Hire Gayathri Shukla, Leadership Speaker
About This Speaker
Gayathri Shukla is a people-focused leader, speaker, author, Professional Engineer, and founder of Campfire Kinship, a social enterprise that helps organizations build belonging through the power of storytelling. Her work sits at the intersection of leadership, inclusion, innovation, and story-based change, helping teams better understand themselves and each other so they can work with more trust, empathy, and purpose.
With more than 17 years of experience in the energy sector, Gayathri began her career in Fort McMurray, Alberta, where she was one of the few Indo-Canadian women working in an industrial environment. She later moved into project management and led schedule integration efforts for Fort Hills, a $17B greenfield oil sands facility known for its safe and timely start-up. She also holds an Executive MBA from Queen’s University, where her work explored how organizations can unlock innovation by drawing on the lived experiences and stories of their people.
Through Campfire Kinship, Gayathri has worked with leaders, teams, and communities to turn storytelling into a practical tool for inclusion, communication, and transformation. She served as a Fellow for Financial and Economic Inclusion at the Public Policy Forum, where she designed a storytelling process for youth in Canada to share their experiences and inform policy solutions. She also hosts the Hearth 2 Heart podcast on CJSW 90.9.
Gayathri is the project lead behind Landed: Transformative Stories of Canadian Immigrant Women, a bestselling book that was nominated twice for the Calgary Awards and contributed to her receiving the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal in 2023. Her work has continued to evolve in recent years, including the start of her PhD studies and the development of her second book, The Fires We Lit, launching this fall through Campfire Kinship. The book explores themes of AI, reimagination, leadership, and the role of story in creating meaningful change.
On stage, Gayathri brings warmth, clarity, and practical insight to topics such as inclusive leadership, communication, organizational transformation, and what human connection means in an age increasingly shaped by AI.
Contact an agent to get Gayathri's availability and rates