Vijay Pendakur

Vijay Pendakur, Ph.D. is a multifaceted professional with extensive experience in organizational leadership, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and higher education. He served as the Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at VMware from June 2022 to December 2022.1

Professional Experience

Corporate Leadership: Dr. Pendakur has held several high-level positions in major tech companies:

• At VMware, he reported directly to the Chief People Officer with a dotted line to the CEO, advising leadership on enterprise DEI strategy for 38,000 employees across 62 countries.1
• Prior to VMware, he was the Vice President of Zynga Inclusion, Talent, and Engagement from September 2020 to June 2022.1
• He has also worked at Dropbox, though the specific role is not mentioned in the provided information.

Higher Education: Dr. Pendakur has a strong background in higher education:

• He served as the Robert W. and Elizabeth C. Staley Dean of Students at Cornell University, where he was also named Presidential Advisor for Diversity and Equity.1
• At California State University - Fullerton, he held the position of Associate Vice President for Student Success, leading enterprise retention and graduation efforts.1

Expertise and Recognition

Dr. Pendakur is recognized for his expertise in:

• Organizational strategy consulting
• Talent and culture ecosystems
• Enterprise graduation strategy for higher education
• Keynote speaking
• Executive coaching

He has been acknowledged as a top DEI leader by Channel Futures in 2021 and Untapped in 2022.1

Current Roles

As of October 2024, Dr. Pendakur holds the following positions:

• Senior Strategist at Salesforce, focusing on scaling human-centered design and agile methodology in DEI (since September 2023).1
• Founder and Principal of Vijay Pendakur Consulting, LLC (since August 2023).1

Dr. Pendakur is based in the Austin, Texas Metropolitan Area and continues to be active in speaking engagements and professional development activities.123