Cathy Gallagher-Louisy

Global Equity Diversity and Inclusion Leader in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

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Cathy Gallagher-Louisy is a global Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion ("EDI") professional with over 19 years of experience specializing in EDI.

Currently, Cathy has several roles in the EDI (equity, diversity, and inclusion) space: consultant, educator, and volunteer. As the President of CGL Consulting, she offers a range of EDI and cultural competence learning, coaching, and strategic planning services. As an educator, she serves as a Professor at the Centennial College Certificate in Leadership and Inclusion, a Faculty Member at the University of Toronto’s Corporate Social Responsibility & Sustainability Graduate Diploma, and a member of the Program Advisory Committee and lecturer for the George Brown College DEI in the Workplace Program. Cathy is also one of 8 Canadians on the global group of 115 volunteer Expert Panelists who create the Global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Benchmarks.

Previously, Cathy co-founded and worked with the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion (CCDI) for nearly eight years, where she led the consulting portfolio, the measurement and analytics portfolio, the research portfolio, and the cultural competence portfolio. Cathy co-developed CCDI’s organizational assessment tools, and she personally developed CCDI’s strategic planning methodology, focus group methodology, and cultural competence curriculum. She co-developed the Canadian Certified Inclusion Professional designation and the curriculum for the Centennial College Certificate in Leadership and Inclusion. Prior to CCDI, Cathy led diversity and Corporate Social Responsibility in Canada for Hewitt Associates, the global Human Resources consulting firm.

In the past 19 years, Cathy has delivered over 750 EDI speaking/learning engagements and workshops, over 1,000 individual coaching sessions using the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), and she has lectured at multiple colleges, universities, and conferences across Canada and the U.S.A.

She is the author of 5 of CCDI's toolkits, and she has written or co-written 25 major research/ benchmarking reports on equity, diversity, and inclusion. Her work has appeared in multiple trade magazines including HR Professional Magazine in Ontario, PeopleTalk in BC, HR UpDate in Ottawa, HUMANCapital in Alberta, HR Saskatchewan, Municipal World, Supply Chain Canada, the UK’s Equal Opportunities Review, and most recently, Talent Canada Magazine.

  • Education
    • University of Toronto, Certificate in Corporate Social Responsibility
    • University of Toronto, Honours Bachelor of Arts
    • ADKAR Change Management Certification