Shakil Choudhury

Shakil Choudhury is an award-winning educator and consultant with more than 25 years of experience in the field of diversity, equity and inclusion. He has trained senior leaders across sectors and developed measurement tools for organizations, helping improve their diversity outcomes. Internationally, Shakil has designed and led peace-building projects for communities in conflict, specifically in Europe and South America. He lives in Toronto and is currently experiencing his most challenging and rewarding management experience: his two toddlers teaching him about fatherhood.

About the book, Deep Diversity:

“Deep Diversity is intimately tied to my personal and professional story. It’s a culmination of 25 years of teaching and learning from thousands of people across 4 continents, one emotional burnout in my early 30s and a childhood in small town Canada pretending I was white. In trying to reconcile my place in the world—who I was personally and what I did professionally—led me to explore and integrate a variety of perspectives into my work including psychology, neuroscience, bias research, social justice as well as mindfulness meditation.

My ultimate goal in writing this book is to help average people regardless of identity, have a conversation about racism and discrimination—something that’s tough, almost taboo, to talk about openly—and bring hope to a topic that can feel so ultimately despairing. Using a compassionate but challenging approach, this book helps identify the racial blindspots we all possess and offers practical solutions about how to break the ‘prejudice habits’ we’ve learned in order to tackle systemic discrimination.

The book also includes stories of my own “inclusion errors”, such as underestimating the abilities of a person in a wheelchair or discounting someone because of their “foreign sounding name.” And successes such as supporting a group of diverse young leaders in Europe to emotionally process the terrorist attack on the London Underground as the tragedy unfolded in 2005.”

Visit the media page for press coverage

His words are honest and disarming and the book’s framework is both original and needed.

Shakil Choudhury presents a uniquely accessible combination of personal observations and scientific evidence to make a convincing case for Deep Diversity. His words are honest and disarming and the book’s framework is both original and needed. This book will make you think hard and think better about what's good for you, your organization and society at large.

Mahzarin R BanajI, Co-founder of Project Implicit
Richard Clarke Cabot Professor of Social Ethics, Department of Psychology, Harvard University and Co-author of Blindspot: Hidden Biases in Good People (2013)

A breakthrough book about how to achieve the kind of racial equity that goes far beyond traditional notions of “diversity.”

Shakil Choudhury has written a breakthrough book about how to achieve the kind of racial equity that goes far beyond traditional notions of "diversity." In his deep dive, he grapples with the implications of several decades of neuroscience, reflecting on the role of emotion in racial matters, while still grounded in systems, rules, and power. Everyone working on race issues should read this book. Even when you don't agree, you will be provoked to think harder about the enormity of our challenge, and how to generate the emotional, as well as intellectual, fortitude to meet that challenge.

Rinku Sen
Executive Director, Race Forward
Publisher, Colorlines

Choudury’s text offers straightforward tools that can help everyone assess their own innate reactions in any situation

Working in sports, issues of race and cultural biases often come into play when determining how to approach some of the issues that shape the socio-political aspects of the industry. Choudury's text offers straightforward tools that can help everyone assess their own innate reactions in any situation. More than that, it's a great read--the book derives its heart from its author, who writes scientifically but very personally, confronting his own discriminatory reactions as unflinchingly as he asks us to do, and effortlessly straddles the line between insightful analysis and compelling narrative.

Jordan Heath-Rawlings
Deputy Editor, Sportsnet magazine

Deep Diversity emphasizes the importance of relationships and compassion

I sincerely wish this book had been written 10 years ago. I saw myself in many of the experiences and struggles described, as I'm sure many of my equity colleagues will. I was in tears twice reading this - it really got to the core of why this work is so difficult, and why it's so rewarding…Deep Diversity emphasizes the importance of relationships and compassion, principles I have always maintained are keys to equity work…I found this book not only helpful but hopeful. Miigwetch for sharing this.

Donna Gerber, Aboriginal Liaison & Recruitment Manager, Niagara College

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