Alondra de la Parra
Principal Conductor & Artistic Director, ORCAM Madrid | Former Music Director, Queensland Symphony Orchestra | Founder, Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas | Leadership & Teamwork Expert
Risha Grant
Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author | Founder & CEO, Risha Grant LLC | Top 10 Most Powerful Women in HR | Award-Winning DEI Consultant & Corporate Culture Speaker
Risha Grant is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author and award-winning DEI consultant who has spent 25 years turning the most uncomfortable conversations about bias into genuine organizational change. Founder & CEO of Risha Grant LLC and author of Be Better Than Your BS, she brings radical honesty, humor, and hard-won business experience to stages across the globe — giving audiences not guilt, but tools.
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Risha Grant biography
Risha Grant is one of the most compelling and candid voices in the diversity, equity, and inclusion space — a Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, and USA Today bestselling author, award-winning consultant, and Founder & CEO of Risha Grant LLC, an internationally recognized DEI consulting, communications, and speaking firm. With over 25 years of experience helping organizations build cultures where people genuinely belong, she has developed a reputation for doing what most DEI practitioners avoid: telling the full, uncomfortable truth about bias — and making it transformative rather than paralyzing.
Corporate culture speaker Risha Grant built her career in one of the most unlikely places to pioneer inclusion work — Oklahoma, one of the most conservative states in the country. Starting with little more than a conviction that DEI was both a moral imperative and a business advantage, she founded the first award-winning diversity communications firm in the state. Long before DEI became a corporate priority, she was making the economic case for inclusion to organizations that weren’t yet interested — a crucible that sharpened her ability to connect diversity to the metrics executives actually care about: performance, retention, market growth, and bottom-line results.
Her first book, That’s BS! How Bias Synapse Disrupts Inclusive Cultures and the Power to Attract Diverse Markets, introduced her signature three-step framework for identifying, owning, and confronting unconscious bias — a methodology that has since been adopted by organizations across industries. Her follow-up, Be Better Than Your BS: How Radical Acceptance Empowers Authenticity and Creates a Workplace Culture of Inclusion, became a Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, and USA Today bestseller, and is endorsed by thought leaders including Dr. Marshall Goldsmith and former Obama advisor Anton Gunn. The book’s central concept — the “Biasphere,” the invisible web of beliefs and biases inherited from one’s environment — has given thousands of leaders a practical vocabulary for the inner work that real culture change requires.
From the Court to the Boardroom
Grant’s philosophy is shaped as much by her athletic background as by her business acumen. A Division One basketball scholar, she draws a direct line from what sports taught her about team dynamics, trust, and accountability to the organizational culture challenges her clients face today. That same energy — direct, high-stakes, no-excuses — defines her on stage. As a Black, bisexual woman who has navigated bias in every dimension of her own life, she brings a rare authenticity to the subject: this is not theory, it is lived experience translated into actionable change.
Her client roster spans Google, Procter & Gamble, Samsung, Levi Strauss, the U.S. Air Force, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, and the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder, among many others. She has been recognized as one of the Top 10 Most Powerful Women in HR and one of the Top 40 Female Keynote Speakers, and has been featured in Forbes, the Harvard Business Review, the Financial Times, Bloomberg, and Black Enterprise.
As a speaker, Risha Grant does something rare in the DEI space: she creates an environment where audiences can be honest about their biases without shame, and leave with practical tools — not guilt — to change their behavior and their culture. Her keynotes blend humor, raw personal storytelling, and a no-nonsense business case to shift hearts and minds in a single session. Organizations that book her don’t just check a box — they start a transformation. Contact Aurum Speakers Bureau to bring Risha Grant to your next event.
Risha Grant Speaking Videos
Raising Kids Without Unconscious Bias
Risha Grant Diversity & Inclusion Speaker Presents- Permission:Granted
Risha Grant Keynote Topics
Based on her Wall Street Journal bestselling book, this is Risha's signature keynote — a high-energy, humor-filled, and deeply honest session that takes audiences through the concept of the Biasphere and the transformative practice of Radical Acceptance. Rather than assigning blame or inducing guilt, Risha creates a room where people feel safe enough to be honest, then equips them with her proven three-step framework to identify, own, and confront their bias. The result is a shift in culture that starts with each individual in the room and ripples across the entire organization.
Bias is not just a moral problem — it is a performance problem, a retention problem, and a revenue problem. In this keynote, Risha makes the hard-nosed business case for eliminating unconscious bias, drawing on data that shows how unchecked bias costs organizations in measurable ways: missed markets, disengaged employees, and innovation that never happens. She delivers practical, immediately applicable tools for identifying bias in hiring, leadership, and customer experience — and shows organizations how to convert inclusion from a values statement into a competitive advantage.
With diverse communities in the U.S. alone representing trillions in consumer purchasing power, organizations that fail to connect authentically with diverse audiences are leaving significant revenue on the table. In this keynote, Risha draws on her marketing and communications background to show how unconscious bias in branding, advertising, and customer experience alienates diverse markets — and how organizations can audit and transform those touchpoints to drive meaningful growth. A uniquely practical session that connects DEI directly to sales, brand loyalty, and market expansion.
