About
Ivan H. Lee is an experienced leader with 15 years of proven success at organizations like Apple, T-Mobile, and AmeriCorps. He has led global change initiatives in learning and talent development, diversity, equity, & inclusion, and corporate social responsibility. He currently manages learning and talent development initiatives at T-Mobile on topics such as ethical leadership and DE&I.
Ivan has deep expertise in three areas and their intersections: Learning and Behavior Change, Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Sustainability, and Loyalty Marketing. He changes the culture of organizations by using the best tools in change management, employee engagement, leadership development, and onboarding. Prior to T-Mobile, he built AmeriCorps’ first manager training program. And prior to that, he held multiple positions of increasing responsibility at Apple.
Ivan developed the Level Up Framework from a decade of experience chairing Diversity, Equity & Inclusion committees at companies such as Apple, AmeriCorps, and T-Mobile. The Level Up framework focuses on helping corporations overcome their DEI challenges that have been hindering their growth and effectiveness, enabling them to reach the next level of success.
Recent studies are proving what many have suspected for years: More diverse workforces outperform less diverse ones. McKinsey’s Diversity wins: How inclusion matters report, published in May 2020, states that companies in the top quartile of ethnic and cultural diversity were 36% more likely to outperform companies in the bottom quartile.
Ivan’s motivation stems from the discrimination he experienced personally and witnessing the discrimination people in his community experienced based on the color of their skin or nation of origin. As he joined the corporate world, he started seeing first-hand the effects of the “bamboo ceiling” and the barriers that his Asian and Asian-American colleagues faced to reach executive positions. These experiences have deeply moved him. If people from underrepresented communities are not able to reach their full potential at work, those same organizations will not be able to reach their full potential.
Ivan’s experience and education includes:
- 15 years leading change initiatives at organizations like such as Apple and T-Mobile.
- Leading and managing teams (direct reports), and as many as 60+ project stakeholders per project (dotted-line reports).
- Hosting conferences on leadership, organizational change, and learning with more than 300 attendees.
- Bachelor’s in Business Administration (California Polytechnic State University)
- Master’s Certification in Project Management (University of California Santa Cruz)
- MPM® designation accredited by American Academy of Project Management
- Crucial Conversations® Certified Trainer