Helping leaders break through barriers so they can act boldly and with integrity.
About For fifteen years, Aparna has worked in the space between what organizations say and how it actually feels to work there: funders trying to live their values, leadership teams stuck in the same hard conversation, and workers making sense of jobs that don't work for them. She helps people name the power in the room, build trust that holds up under pressure, and make work, work for everyone.
Work with Aparna
01
Keynotes that people don't forget by Tuesday
For conferences, all-hands, and summits. I bring the argument nobody on the panel wants to make - with the data to back it up and a framework your audience can use.
30–75 minutes. Booked by event organizers.
02
The Dignity Sessions: an experience, not a talk
For events that need the room fully present - phones down, actually participating. Created with Circle Back Club. Your audience's own voices, played back to them. Listen, reflect, move.
45 minutes to a multi-day arc. Booked by event producers.
03
Leadership offsites that end in decisions, not decks
For intact leadership teams with real work to do. Delivered through Trust by Design, the methodology I built with Rob Hadley: diagnosis first, honest conversation, and a written list of next steps with owners attached.
Half-day to two days. Booked by your own leadership or People team.
Love Letters to Troublemakers
Community
Love Letters is part newsletter, part podcast, part group therapy for people whose BS-detector has been going off for a while. Aparna learns out loud about why work sucks and how it doesn't have to, through a Monday letter, a podcast every other Thursday, and live conversations in between.
*psst, it’s free to join!
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![Is the Future of Work F*cked?]()
I Hate It Here with Hebba Youssef
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![Business Journal's '40 Under 40' in white on a black background.]()
40 Under 40
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![A woman with dark curly hair, wearing a black top with geometric patterns and pearl details, is smiling confidently against a blue background. The image includes text with her name, Aparna Rae, and elements related to a podcast episode titled 'moving beyond,' part of the Inclusive Collective series, Season 2, Episode 4. The RIFELION logo is also visible.]()
Inclusive Collective
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![Podcast cover image featuring Angela R. Howard on social responsibility at work, episode 110, with a headshot of Aparna Rae, text highlighting her achievements as a tech founder and serial entrepreneur, and a call for culture logo.]()
Call for Culture
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![Aparna Rae, a woman with dark hair and earrings smiling in front of a colorful background, with a blue banner at the top that says 'BEYOND' and the word 'NORMAL' with a microphone icon at the bottom.]()
Beyond Normal
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![Aparna Rae, a woman with dark curly hair pulled up in a high ponytail, winking and smiling, wearing a sleeveless dark blue textured top and small earrings.]()
All Voices - A Lifecycle Approach to DEI
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![Text on a white background reading 'Hiring a DEI Consultant? Here's How to Avoid Exacerbating Inequity in the Process. Inside Philanthropy.']()
Inside Philanthropy
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![Podcast cover featuring a smiling woman with short blonde hair, green earrings, and a black and white striped top against a green background with circular and line design elements. The text includes 'The Podcast', 'F!ERCE LAB', and 'With Tara Wilson'.]()
Fierce Lab
