Fairygodboss Radio: Sonia Cargan - Chief Inclusion and Diversity Officer, American Express

Sonia Cargan serves as the Senior Vice President, Chief Colleague Inclusion & Diversity Officer of American Express. In this role, Sonia is both a member of the CEG Senior Leadership Team and works closely with the Executive Committee to continue to build more awareness and provide the tools, resources and programming to drive meaningful change around racial inequality while ensuring American Express is a place where everyone is supported, has the backing of their colleagues and a sense of belonging and pride. She and her team focus on creating the global I&D strategy, promoting an inclusive culture throughout the colleague experience, and ensuring that American Express remains an employer of choice among top diverse talent.

Throughout her 24-year career with American Express, Sonia has built a strong track record of leading and developing diverse teams, as well as successfully partnering with business leaders to drive strategic organizational goals. During her tenure, she has held a range of increasingly senior CEG roles in Brighton, Singapore, New York and London, including leading our CEG market teams in Asia and Europe and serving as the Colleague Strategic Partner aligned to a number of EC members and their global teams.

Sonia holds a BA Honors degree in Social administration from the University of Brighton and is a Fellow of the

Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (UK). She was named one of Black Enterprise’s Most Powerful Women in Corporate Diversity 2019, and has commented in a range of media including Forbes, The Wall Street Journal and SHRM.org. Sonia is based in London and has held roles in New York and Singapore.

Sonia lives in Brighton, is married and has two children. In her spare time, she enjoys travelling, exploring the local restaurant scene and the theater. She is a keen hiker and runner who has completed five marathons including NYC, London and Paris.

In this episode of Fairygodboss Radio, Sonia Cargan joins Romy to talk about her career journey.

_{Recorded on September 21, 2020}