Sondra Thiederman

Biography

Dr. Sondra Thiederman is one of the nation’s leading experts on workplace diversity, cross-cultural business, and bias reduction. As President of Cross-Cultural Communications, a San Diego based training firm, Sondra has 25 years experience as a speaker, trainer, and author helping professionals in Fortune 500 companies, public sector organizations, and dozens of associations find ways to successfully navigate our increasingly diverse workplaces.

Since receiving her doctorate with an emphasis on cross-cultural studies from UCLA, Sondra has helped hundreds of organizations develop solutions to their cross-cultural and diversity challenges. Among her clients are such leading organizations as Xerox Corporation, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Marriott Corporation, Century 21 Real Estate, American Express, The Federal Reserve Bank, Motorola, and AT&T. She has also addressed notable associations including the Arthritis Foundation, the Mortgage Bankers Association, the American Society of Association Executives, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association. In addition, she has served as consultant to the University of California and the American Cancer Society and has been appointed by Elizabeth Dole to serve on the Diversity Cabinet of the American Red Cross.

Sondra has extensive media experience including mention in such national publications as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and U.S.A Today. She is published in professional journals ranging from Training and Development to Real Estate Today to Association Management, has written on diversity for the web site Monster.com, and is the author of four books including the ground-breaking Making Diversity Work: Seven Steps for Defeating Bias in the Workplace.

Publications

Making Diversity Work

Titles

Bias-Free Leadership: Your Competitive Advantage
Gateway Events': How to Turn Diversity Tension into Diversity Dialogue
Bias-Free Customer Service
Bias-Free Sales: The Key to Success
Culturally-Competent Health Care: The Key To Your Competitive Advantage
Diversity Backlash: From Resistance to Acceptance
Seeing Straight: How to Reduce 'Guerilla Bias'™"
The Vision Renewal Process: A Workshop on Bias Reduction
The ’Magic If’: How to Identify What We Share