad. He has done courses related to customer service & training the trainers and has good communication skills.
Vital Stats
He has worked for fifteen years in service industry with international car rental companies like Hertz & Budget. He has travelled & worked in most of the major cities in India-Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Nagpur, and Baroda. He has been a part of arranging transport for various conference hosted by major travel companies like World Business meet & World Telecom conference & IASC'11 conference - Foundation for Ecological Security.
Passions outside GA
He has a passion for traveling and meeting people. He enjoys playing and watching sports. Enjoys listening music and goes an extra mile in helping people.
Favourite quote
"Always be positive!"
Ruchika Srivastava - Senior Manager – Operations, Delhi
Background
Ruchika has a Master's degree in English and a diploma in Advertising and Marketing. She has worked for over five years as a client servicing professional with leading advertising agencies in India dealing with many high profile international brands. In 2000 she moved to Europe with her family where she spent several years.
Vital Stats
Ruchika is the expat guide and mentor of the Delhi office. She lived in Dublin, Ireland, where she was actively involved in local community events. Her family was the only Indian family in the neighborhood and very often she was the first Indian many of her Irish neighbors had met. She then decided to become a cultural ambassador of India and started conducting India workshops for parents and children in the local schools to talk about Indian life and culture.
Ruchika looks after relocation and expatriate services for the NCR region. Having lived abroad and been on both sides of the fence, she can empathise truly with expat needs and concerns.
Passions outside GA
World cuisine
Favourite quote
"Live and let live."
Margaret Thorpe - Cross-Cultural Training Consultant and US Representative
Position
Cross-Cultural Training Consultant and US Representative
Background
Margaret has a degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has over 20 years experience in computer and management consulting. She has lived and worked all over the world, including Kuwait, Australia, Malaysia and India. Upon retiring from corporate life in 2000, she has focused on raising her son, served as a consultant and begun a second career as a math teacher. She now resides in northern California.s
Vital Stats
Margaret lived in Chennai with her family for 4½ years. She served as a consultant to GA and helped design the first cross-cultural training course in 2000. With her computer programming background she was able to structure realistic role plays and training materials for our clients, and was an invaluable trainer over the next three years.
Passions outside GA
Travelling with her family, photography, tennis and exploring new ways to teach math.
Favourite quote
“A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove…But the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.” – Forest E. Witchcraft
Shanti Puducheri - Cross-Cultural Consultant and Coach, Chennai
Background
Shanti holds a Bachelors degree in Psychology and English Literature, and a Masters in Life Experience for cross-cultural adaptation! She is a US citizen of Indian origin, who has relocated with her family to three destinations in the US and India, easing their adaptation to ensure blooming where planted.
To participants in her workshops at Global Adjustments, Shanti brings past experience as a Relationship Manager in the travel and leisure industry, working with teams based across the globe, and the insights acquired through extensive travel within the USA, Europe and Asia.
Vital Stats
Shanti has received specialized training from cross-cultural expert Robert Kohls and etiquette experts Sue Fox and Syndi Seid. She is Chief Facilitator for Global Adjustments’ learner-centric workshops and, over the past 12 years, has coached over two thousand professionals from fifty organizations including Amazon, Fidelity, Cognizant, Wipro, Ericsson, Computer Associates, Saint Gobain and Daimler.
Articulate, pragmatic and solution-oriented, Shanti infuses a large dose of positive energy into her interactive, custom-tailored training sessions.
Passions outside GA
Volunteer work at an NGO in education and geriatric care.
Favourite quote
“The time to be happy is now, the place to be happy is here, the way to be happy is to make someone happy, and we can have a little heaven right here.”
Neil Miller - Manager - Business Strategy
Background
Neil Miller comes from Indiana in the United States. He holds a degree in Communication and Leadership, and has studied English Phonology and Cultural Adaptation. He moved to Chennai with his wife in January of 2010 and has enjoyed his time fully. His love of culture and learning drive his desire to help people from different cultures understand each other better.
Vital Stats
Neil is a Lead Trainer with Global Adjustments and a country expert on the US, having grown up there and spent time in every region of the US, but also able to look at the culture with the eyes of as an outsider. He has trained with Cognizant, Computers International, and the Royal Bank of Scotland helping executives communicate more effectively with Americans from a distance, and also helping those travelling on assignment to understand the new culture they are entering.
Neil brings energy, optimism, a love for US and Indian cultures, and a tireless effort to always make learning practical and effective. He enjoys tailoring presentations to individual needs and searching for new, innovative, and interactive ways to having one's eyes opened to the world of cultures.
Passions outside GA
Neil is always looking to learn something new, and is interested in practical spirituality, a wide variety of music, and is a universal sports fan.
Favourite quote
"Lead me from the unreal to the real. From darkness lead me to light. From death lead me to immortality"
Lakshmi Krupa GE - Associate Editor – Culturama
Background
Krupa has a master's degree in Sociology and a bachelor's degree in Electronic Media. She has written for magazines and newspapers alike, over the last five years. She is fluent in Tamil, English, Hindi and a little bit of Spanish language.
Vital Stats
Krupa ventured into journalism even while in college, doing her bachelor's degree and freelanced for a news channel covering different beats including the crime beat. Following a master's degree in Sociology, which offered her a better understanding of the 'glocal' society we live in, she started writing. After a short stint in a city-based magazine, she moved on to write for a leading news daily, where she spent more than two years writing on diverse topics from education to real estate.
Her heart, however, lies in art and culture. And what better place than an organisation dedicated to helping the world understand Indian culture, and a magazine at whose very heart lies Indian culture to work for?
Passions outside GA
Reading. A Gabriel Garcia Marquez fanatic, the Spanish language, Spanish guitar. Most recently, has developed a liking for African writing. Chinua Achebe and Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie, in particular. Music - a diverse range of it from Carnatic to blues. Krupa is also interested in Tamil literature, besides behavioural psychology.
Favourite quote
"...human beings are not born once and for all on the day their mothers give birth to them, but... life obliges them over and over again to give birth to themselves." – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Jayakrishna Behera - Creative Head
Background
JK is a science graduate and has a Post-graduate Diploma in Visual Communications. He has more than ten years of experience in publishing houses, advertising agencies and the packaging industry.
Vital Stats
JK heads the design division of the company, which involves creative design, branding, event management and print production. Applying graphic design principles, he produces innovative and tasteful creative designs. JK's intrinsic creative talent and a lifelong interest in graphic design has resulted in a keen eye for quality design and print production.
Passions outside GA
Photography, bottle painting, antique currency collection.
Favourite quote
"The need to be right all the time is the biggest bar to new ideas. It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong than to be always right by having no ideas at all." – Edward de Bono
