Deepa Purushothaman — Co-Founder

For decades, we told a simple story about work: work hard, climb the ladder, and success will follow. That story is starting to break. Through the re.write, an unconventional think tank advancing a new story of work, I study how ambition, power, and opportunity actually move inside modern organizations. I spent more than two decades in corporate America, rising to Senior Partner at Deloitte and advising global Fortune 500 companies. Along the way, I was often the first, the few, or the only, including becoming the first Indian-American woman and one of the youngest to make partner in the firm’s history. I also led Deloitte’s U.S. Women’s Initiative (WIN), helping shape leadership culture across the firm. Today, I draw on my training as an economist, my research, and thousands of interviews to uncover the patterns shaping ambition, leadership, and advancement under pressure. I am a Patternist studying how leaders think, decide, and advance. As an Executive Fellow at Harvard Business School, my work explores the hidden dynamics shaping how leaders think, decide, and advance inside institutions. This research has produced frameworks including Modern Martyr and Corporate Fairytale, which examine the invisible expectations and narratives shaping careers and leadership today. I am the author of The First, The Few, The Only, which examines the experiences of leaders navigating “first, few, only” dynamics inside organizations. I am a TED and SXSW speaker (my TED talks have over 3.5M views) and have been featured in TIME, PBS, Forbes, Business Insider, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and Harvard Business Review. I have taken the stage more than 500 times, speaking to leaders and organizations around the world. I study how leadership actually works when the stakes are high and the rules are less clear.

Stackforce AI infers this person is a leader in consulting and organizational development with a focus on diversity and inclusion.

Location: Los Angeles, California, United States

Experience: 26 yrs 7 mos

Skills

Negotiation
Leadership Development
Executive Management
Business Transformation

Career Highlights

First Indian-American woman partner at Deloitte.
TED speaker with over 3.5M views.
Author of 'The First, The Few, The Only'.

Work Experience

the re.write

Founder (1 mo)

Founder (2 yrs 3 mos)

nFormation

Co-Founder nFormation (2 yrs 5 mos)

Harvard Business School

Executive Fellow Harvard Business School (5 yrs 9 mos)

The Aspen Institute

First Mover Fellow (7 yrs 10 mos)

San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce

Board Member (1 yr)

Avasara Leadership Institute

U.S. Board Member (18 yrs 3 mos)

Deloitte

Deloitte Managing Partner (Retired) (26 yrs 7 mos)

Education

MPP at Harvard Kennedy School

MSC at The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

at Princeton Day School

BA at Wellesley College

Deepa Purushothaman

Co-Founder

Los Angeles, California, United States26 yrs 7 mos experience

Highly Stable

Key Highlights

First Indian-American woman partner at Deloitte.
TED speaker with over 3.5M views.
Author of 'The First, The Few, The Only'.

Stackforce AI infers this person is a leader in consulting and organizational development with a focus on diversity and inclusion.

Contact

Skills

Core Skills

NegotiationLeadership DevelopmentExecutive ManagementBusiness Transformation

Other Skills

Client ServicesStrategic ThinkingCybersecurityBusiness DevelopmentPublic SpeakingManagement ConsultingShared ServicesBusiness Process DesignIT StrategyPMOBusiness Process ImprovementStrategyStrategic PlanningManagementBusiness Process Re-engineering

About

Experience

26 yrs 7 mos

Total Experience

10 yrs 4 mos

Average Tenure

7 yrs 10 mos

Current Experience

The re.write

2 roles

Founder

Mar 2026 – Present · 1 mo

Founder

Jan 2024 – Present · 2 yrs 3 mos

I founded the re.write, an unconventional think tank advancing a new story of work. Through research, interviews, and narrative frameworks, we explore how ambition, power, and opportunity actually move inside modern organizations. Our work surfaces the hidden systems shaping careers and leadership and introduces new ways of understanding work, ambition, and advancement.

Nformation

Co-Founder nFormation

Oct 2020 – Mar 2023 · 2 yrs 5 mos · Los Angeles Metropolitan Area

nFormation is a first-of-its-kind community created by women of color for women of color. It is a vetted, membership-based technology platform for high-performing WOC that seeks to reimagine traditional power structures to not just help more WOC take their seat at the table but to change the way the table is formed.
nFormation provides safe, brave and new space for WOC leaders to gather and a unique board and executive placement plus extended success service that includes individual and corporate coaching, feedback and support for two years post-placement.

Harvard business school

Executive Fellow Harvard Business School

Jul 2020 – Present · 5 yrs 9 mos

I will be focused on subjects related to systemic racism and the advancement of women of color in corporate America.

Negotiation

The aspen institute

First Mover Fellow

Jun 2018 – Present · 7 yrs 10 mos

The Aspen Institute First Movers Fellowship Program is the leading global network and professional development program for corporate social intrapreneurs. First Movers are accomplished innovators inside companies who are creating new products, services and management practices that increase business value and make the world a better place.

San diego regional chamber of commerce

Board Member

Jan 2018 – Jan 2019 · 1 yr · Greater San Diego Area

I serve as a voting Board member of the San Diego Chamber of Commerce

Avasara leadership institute

U.S. Board Member

Jan 2008 – Present · 18 yrs 3 mos

I serve on the U.S. board for Avasara, the first leadership academy targeting young women in India, which is devoted to helping Indian girls realize their full potential

Deloitte

Deloitte Managing Partner (Retired)

Sep 1999 – Present · 26 yrs 7 mos

National Managing Partner Inclusion
In my role I was responsible for Deloitte’s Inclusion research and brand and Deloitte’s external gender equity platform.
National Managing Partner WIN (Deloitte’s Women’s Initiative)
In my role as the national managing director of Deloitte’s Women’s Initiative, I focused on addressing how to manage, motivate and retain diverse talent, specifically women, in the workforce.
Managing Partner for Deloitte San Diego Federal
I was responsible for the stand up and expansion of Deloitte’s Federal footprint in San Diego. Areas of focus included cyber security and technology transformation
Partner, Deloitte Social Impact Practice
I helped private sector client develop strategies for growth across the private, public, and social sectors to co-create solutions that enhance value.
National Leader, Deloitte’s Asian Business Resource Group (ABRG)
In my role as national leader of Deloitte’s ABRG, I oversaw strategies that align to Deloitte’s broader diversity goals.
Partner, Deloitte Consulting LLP Telecommunications, Media and Technology
I helped clients focus on growth by leveraging my expertise in managing complex transformations, integrations and launches across the globe. I helped my clients redefine global operating models, reduce costs, streamline business processes and make significant changes to online content creation and centralized IT centers. One of my major accomplishments within this role was leading an iconic Technology company through business transformation and divestiture planning.
Deloitte US CEO’s Advisory Council
I served on this committee of senior partners to help drive strategic thinking in Consulting. I focus on ongoing partner development, including the transition into the Partnership for newly admitted partners.
Deloitte Board Council
I served a rotation as a member of Board Council for the US Firm.