As founder of the Mattam Group, Lisa Mattam, MBA, is a recognized thought leader in workplace diversity.

A fast-tracked executive at Johnson & Johnson’s, Lisa, who is Indo-Canadian, left the corporate world in 2006 and launched The Mattam Group. The Mattam Group is a management consulting firm with a unique specialty: helping companies address the diversity gap and the upcoming talent shortage. In 2009, Profit Magazine ranked Lisa one of the top 10 emerging women entrepreneurs in Canada.

Lisa's work has broken new ground in workplaces across Canada, expanding the definition of diversity and encouraging inclusive environments for all workers regardless of culture, gender or sexual orientation.

A young leader of the BMW Stiftung Herbert Quandt, Lisa Mattam participated in the 13th Transatlantic Forum in Potsdam and the 14th Transatlantic Forum in Toronto.

Lisa, is Canada maybe a model for successful diversity management in the workplace?

Canada continues to lead in the area of workplace diversity. There are tremendous advances being made not only in the specific area of diversity but inclusion as well. There is no doubt that organizations, city builders and educators believe in the business case for Diversity and Inclusion.

That being said, we recognize that we still have considerable work left to perform. We still have work to do advancing all underrepresented groups in the areas of corporate, not-for profit and public sectors. For example, 77 per cent of corporate boards and nearly 70 per cent of corporate executive teams in the Greater Toronto Area have no visible minorities. In the voluntary sector, more than 60 per cent of charities and 80 per cent of foundations have executive teams without any visible minorities. Contrast this with the fact that visible minorities make up almost 50 per cent of this same area of Canada. That is just one example but it is powerful.

Young Leaders today show a growing willingness to work for the common good in addition to their professional responsibilities. How can we build and provide workable structures, so that this willingness can be accommodated along with the demands of the modern world of work?

This is an incredible challenge. We see organizations who value the work life effectiveness of their employees allowing for volunteer work or other social building work within their walls. However, it becomes incredibly hard for Young Leaders to balance it all. In order to build this structure we need for organizations to clearly define methods for Leaders to engage in their community or their volunteerism. They need to craft policies and procedures that allow leaders to deliver on their commitments both internally and externally without fear of backlash from colleagues, peers or managers. They need to demonstrate the business case for this type of work beyond common good and bridge it to employee engagement and corporate responsibility and they need to have leaders at the executive level sponsor this work to show their support for its importance.

Are you – as a successful entrepreneur - in any way engaged in projects to strengthen the greater common good?

Absolutely. However, I am a person who really does struggle with that balance. Having a thriving business and a young family, I volunteer my time in several ways. I sit on the board of one of the largest community hospitals in Toronto which has two sites and caters to a large socioeconomically and muticulturally diverse population. In addition, I work with a local South Asian community church, providing sessions and mentorship for youth in need and as a business we provide complimentary coaching and training for individuals identified as up-and-coming leaders in our city.

What was your motivation to make diversity management your occupational focus?

I initially started my firm completely focused in the area of leadership and realized that I needed to expand into Diversity because in order to be a great leader, one has to be able to lead diverse people and diverse times. That is what traditional models of leadership and training have always neglected.

“Towards Responsible Leadership in a Globalized World“– this is the guiding principle of the BMW Foundation. What can entrepreneurs do to make responsible leadership a generally accepted principle for leaders of all kinds?

As entrepreneurs, we have the unique capability to really shift the way the workplace is designed and behaves. We can be leaders in the way we manage our employees, deliver our services and products and manage our bottom line. We have the ability to inherently advocate for Corporate Social Responsibility and advance the way that larger organizations interact with the communities they serve.

From a Diversity perspective, we have the ability to utilize Diversity principles to achieve our own goals. As an example, Nytric Limited, located in Mississauga, Ontario has found global success through the cutting-edge ideas of its diverse workforce - more than two-thirds of their employees are skilled immigrants.

With big clients like EA Games, Pratt & Whitney and video-game manufacturer Global VR, Nytric generates about $4 million per year in revenue. Ninety per cent of their products are exported and they recognize that utilizing talent from the countries they serve will only help their bottom line. This entrepreneurial firm really lives the principles of Diversity.

The BMW Foundations work is a lot about the issue of “social cohesion.” What role does this topic play in the US? What would have to be done to strengthen society?

The best thing we can do is be active citizens of our world. We have a decision to sit on the sidelines and watch the challenges of society unfold or we can be a part of the challenge. Mahatma Gandhi once said for us to be the change we want to see in this world. By being active where it be locally, nationally or globally we strengthen our world.

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