Leadership Development for Ethnic-Cultural

Roots Inspire

Leadership Development for Ethnic-Cultural Professionals and Corporate Partners

Mission

Roots Inspire is a leadership development centre by ethnic-cultural corporate leaders for ethnic-cultural leadership talent. Our mission is to maximise the potential of ethnic-cultural talent and increase ethnic-cultural diversity in corporate leadership positions.

The Problem We Address

Many organisations are stuck in a vicious cycle of insufficient ethnic representation in leadership:

  • Ethnic-cultural talent often avoids companies and industries where they do not see themselves represented.
  • Being part of “the few” can be a lonely journey and can trigger the perception of a glass ceiling.
  • Ethnic-cultural professionals are frequently overlooked because of similarity bias and a “my work will speak for me” approach that is ineffective at leadership levels.
  • This leads to talent stagnation, higher attrition, loss of engagement and missed opportunities for performance and culture.

Who We Are

Roots Inspire was founded in 2020 by:

  • Sergio Panday – Co-Founder / CEO, with a background in international banking.
  • Melvin Spalburg – Co-Founder / Chairman, with a background in supply chain.

They brought together over 100 ethnic-cultural corporate leaders from various industries to build programmes that change individual career trajectories, company cultures and industries at scale.

Where We Operate

Globally scalable solution, with the UK and North-West Europe as the strongest markets. Programmes delivered with multinational companies across sectors such as financial services, tech, professional services, real estate and retail.

Partner companies include brands such as Unilever, CBRE, Google, ABN AMRO, Freshfields and C&A.

What Roots Inspire Delivers

Roots Inspire designs and delivers:

  • Leadership development programmes for ethnic-cultural professionals at three career stages: Career Starters, Emerging Leaders, Emerging Executives
  • Corporate programmes for organisations that are frontrunners in their ethnic-cultural diversity strategy
  • Keynotes and leadership workshops on topics such as the vicious cycle of underrepresentation
  • Sponsorship programmes that pair senior allies with ethnic-cultural talent

Our Unique Approach

Roots Inspire combines several elements into one integrated approach:

  • Ethnic-cultural role models: Participants self-select mentors from a panel of senior corporate leaders
  • Peer-group networks: Access to a powerful network across industries
  • Tailored workshops: Focus on unwritten rules, power dynamics, visibility, networking
  • Individual career coaching: Structured one-to-one sessions with ethnic-cultural senior leaders
  • Career sponsorship: Guided programmes connecting senior allies with ethnic-cultural professionals
  • Data-driven delivery: Automated feedback loops and pre- and post-programme surveys

Measured Impact

Roots Inspire measures programme impact across four pillars: Career Trajectory, Career Empowered, Actionable Guidance and Supported & Inspired.

Key outcomes:

  • 89% of participants are clear on how to achieve the next step in their careers, compared with 27% before the programme.
  • 86% have actionable guidance on how to increase their visibility, compared with 17% before.
  • 95% feel inspired to maximise their potential, compared with 45% before.

Additional indicators:

  • Approximately 70% of participants make a career step within twelve months of completing the programme.
  • Individual and group sessions receive an average rating of 4.6 out of 5.
  • Over 1,000 individual career coaching sessions have been delivered.

Values

Roots Inspire is built on three core values:

  • Uplifting each other
  • Inspiring excellence
  • Taking pride in your roots

Contact Roots Inspire

 

For Organisations:

Learn how to integrate Roots Inspire into your talent strategy. Explore options for workshops, keynotes and multi-cohort partnerships.

Email: hello@rootsinspire.com
Website: rootsinspire.com
Landing Page: rootsinspire.com/for-corporate-partners/

 

For Individuals:

Explore which programme fits your career stage and leadership ambitions. Contact us to discuss your next leadership move.

Email: hello@rootsinspire.com
Website: rootsinspire.com
Landing Page: rootsinspire.com/individual-participants/