Many organizations treat DEI, employee wellness, and culture as separate initiatives — and wonder why none of them stick. In this keynote, Risha makes the case for a fully integrated people-first approach to organizational culture, showing how the same principles that drive inclusion also drive team cohesion, psychological safety, and performance. Drawing on her background as a Division One athlete and 25 years of organizational consulting, she gives leaders a blueprint for building a connected culture where every team member feels seen, valued, and motivated to contribute their best.
Speaker topics
FAQs on Booking Risha Grant
Why Risha Grant?
Booking Risha Grant is a strategic decision to bring one of the most effective and distinctive voices in organizational culture to your event. In a DEI landscape crowded with safe, check-the-box presentations, Risha does something different: she makes audiences laugh, challenges them to confront their own biases honestly, and leaves them with a clear, practical framework for change. With over 25 years of consulting experience, a Wall Street Journal bestselling book, and a client list that includes Google, Samsung, Procter & Gamble, and the U.S. Air Force, she brings credibility and a track record that few can match. Named one of the Top 10 Most Powerful Women in HR, she is trusted by HR leaders, C-suite executives, and front-line teams alike. Whether your organization is navigating a culture reset, investing in inclusion as a growth strategy, or simply ready to have the real conversation — Risha delivers. Contact Aurum Speakers Bureau to check availability and fees.
What is the "Biasphere" concept Risha Grant is known for?
The Biasphere is a concept Risha Grant developed to describe the invisible circles of influence — family, community, culture, media — that shape how we perceive the world and the people in it long before we are aware of it. These ingrained belief systems form our personal "BS" — not just bias, but the broader set of judgments, assumptions, and prejudices we carry into every interaction, decision, and relationship, including those at work. Grant's framework helps individuals identify where their Biasphere came from, own the impact it has on others, and confront it through the practice of Radical Acceptance — welcoming people's full humanity without the filter of inherited bias. The concept is the foundation of both her keynotes and her Wall Street Journal bestseller, Be Better Than Your BS.
What is Be Better Than Your BS about?
Be Better Than Your BS: How Radical Acceptance Empowers Authenticity and Creates a Workplace Culture of Inclusion is Risha Grant's Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, and USA Today bestselling book on building genuinely inclusive organizational cultures. At its core, it is a guide to the inner work that makes DEI initiatives actually stick — helping both employees and leaders understand how their personal belief systems shape workplace dynamics, and what it takes to dismantle bias not through shame or compliance, but through honest self-examination and Radical Acceptance. Endorsed by Dr. Marshall Goldsmith, former Obama advisor Anton Gunn, and Dorie Clark, the book is designed for every level of an organization and has been adopted by companies across industries as a practical foundation for culture transformation.
What topics does corporate culture speaker Risha Grant cover?
Risha Grant speaks on unconscious bias and how to identify, own, and confront it; building inclusive workplace cultures that drive performance and retention; Radical Acceptance as a leadership and culture practice; connecting DEI to business outcomes including revenue growth and market expansion; organizational culture and team cohesion; and how leaders can integrate DEI into every aspect of the employee and customer experience rather than treating it as a separate initiative. Her sessions are available as keynotes, workshops, and deep-dive training programs for all levels of an organization. To book Risha Grant for your next conference or corporate event, contact Aurum Speakers Bureau.
How to book Risha Grant as a keynote speaker?
Aurum Speakers Bureau can help you book Risha Grant as a speaker for your next event, conference, or board meeting. Simply fill out our contact form to inquire about Risha Grant's availability for a speaking engagement. One of our booking agents will respond to your request immediately and contact the speaker to let them know you want to hire them. We will assist you with obtaining speaking fees, booking information, and confirming availability for Risha Grant or any other top keynote speaker or celebrity of your choice.
How much is Risha Grant speaking fee?
Risha Grant speaking fees are determined by several factors, including the event's date, whether it's a virtual or in-person event, the duration, format, preparation required for their speech, and more. The same applies to the cost to hire any other top expert speakers and celebrities. The Speaker Fee Range listed on our website is simply a guideline and is subject to change without notice. If you would like to hire Risha Grant to deliver a keynote speech for your event, please fill out the contact form or email us at info@aurumbureau.com with as much detail as possible. One of our experienced agents will get in touch with you and let you know exactly how much it will cost to book Risha Grant.
How can I contact Risha Grant?
We only work with Risha Grant on paid speaking engagements. Aurum Speakers Bureau can assist you in booking Risha Grant and will handle all negotiations, contracts, and logistics associated with having Risha Grant speak at your event. We will be your sole point of contact throughout the process. Get in touch with Aurum Speakers Bureau today, and we will reach out to any motivational speaker or celebrity you want to enquire about speaking at your event. If you wish to contact Risha Grant for any other reason, we will be unable to assist you as we are not authorized to provide personal contact information.
Can I book Risha Grant for a virtual keynote?
Yes, Risha Grant is available for virtual keynotes and webinars. To book Risha Grant for a virtual event, please complete the contact form or send us an email to inquire about the special fees for virtual engagements.
