COMMON PURPOSE - Key Persons
Adirupa is Group Chief Executive of Common Purpose. She has been with the organization since 2001 and has held a variety of roles over the years including CEO of Common Purpose Asia-Pacific, during which time she started a global hub out of Singapore and grew it to be a major player in the leadership field in Asia-Pacific.
Adirupa has been working in the leadership development space for over 20 years. She has a passion for developing talent and connecting people from different backgrounds. She has extensive knowledge and experience of working across different countries, cities and cultures to help leaders learn to cross boundaries in order to tackle complex problems. Her TEDx talk speaks to her passion for cross-boundary leadership.
Job Titles:
- André Hoffmann Former President
"I cannot stress how profound participants of all generations found their experience with Common Purpose - its impact went well beyond the individual level, transforming whole organizations and boosting conservation impact on the ground. We could not have hoped for more."
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive, Common Purpose Ireland
Dara has held senior roles in a number of organizations, recently as Head of Business Development in Young Social Innovators (YSI) and now the Chief Executive of Common Purpose Ireland. He also enjoyed four successful years taking Recreate, a Creative Reuse social enterprise working with children and individuals with disabilities, from start up to a sustainable business model, winning a number of awards along the way including Social Entrepreneurs Ireland's Impact Award.
Before ReCreate, he was Head of Business Development and Property of Temple Bar Cultural Trust Ltd, managing a cultural and commercial property portfolio of 100M. Here he project managed a number of landmark capital infrastructure projects such as the construction of Ireland's first outdoor retractable roof on Meeting House Square in Temple Bar.
His experience includes working for Microsoft as Financial Services Manager and travelling extensively in search of adventure! Dara has a passion for the arts and environment, resulting from his work in Temple Bar and Cultivate (a sustainability NGO), and his very rewarding time as director and chair of Saplings Schools for Children with Autism has given him a real interest in children's development. He is a qualified Management Accountant and holds diplomas in Business Studies, Project Management and Post Graduate Diploma in Innovation.
When not working he is chasing around his 4 kids and trying to get some time to play football, take in some music and follow his beloved Munster.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- Chief Executive of Common Purpose South Africa
Elsbeth is the Chief Executive Officer, Common Purpose South Africa and heads the operations of Common Purpose in Africa. With the local team, she has grown the African footprint of Common Purpose by diversifying the programmes offered to include public and bespoke leadership programmes, as well as programmes focusing on youth, student and women's leadership, spreading the footprint of Common Purpose into 21 countries. Elsbeth believes that good leadership is the most powerful way to transform the future of the African continent.
Elsbeth has designed and facilitated leadership and diversity programmes for a wide range of clients, from rural communities to blue chip corporates, from global foundations to government departments, and has delivered programmes in the USA, Europe, Asia and Africa. Elsbeth started her career as a scientist at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in South Africa, before moving to Adcorp, in the private sector, to run the Technology Top 100 Awards Programme. She then co-founded the Da Vinci Institute, a private university specialising in management and leadership education, before joining Common Purpose in 2006.
Currently she is working to grow the African team of Common Purpose into a diverse group, representing the different regions of the continent, and bringing together multiple cultural perspectives to deliver powerful pan-African leadership programmes.
Born in a rural South African family, Elsbeth trained in applied mathematics and psychology, as well as counselling, coaching and group process facilitation. She holds a PhD in Applied Mathematics from Cambridge University, UK and is an alumnus of Harvard Business School's Executive Development Programme.
When she is not exercising her passion for facilitating the growth journeys of her clients, Elsbeth is a dedicated road-runner, an avid sports fan across many disciplines, and finding her way thoughtfully into the role of mother of adult children.
Job Titles:
- Debora Ghosh Neurosurgery Research Intern
Katharina Anna Rahne, in short: "Käthe" spent eleven years with the non-profit Teach First Deutschland GmbH in various functions. She started out as a fundraiser in 2011, and after three years she became head of the Partners & Sponsors department, and in 2020 she moved to the business development department of the management board.
From 2009 to 2011 she completed a master's program in fundraising and grantmaking at New York University. She gained practical experience during her studies at Amnesty International USA (2010), at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (2009), at NDR Kultur (2006-2008), among others at the Hamburg State Opera (2005/06), the Hamburg Civic Foundation and as a city ambassador from Osnabrück in Angers (F) from 2000 to the start of her studies in 2001. In her hometown at the University of Osnabrück she did her Bachelor of Arts in European studies (2004), in Hamburg she received a diploma in culture and media management in 2006 at the Hochschule für Music and Theatre and works at the KMM institute there as a lecturer for fundraising in the cultural and media management distance learning course. Katharina Rahne is associated with the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation, the German National Academic Foundation, the KMM Network eV, the Kulturpolitical Society eV, the German Fundraising Association eV and #WILMANetzwerk. She lives in Berlin.
Job Titles:
- Special Education Teacher
Lena Meyer has worked as a special education teacher in Hamburg for the past 14 years. She took her first state exam in 2006 at the University of Hanover and completed her legal clerkship in 2008 at the Hamburg State Institute with the second state exam in the teaching profession special education.
In 2008, in addition to her work in the pilot project Integrative Support Centres of the City of Hamburg, she started at the non-profit Teach First Deutschland GmbH as a manager for the primary school curriculum. Three years later, in 2011, she took over full-time management of the regional office in Hamburg until her parental leave in 2013. After maternity leave, she started working as a special education teacher for the city of Hamburg in 2014, where she completed her training as an inclusive school development consultant, among other things. Lena Meyer took part in the Common Purpose Navigator program in Hamburg in 2010. She lives in Hamburg.
Job Titles:
- André Hoffmann Former President
Sky Blue brings together a dynamic group of leaders from around the world, from many different fields, who have a common focus: our environment.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director of Common Purpose Asia Pacific
Swati joined Common Purpose in December 2015, after spending a decade in the corporate sector. In her current role with Common Purpose as Managing Director Asia Pacific, she is responsible for the operations and business development in the region. She is passionate about leadership development and in the past has led organizations to realize their leadership aspirations. She also leads on the programme design for bespoke interventions with organizational partners and manages key relationships for the organization in the wider Asia Pacific region.
Swati is passionate about inclusion and diversity and considers herself fortunate to be able to link her personal purpose with her professional choices and therefore been able to align the impact that she always wanted on her own learning and that on her ecosystem. Starting her career as a researcher, moving into Human Resources within large organizations and currently nurturing her passion of creating leaders who can work across differences to navigate the complexities of their environment, what has driven Swati, is connecting people, places and ideas.
Prior to joining Common Purpose, Swati was Vice President and Leadership Development Lead for Edelweiss Financial Services. She also worked with Cisco Systems and 3Global Systems prior to that. Swati holds a Master's in Arts in Social Work, from the prestigious Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India. Born in India, she now lives in Singapore with her family.
Job Titles:
- Vikram Kirloskar Former Vice Chairman
Job Titles:
- Vikram Kirloskar Former Vice Chairman
"TKM has a long association with Common Purpose since their inception in India. Their leadership programmes are unique and develops leaders to think beyond their domain to address complex and dynamic societal issues. Over the past ten years, TKM employees have immensely benefited from participating in the programmes."