Intrapreneurial spirit Chitra Anand is a leading expert on innovation, marketing and intrapreneurship. The former head of PR at Microsoft Canada, Anand has spent her whole career as an intrapreneur – someone within an organisation possessing an entrepreneurial spirit inspiring creative thinking, new ideas and innovation. As one of 50 prominent Indo-Canadians who have helped build relations between India and Canada she was named as a “bridge-builder” for women in tech by the A-list yearly publication. She has also contributed to various publications including The Huffington Post, The Globe and Mail and Marketing Magazine and has appeared on the CBC.

Anand earned an MBA from The Kellogg School of Management, and was previously Director of Marketing at TELUS Corp where she rose to prominence thanks to leading some of their award-winning social media, brand and sponsorship campaigns. She then took on the role of Microsoft Canada’s Head of Public Relations, Communications and Corporate Reputation, using the digital space to engage with the media and key influencers and guiding ground-breaking projects which received the Canadian Public Relations Society Awards of Excellence and IABC Gold Quill Awards.

Anand also attended the Advanced Leadership Development Program at Harvard Business School, Boston MA and is currently studying a PhD in intrapreneurship at the University of Bradford, UK, researching the traits of intrapreneurs and how they are the main forces driving innovation in organisations and businesses.