Name: How to Overcome Bias and Succeed in Any Culture (AMER)
Start: 2025-12-11T17:00:00+00:00
End: 2025-12-11T19:00:00+00:00

How to Overcome Bias and Succeed in Any Culture (AMER)

Inclusive leadership is no longer optional – it’s a business differentiator. When leaders understand cultural nuance and adapt with awareness, they drive stronger collaboration, innovation, and long-term growth.

Join Olivia Jefferson, Vice President of Social Impact at Best Buy, for a dynamic conversation about leading with intent, adaptability, and inclusion across diverse teams and markets.

Olivia explores how inclusive leaders recognize bias in systems and relationships, then use that awareness to drive fair, consistent outcomes that strengthen performance. Drawing on her experience leading large-scale enterprise initiatives, she’ll share insights on what inclusive leadership looks like in practice and how awareness shapes results across complex organizations.

Alongside the conversation, you’ll explore how Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions and the Johari Window can help Rising Leaders decode cultural expectations, improve self-awareness, and build stronger alignment across global teams.

Olivia Jefferson leads Best Buy’s global social impact and philanthropic strategy. Her results-driven approach connects inclusion with innovation — helping teams deliver measurable value for business and community alike.

Takeaways:

Recognize cultural blind spots that limit impact

Strengthen decision-making across global contexts

Apply Hofstede’s model to enhance collaboration

Use Johari’s Window to strengthen self-awareness

Drive outcomes that benefit business, people, and the planet

Olivia Jefferson

Best Buy

Vice President of Social Impact

Olivia Jefferson is Vice President of Social Impact at Best Buy, where she leads the company’s global social impact strategy and serves as Executive Director of the Best Buy Foundation. In this role, she oversees multimillion-dollar investments in community programs, governance, and employee engagement to align social responsibility with business performance and long-term sustainability.

Previously, Olivia was Vice President of Philanthropic Programs at UnitedHealth Group, where she directed a $100 million initiative to strengthen the healthcare talent pipeline through 10,000 scholarships and national partnerships. She also led the Empowering Health and UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation programs, expanding access to care and community wellbeing.

Olivia is driven by the belief that business leadership and social purpose are inseparable. Her approach blends strategy, accountability, and inclusive leadership to create measurable impact for people, business, and society.

Emma Hicks

WeQual

VP of Memberships & Programs

Emma Hicks is VP of Memberships & Programs at WeQual, where she leads the global executive and rising leader communities, curating development programs that combine strategic learning with peer connection and accountability.

An experienced strategic leader, Emma has over 20 years’ expertise in executive and board-level development across global sectors. A Fellow of the Learning and Performance Institute and certified by the Institute of Directors and Association for Talent Development, she has previously held senior roles with the Institute of Directors, Connectr, and Reed Learning.

Emma’s career is grounded in building leadership capability that drives business performance and sustainable growth. Her sessions balance professional rigor with open conversation — helping leaders clarify their direction, build influence, and translate insight into action.

Ovin Mohan

WeQual

Director Leadership Development

Ovin Mohan is an executive coach with over 20 years’ experience developing senior leaders across FTSE and Fortune 500 companies. Known for his pragmatic and empathetic style, he has coached more than 1,000 executives worldwide, helping them strengthen clarity, focus, and personal leadership impact.

Ovin’s background spans corporate leadership development and organizational psychology, with a master’s in occupational psychology and a career that has included designing award-winning leadership programs for global organizations, including Apple, Barclays, and the NHS.

At WeQual, Ovin facilitates executive coaching and group sessions that blend honest reflection with actionable strategy. His approach helps leaders recognize behavioral patterns, navigate pressure with confidence, and reset priorities to sustain long-term performance.