Speakers

Shonali is an accomplished workshop and facilitator speaker. With 25 years experience in the events world internationally, including the Olympics, Paralympics, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, the three main annual Political Party Conferences and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Annual Meeting. Shonali is a lecturer in Events and Tourism at the University of Hertfordshire. 

She is also co-founder of the Diverse Speaker Bureau, a trustee for Meeting Needs and a mentor on Fast Forward 15 – she knows your world!

Shonali has gained an award-winning master’s degree in tourism as a mature student, and she has done a TEDx talk in her spare time, she acts. Her TEDx talk is about using the principles of improv to create opportunities, and she brings these principles to her moderation practice. Using active listening, treating others like geniuses and using the power of “yes, and” she brings out the best in the sessions she facilitates.

Shonali uses the principles of improvisation to empower individuals to be their best selves, catalyse change for clients and host a great debate at events. She has a lot of experience in strategy and using design thinking to come up with innovative solutions, as well as customer journeys.

Shonali is inclusive, diverse and a bit quirky and always brings oodles of empathy to any job, and that is how she connects with the audience. Knowing what you want to achieve with engagement, Shonali will support that engagement and is a pleasure to work with.