Minjon Tholen (she/her/hers)

Diversity & inclusion has been a consistent theme throughout my life. As someone who was adopted from Sri Lanka, grew up in The Netherlands and now resides in the United States, my own experiences inspired my passion and deep appreciation for diversity & inclusion from an early age.

​I have a B.A. from the University of Utrecht in The Netherlands, an M.A. in Gender & Women’s Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and certificates in Executive Leadership and Strategic HR Leadership from Cornell University. I’ve also had the opportunity to be a New Leader with the Center for Progressive Leadership and the National Council for Women’s Organizations, a fellow with the Roosevelt Institute| Pipeline, a delegate to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, and an Aspen Ideas Festival Scholar.

My previous work experience led me from the education sector to several nonprofits and eventually to Cook Ross, a leading D&I consulting firm. As a Senior Consultant with the company, I partnered with Fortune 500 companies, public institutions and nonprofits all over the world on their D&I strategies. This allowed me to gain broad and deep experience and expertise in inclusive organizational innovation and transformation.

I now serve as the inaugural Chief Inclusion & Strategic Innovation Officer at Amnesty International USA. Amnesty International is the world's largest grassroots human rights organization and in my role, I am responsible for developing and implementing holistic organizational change at the intersection of inclusion and innovation. I also advise Amnesty’s International Secretariat and other country sections on IDEAS, convene a community of practice for other senior IDEAS leaders at large nonprofit organizations, and serve as an Expert Panelist for the Global Diversity Equity and Inclusion Benchmarks.