PAI GAMDE, Chief Talent Officer, Coronation Group Limited

Pai Gamde is an experienced business leader and HR professional with more than twenty years’ expertise gained developing and delivering complex enablement and engagement programmes, working to make operational ambitions a practical reality. She is also a skilled strategic HR architect, with strong talent management capabilities, advanced transformation, governance, compliance and change management capabilities, bringing fresh perspectives for sustainable growth, challenging received thinking and acting as a trusted and reliable adviser at management and board level.

In recognition of these personal qualities and depth of experience, she has been appointed to a number of board level and public roles including: Member of the Board of Advisors at AIESEC Nigeria since 2017, an Advisory Board Member of GOTNI 2009 – 2011, to mention a few.

At Coronation X, she leads the talent management agenda, setting the vision and strategy, including the transformation, governance, culture design and corporate operations for the ecosystem delivering on its singularity goals.

As Chief Human Resource Officer with the Nigerian Stock Exchange from 2017–2019, she developed and oversaw execution of several complex initiatives, creating robust and resilient foundations for performance and growth. As Acting Head, Corporate Services Division in 2017, she managed operations across five departments, as well as becoming a member of the Exchange’s most senior leadership committee, the executive committee, successfully delivering, amongst other initiatives, the Demutualisation Bill.

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With the Nigerian Stock Exchange as Head of Human Resources from 2011 to 2016, she built the HR Department, leading it through the transformation and growth phase of the organisation.

As Head, Human Capital and Corporate Resource Management at Hi-Media from 2009 to 2011, Pai oversaw strategic planning, policy and direction for the organisation, including delivery and full integration of a strategic merger.

Gamde is a Fellow of the Lagos Business School Sustainability Centre, Senior Member and Facilitator at Women in HR Initiative (WiHR) inspiring and empowering women in HR.

Pai is passionate about business building and startups. She is captivated by the journey of growth and resilience. However, she believes that raising capital is crucial, but it’s not just funds, what is also important according to her, is building a solution that delivers and preserves investment.

By this, she means alignment, leadership & governance, talent, performance, adaptation, being customer-centric, managing risks, financial prudence, culture & engagement and long-term vision are all key ingredients to run and deliver an organisation, even as the company focuses on funding and investment.