Patricia Digh's first book, Global Literacies: Lessons on Business Leadership and National Cultures (Simon & Schuster 2000) was selected by Fortune magazine as a "Best Business Book" for 2000. Her second book, The Global Diversity Desk Reference, was published in 2003 by John Wiley. Patti is now finishing a third book, Imaginative Facilitation: accessing group wisdom for inspired results, to be published in 2005.

Patti has more than 20 years of experience in the areas of association management, globalization, diversity, and inclusion. She has developed membership organizations, international divisions, diversity strategies, and educational programming and learning strategies for major nonprofit and corporate organizations and has been a featured speaker at many national and international conferences. A faculty member for the Intercultural Communications Institute, her comments have appeared on PBS, and in the Wall Street Journal, Fortune, New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post, and London Financial Times, among other publications. She has written over 75 published articles on business strategy, leadership, diversity and globalization issues and has lived, worked, and traveled in over 60 countries.

In her speaking and writing, Patti uses a unique style of storytelling and inspiration, gaining an international reputation for her innovative approach and ability to galvanize reflection, synthesis, and action in organizations. She recently keynoted the International Conference of the American Society for Training and Development, with over 12,000 participants.

Patti was formerly the Vice President of International and Diversity Programs for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), with over 185,000 members. She is also one of the co-founders of The Global Diversity Roundtable, a consortium of senior practitioners from multinational corporations that provides a confidential forum for the exchange of leading edge practices, strategies, and methodologies in global diversity. Patti's clients include PepsiCo, Avaya Communications, Discovery Communications, Shell Oil, PBS, the Australian Human Resources Institute, the American Cancer Society, Verizon, the American Psychological Association, JP Morgan Chase, the American Red Cross, and the American Institute of Architects, among many others in the U.S. and abroad. She has served as chair of both the International Council and Diversity Committee of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), as well as serving on diversity advisory councils for the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, the National American Red Cross, the AARP, and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, among others.

Patti is currently exploring organizations as storytelling systems, the symbol-bearing aspects of organizational life, and methods for constructing effective individual and shared stories for different organizational purposes. She is a co-founder of The Circle Project (www.37days.typepad.com/thecircleproject) which uses art, story, and theatre to help individuals in organizations build more inclusive communities that connect, collaborate, and create.

Patti's hobbies include making photographic image transfers and writing "37days," a weekly e-newsletter blog about living intentionally (http://www.37days.typepad.com/37days). She and her husband, John Ptak, live in the beautiful mountain town of Asheville, NC, with their two daughters, Emma and Tess.