About
Ivan H. Lee is an experienced leader with 15+ years of proven success at Fortune 100 companies (Apple and T-Mobile) and high growth organizations (Elastic and City Year AmeriCorps). He has led global initiatives, facilitated onboarding and leadership training, and done program management in a unique combination of areas: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Social Impact, Leadership & Talent Development, and Business Partnership / Executive Coaching.
In his most recent role, Ivan was hired as the first senior-level DEI director where he developed the vision and framework for advancing fair, equitable, and inclusive outcomes. Working in partnership with C-suite and senior leaders across the organization, Ivan ensured the DEI initiatives and programs his team implemented aligned with the vision, values, and outcomes of the company.
Ivan led a team of practitioners who oversaw ERGs, social impact projects, and community projects. Within a year of starting, Ivan’s team achieved complete buy-in from senior leadership for their new DEI strategic plan, a 5x increase in their Self-ID program, and an increase in the company’s underrepresented talent by 1%. The company also won several new awards in the first year of implementing the DEI plan.
His prior corporate leadership roles include DEI Chair of the Retention & Recruitment Committee at T-Mobile, Architect of the Ethical Leadership Training at T-Mobile, Learning & Development Manager at City Year Americorps, and multiple positions of increasing responsibility at Apple.
Ivan developed the Level Up Framework from over a decade of leadership experience at Apple, AmeriCorps, and T-Mobile. The Level Up framework focuses on helping corporations overcome their L&D and 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
- Keynote speaker for AAPI Heritage Month event