Belinda Parmar

Belinda Parmar OBE is a prominent diversity campaigner and the CEO of The Empathy Business. She also serves as a Non-Executive Director for the Ministry of Defence. Belinda leverages the science of empathy to facilitate transformative change within organisations, with a focus on leadership, communications, and operations.  

Notably, she is the creator of the Global Empathy Index, which was featured in the Harvard Business Review. This index is the first to measure empathy and inclusion on a large scale. Recently, Belinda developed the new Empathy Index powered by AI. This innovative tool combines large language models with sentiment analysis, complemented by human intervention, to provide companies with an empathy ranking.  

Belinda collaborates with major corporations to implement numerous "nudges" and interventions that organically foster an empathy revolution, offering individuals practical ways to create more inclusive cultures. Her primary focus areas are belonging, diversity, and cultivating courageous cultures. In her capacity as Empathy-In-Residence, she has worked with Barclays, Lloyds, and Centrica, and notably established Europe's largest bank's first-ever Empathy Hub. 

Belinda's outstanding contributions led to her selection as a Young Global Leader for the World Economic Forum, allowing her to speak at Davos in 2019. In 2015, the Queen awarded Belinda an OBE for her dedication to advancing women in technology. In 2020, she was named one of the top 20 Global Public Figures in Diversity, and in 2021, she was voted as a top 20 Diversity Champion.  

Belinda holds degrees in law and languages and firmly believes that the true magic within companies emerges when rational and emotional thinking is combined to drive change. She is also the author of Little Miss Geek, a book widely used in schools to inspire young women to become tech pioneers. Her accomplishments earned her a Woman of the Year 2022 nomination in the Women in IT Awards.