Ask Insights
Developmental Journeys: Diversity Training Programs for Underrepresented Groups in India by ASK Insights
ASK Insights runs diversity training programs for underrepresented groups in India across four dedicated tracks: women’s leadership, gender intelligence, LGBTQIA+ inclusion, and disability. Each one is built as a structured journey instead of a single workshop, led by consultants with lived and professional expertise in the group they are working with.
What Are Developmental Journeys?
Developmental Journeys for Diverse Groups is ASK Insights’ umbrella term for four identity-specific programs: a Women Leadership Journey, the Gender Intelligence program, LGBTQIA+ inclusion and allyship training, and the Disability Positive initiative for people with disabilities. Each program is designed and delivered by specialists connected to that community, not generalist trainers running the same deck for every audience.
The approach comes from ASK Insights’ broader philosophy across its DEI work: authentic change needs a journey, not a workshop. Its 14-week Inclusive Leadership Journey follows the same principle, and it has drawn praise from leaders at Hindustan Unilever, Google Singapore, and the World Health Organization’s Philippines office. That same discipline carries into each of the four tracks below, whether a cohort meets weekly for two months or works through a single intensive program.
Diversity Training Programs for Underrepresented Groups in India: The Four Journeys
Every organization ASK Insights works with can draw from four tracks, chosen individually or combined depending on where the workforce needs support.
Women Leadership Journey
Built around a pipeline of women ready for senior roles, not a one-time workshop around a single awareness day. ASK Insights has delivered similar programs under different names for specific clients: RISE at ABB ran for six consecutive years and closed with 92 percent of participants completing it, while Reckitt’s PowerFluent journey and PepsiCo’s Reach Out program extended across multiple organizations including Microsoft, Tata, and American Express.
Gender Intelligence: The Equal but Different Approach
ASK Insights’ flagship program moves past standard gender sensitization. It draws on brain science research into how men and women process situations differently, then builds practical skills for leaders managing mixed gender teams.
LGBTQIA+ Inclusion and Allyship
Delivered by LGBTQIA+ community consultants who share their own experience instead of reading from a generic script. Sessions use scenario-based exercises, so participants practise responding to real situations rather than only discussing theory.
Disability Positive: Inclusion for People with Disabilities
Led personally by Dr. Niru Kumar, who has lived with a disability of over 40 percent since childhood and navigated it through 25 years in government service before founding ASK Insights. The program covers disability etiquette, inclusive hiring behaviour, and physical and digital accessibility, shaped by her work as National ICON for Accessible Elections and her board position at Sarthak, a Delhi-based NGO for youth with disabilities.
Why a Journey, Not a Workshop?
ASK Insights builds every track around a simple idea. A single session changes awareness for a week. A journey changes behaviour for longer. The 14-week Inclusive Leadership Journey, its flagship program for senior leaders, follows this same structure and has been credited by leaders at Hindustan Unilever, Google Singapore, and the World Health Organization.
The four Developmental Journeys tracks borrow that structure. Sessions build on each other instead of standing alone. Participants get language and tools they can use immediately after each module. Facilitators stay engaged with a cohort over months, not just for a single keynote.
Measuring Progress: Audits, Assessments, and Benchmarking
ASK Insights pairs its Developmental Journeys with its Audits and Assessments practice, so organizations know where to start and can see what changed afterward. Senior leaders go through a 360-degree DEI survey and a 90-minute debrief. The management tier below them is measured on a validated psychometric scale that places each leader from Starting to Mentoring. Individual contributors complete a ten-category climate assessment that captures how inclusion is actually experienced day to day, not only how policy documents describe it.
For physical workplaces, an infrastructure accessibility audit led by International Para Athlete Suvarna Raj checks compliance against the Revised National Building Code and the CPWD Manual on Barrier Free Accessibility.
The Expertise Behind These Programs
Dr. Niru Kumar, MBBS, Founder and CEO of ASK Insights, is a Padma Shri recipient with more than 17 years building DEI programs in India. Her own experience with disability, alongside her medical background and her national role advocating for accessible elections, shapes how the Disability Positive track is taught. Dr. Akshay Kumar holds a PhD in Clinical and Positive Psychology, lectures at London Business School, and works as an Expert Consultant for the Centre for Global Inclusion in the USA on the Global Diversity Equity Inclusion Benchmarks.
ASK Insights also holds an exclusive partnership with BCT Partners, a firm ranked among the top ten DEI companies in America. That partnership feeds directly into how the assessments behind these journeys are designed and validated.
Who Are These Programs Designed For?
These tracks tend to suit organizations that already have a DEI policy on paper and want daily behaviour to catch up with it. That includes companies building a leadership pipeline for women, businesses that want a genuinely informed LGBTQIA+ inclusion program instead of a single sensitisation deck, and organizations bringing people with disabilities into the workforce who need managers trained on more than good intentions. It also fits HR teams that want assessment data behind the training, not attendance sheets alone. Company size matters less here than whether leadership will commit a cohort’s time across several sessions instead of a single afternoon.
Frequently Asked Questions
Bring Developmental Journeys to Your Organization
If your organization already has a DEI strategy and wants to close the gap between policy and daily behaviour, ASK Insights can walk your HR team through which of the four Developmental Journeys tracks fits your workforce first.