Dr. Rohini Anand is Senior Vice President and Global Chief Diversity Officer for Sodexo, a leading provider of comprehensive service solutions with $20 billion or 13.4 billion euro in annual revenue and nearly 370,000 employees in 82 countries.  In her current role, Dr. Anand is responsible for the strategic direction, implementation, and alignment of Sodexo’s integrated global diversity and inclusion initiatives, including sustainable development and corporate citizenship strategies, with Sodexo’s business growth startegy. 

Previously, Dr. Anand served as Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer for Sodexo USA, where she led the organization’s overall diversity and inclusion strategy. Dr. Anand was responsible for designing and developing the organization’s sustained culture change initiatives including community engagement, executive engagement, grass roots involvement and measurement and accountability.

Widely considered a leading expert on organizational change and diversity and inclusion, Dr. Anand has authored several manuals and has been published in numerous trade journals. Her works include texts on cultural competency and diversity training such as a chapter in The SAGE Handbook of Intercultural Competence (2009), Customizing Diversity Training Using Case Vignettes (2001), Multicultural Case Studies: Tools for Training (1999), Teaching Skills and Cultural Competence: A Guide for Trainers (1997) and Cultural Competency in Health Care: A Guide for Trainers (1997).

Under Dr. Anand’s leadership, Sodexo was ranked #1 on the 2010 DiversityInc business index of Top Companies for Diversity and Inclusion in 2010.  In addition, the National Restaurant Association has awarded Sodexo its prestigious Faces of Diversity in Inspiration award and Working Mother Media has named Sodexo a 2010 Best Company for Hourly Workers. Today the Sodexo brand is synonymous with diversity leadership.

Dr. Anand has also been the recipient of many prestigious awards and honors including the 2009 Women’s Foodservice Forum Trailblazer Award, the Maryland International Business Leadership Award, the American Institute for Managing Diversity’s Individual Leader Award, Webster University’s 2008 Women of Influence Award, Diversity Best Practices Diversity Officer Leadership Award, and Diversity Edge Magazine’s Top 20 Diversity Champions. 

Dr. Anand received her PhD from the University of Michigan and has served on the boards of several organizations including, the Women’s Foodservice Forum, the MultiCultural Foodservice and Hospitality Alliance, the National MultiCultural Institute, the Johnetta B. Cole Global Diversity and Inclusion Institute, ORC’s Global Diversity Advisory Board, ACTSO Board of the NAACP, the Corporate and Philanthropic Council of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, and the Asian and Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund.