Deepa Purushothaman

Deepa Purushothaman is the author of "The First, The Few, The Only: How Women of Color can Redefine Power in Corporate America" and the co-founder of nFormation, a company which provides a brave, safe, and new space for professionals who are women of color.

Prior to this, Purushothaman spent more than twenty years at Deloitte and was ‘a first’: an Indian American woman and one of the youngest people to make partner in the company’s history. In her time there, she helped grow Deloitte's Social Impact Practice, served as a National Managing Partner of Inclusion, and served as the Managing Partner of WIN—the firm’s renowned program to recruit, retain, and advance women.

Focusing on women’s leadership and inclusion strategies, Purushothaman’s mission is to help women of color navigate the complex and often opaque corporate structures of today—helping them not only take a seat at the table, but change the way the table is formed. She uses her experience as a senior executive specializing in diversity, equity, and inclusion, to provide disruptive solutions for businesses that need to evolve. Her empowering talks, as well as her upcoming book, help us redefine power and profitability in corporate America—creating organizations that are truly inclusive for all.

Purushothaman has degrees from Wellesley College, Harvard Kennedy School, and the London School of Economics. She speaks extensively on women and leadership. She has been featured at national conferences and in publications including Bloomberg BusinessWeek, The Huffington Post, and Harvard Business Review. Purushothaman is also a Women and Public Policy Program Leader in Practice at the Harvard Kennedy School, an Aspen Fellow and served on the Boards of the San Diego Chamber of Commerce and Avasara (the first of its kind leadership academy for girls in India).

Purushothaman and her husband, Manoj, live in Los Angeles with their dogs and endless list of home renovations.