Kari Heistad

Kari Heistad has been working in the field cultural competency for more than 30 years. Her work, her experiences have brought her into contact with world leaders, inner-city youth, nonprofit organizations, and businesspeople.

As Founder and CEO of Culture Coach International, a Boston-based consulting firm founded in 1998, her work has focused on helping companies to solve the teamwork issues that arise from diverse and multicultural teams. She has worked across the public and private sectors as well as healthcare and government. Her clients have ranged from 25-person firms to those with 100,000+ employees. While living in Greece, Kari worked as a contractor for the State Department at the American Embassy, and she maintains close connections with active diplomats.

She has spoken to more than 18,000 people through her speeches and training programs. With her team, she has developed more than 500 resources such as team meeting guides and microlearning videos that help to build more effective teams in the workplace. The tools she has developed have been used by more than 500,000 people worldwide.

Kari’s travels and interactions have strengthened her commitment to promoting international issues and understanding. She speaks regularly before regional and international conferences and her articles have appeared in regional and national publications. She holds a master’s degree in international administration, and she was a Fulbright Scholar to New Zealand.