Amena Chaudhry
SHE / HER / HERS
A catalyst for, and keynote speaker on, organizational transformation, Amena Chaudry helps leaders unlock their capacity for radical imagination through a heart-centered and systems-oriented approach. She works with organizations that are hungry for systemic change—and leaders who are ready to do the work required to divest from behaviors and systems that create and sustain inequities.
Have a heart. Stick out your neck. Reach new heights.
Popular Talks
Practicing Inclusive Leader-ing
Grounding in your own social location and subjectivities to uncover beliefs and assumptions that stand in your way to create spaces of inclusion and belonging. Audience learns about strategies that help them develop the ability to see multiple perspectives, recognize power differentials, and center the lived experiences of the most marginalized groups.
Shaping Belonging
A personal story of growing up as a bi-continental child, the struggle to fit in, and how I’ve harnessed these experience to help me be the leaders I am today.
Operationalizing DEI
What is DEI, really? Why does it have such a negative reputation? What can we do to make sure that we are doing this work with integrity, purpose, and with meaningful progress and impact.
Workshops, Coaching & Consulting
Workshops
Art of Interrupting Racism
The only way to change social systems is to interrupt norms and behaviors that we are socialized into, that become second nature. In this 4-hour workshop, participants are introduced to a 4-step process and key strategies to build their accomplice muscle to interrupt racism—and any other -ism—in real time. Participants learn effective strategies that help them leverage relationships and that require minimal emotional labor.
Emotional Resilience
A 20-hr institute, introducing principle of nonviolent communication as a path to unlearn toxic positivity and judgmental/binary. Participants practice transforming their relationship to conflict and power and develop skills to practice care for the most impacted.
Social Systems 101
Introductory workshop covers the 7-9 basic social systems that we are all socialized into, how they work, and what needs to happen for us to influence change. Participants develop an understanding of individual vs. collective behaviors.
From White Moderate to Radical Accomplices
Participants develop a strategic plan for their personal transition from being a White Moderate to becoming a radical accomplice. They’ll explore the 6 foundational building blocks of accomplice skills and get to chart their strengths and gaps in each of the building blocks and develop strategies to operationalize their learning into tangible action.
Standing In Your Power
It’s 2023 and still Black, Indigenous, and people of color feel unsafe, unheard, and undervalued in the workplace. For too long, employers have been turning to their marginalized employees to fix issues of non-belonging that they did not create, with no added compensation. Enough. It is time for minoritized professionals to start investing in actualizing their own potential and advancing their careers without taking on systemic burdens that are not theirs to resolve. In this session, participants develop an awareness of the patterns of behaviors they fall into in the workplace and the impact this has on their physical and mental well-being.
Participants are introduced to heart-centered frameworks and strategies to: get unstuck, effectively establish boundaries, and to activate their resilience into self-advocacy.
Coaching
Inclusive Leader-ing Accelerator: It can be challenging for leaders to process their relationship to social and positional power. I help leaders develop functional self-awareness of their social location, power and systems lens, so that they are empowered to operationalize their investment in equitable systems.
I meet you where you are. And fast track your ability to bridge the gap between your intentions and your impact.
Consulting
DEI+ work is the work of social change. And the first step in shaping equity in your organization is to build leadership’s internal capacity to support this work.
I develop customized plan to build your organization’s internal capacity to act on and sustain your commitments to equity & inclusion by diagnosing problems, building strategies, and helping you harness trust and resiliency.
“Amena is a gem! Her ability to capture unspoken emotions and bring truth to power is unparalleled. As a Black female professional navigating these times, she is a beaming light leading people like me and other marginalized communities to healing and transformation. I highly recommend Amena for those companies struggling to define and implement DEI practices in their workplace!”
– Katrina S. Lee, American Counseling Association
“I have known Amena for almost 5 years. She is one of the most insightful, intelligent and well-informed persons on matters of diversity, equity and inclusion. She has a knack for explaining anti-racism theories and practices in a way that is clear and easy to understand. She is not afraid of difficult conversations and is a great facilitator. She would be a good fit for any organization that is truly committed to DEI and wants to make an authentic difference in this area.”
– Smita Garg, Director of Graduate Programs, University of Saskatchewan
“This was my second course with Amena and it is life-changing. This is the work we need to be doing as White people to move the needle on racism and other kinds of oppression. This intensive was a great way to learn methods including shared language and tools to practice with my colleagues. It was also very interesting and helpful to learn along with my fellow class members. The shared experience helps me to understand we all have difficulties based on how we’ve been socialized and what seems “normal”. Amena uses her expertise, experiences, and teaching style to share a wide range of tools to help us learn how to better connect and address racism. We left with plenty of tools to address many different aspects of inequitable practices.”
– Nicole Crutchfield, City of Fargo
“In one coaching session, Amena totally challenged, then transformed my thinking and perceptions, and how I act in the face of racism. The tools she provided for real life situations, plus her guidance, led me from a place of helplessness into an empowered alignment of my values. If you can lean into the discomfort of challenging yourself, you will be changed. It is worth it, for all of us.”
– Rachel Asleson, Reach Partners
Amena Chaudhry is the founder and principal consultant at Zarafa Consulting. She is a 2nd-generation Punjabi, Muslim immigrant and bi-continental citizen. Her formative years were spent living between Toronto, Canada and Gujranwala, Pakistan.
The experience of being raised at the intersections of multiple cultures, languages, religions, and worldviews has played a pivotal role in building her muscles for courageous and transformative discomfort. She adeptly moves through complex social dilemmas and holds multiple social truths to find the wisdom in difference and divergence.
Growing up as a misfit in both worlds, Amena yearned to be seen, heard and valued by the systems that were built without people like her in mind.
Now she works with organizations that are hungry for systemic change and leaders who are ready to do the work required to divest from behaviors and systems that create and sustain inequities.
An innovative and nimble DEI+ practitioner, her portfolio and approach are grounded in personal lived experiences. She has over 20 years of expertise as a certified HR professional in learning and development, restorative justice, and DEI+ work in corporate, non-profit, government and higher education sectors. Amena is a no-nonsense anti-racist DEI+ strategist, coach, and organizational consultant who is laser-focused on activating leaders and organizations to transform their relationship with power and conflict to become better stewards of our planet and all its inhabitants.
Let’s collaborate to ensure a transformative experience.