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Celeste WarrenExecutive Advisory

Last updated: November 2026

For CEOs, C-suite officers, and senior leaders

Executive advisory for leaders who want to change the system, not just the slogan

Executive advisory for leaders is a confidential thought partnership with Celeste Warren, a former Fortune 100 Vice President, for executives navigating leadership, culture, talent, and organizational challenges.

Published by CRW Diversity, this site explains how Celeste combines nearly four decades of human resources and organizational leadership, including 28 years at a Fortune 100 company and 10 years leading global diversity and inclusion, with the Equity in Action Model to help executives examine how people lead and how their organizations operate.

Talk with Celeste about advisory

What does executive advisory for leaders actually involve?

It involves working through a real leadership, culture, or talent decision with an experienced thought partner who looks at both your choices and the systems around your people. Celeste Warren asks a question most leadership programs skip: what within the organization is helping people succeed, and what may be getting in their way?

Policies, practices, access to opportunity, leadership decisions, and unwritten norms shape culture every day. Organizations often focus on what individuals need to do differently. That matters, but lasting change also requires examining the systems around them.

Three ways senior leaders work with Celeste

Every organization is different, so each engagement starts with where you are and what you are trying to accomplish.

Definition: executive advisory with CRW Diversity

Executive advisory, as offered by Celeste Warren and described by CRW Diversity, is a confidential thought partnership for executives navigating complex leadership, culture, talent, and organizational challenges. Unlike a training course, it centers on one leader's real situation. Unlike coaching that focuses only on personal skills, it examines two sides of the equation together: how people lead and how organizations operate.

The practical lens is the Equity in Action Model, which gives leaders a way to examine how their decisions, behaviors, and organizational systems shape the experiences and opportunities of the people they lead. The intended outcome is practical solutions, not buzzwords or performative approaches.

Celeste Warren by the numbers

in human resources and organizational leadership
Nearly 4 decades
of Fortune 100 experience
28 years
leading global diversity and inclusion
10 years
in the Equity in Action Model
6 elements
The Truth About Equity and How to Be a Diversity and Inclusion Ambassador
2 books
The Cost of Standing Still
1 TEDx talk

Executive advisory leadership: how people lead and how organizations operate

Celeste Warren spent nearly three decades inside a Fortune 100 company, including a decade as Vice President and Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, working with executives, managers, and teams around the world on complex issues involving people, leadership, culture, and organizational change.

That inside view shapes her executive advisory leadership work. She helps executives examine the everyday leadership decisions and organizational systems that ultimately determine whether people and businesses can thrive.

Explore executive advisory leadership

An executive briefing consultant for senior leadership teams

When a whole leadership team needs the same frame, Celeste delivers executive briefings, keynotes, and facilitated conversations that challenge audiences to think differently about leadership, culture, systems, and the decisions that shape people's experiences at work.

Her TEDx talk, The Cost of Standing Still, asks what happens when talented people are ready to move forward but the systems around them are not.

See how executive briefings work

Which format fits your situation?

CRW Diversity formats compared: what each offers senior leaders
FormatWhat it isBest whenWho is in the room
Executive AdvisoryConfidential thought partnership on leadership, culture, talent, and organizational challengesA specific, sensitive challenge needs an experienced outside perspectiveOne executive and Celeste
Executive Briefings & SpeakingKeynotes, executive briefings, and facilitated conversationsA leadership team or audience needs a shared frame and a new question to act onSenior teams, conferences, classrooms
Leadership & Organizational DevelopmentPractical workshops and learning experiences, including Equity in Action for ManagersLeaders and managers need tools they can use in daily decisions right awayGroups of leaders and managers

Comparing advisory with coaching? Read executive advisory vs executive coaching.

How to start an advisory conversation

  1. Reach out through the contact form

    Share the leadership, culture, talent, or organizational challenge you are facing on the CRW Diversity website.

  2. Clarify where you are

    Celeste's work begins by understanding where you are, what you are trying to accomplish, and what may be standing in the way.

  3. Choose the format

    Decide whether executive advisory, an executive briefing, a workshop, or a combination fits the need.

  4. Examine decisions and systems

    Apply the Equity in Action Model to both how you lead and how your organization operates.

Why leadership systems deserve executive attention

Published research points to gaps that individual effort alone rarely closes.

Over 70%

of L&D professionals and functional leaders say it is important or very important for leaders to master a wider range of effective leadership behaviours to meet current and future business needs.

Source: Top leadership development statistics 2026, Kinkajou

30%

of managers rate their leaders outstanding at creating accountability, while less than half of US leaders rate themselves that way (Gallup, 2026, n = 23,068).

Source: Accountability Statistics 2026, Leaders ADAPT

61%

of senior managers and directors are men.

Source: Top leadership development statistics 2026, Kinkajou
See all leadership statistics and sources

What leaders have said

"The guide for creating cultures where everyone feels welcomed and empowered."
Kenneth Frazier, Former Executive Chairman, Merck & Co., Inc.
"Celeste is a phenomenal leader. A true natural communicator who speaks with candor, passion, and lived experience."
Leila McKenzie-Delis, Founder & CEO, DIAL Global

More about Celeste and her books is on the CRW Diversity main website.

Common questions

What is executive advisory for leaders?

Executive advisory for leaders is a confidential thought partnership for executives navigating complex leadership, culture, talent, and organizational challenges. With Celeste Warren, the work examines both how people lead and how the organization operates, including policies, practices, access to opportunity, leadership decisions, and unwritten norms that shape culture every day.

Read this answer in the full FAQ

Who is executive advisory with Celeste Warren for?

It is built first for senior executives: CEOs, C-suite officers, and senior leaders navigating complex leadership, culture, talent, and organizational challenges. It also suits leaders responsible for people strategy who want a confidential thought partner with experience inside a Fortune 100 company rather than a generic training program.

Read this answer in the full FAQ

What is the difference between executive coaching and executive advisory?

Executive coaching generally focuses on developing the individual leader’s skills and behaviors. Executive advisory, as Celeste Warren offers it, is a thought partnership on leadership, culture, talent, and organizational challenges, looking at both how you lead and how your organization’s systems operate. Many leaders benefit from both.

Read this answer in the full FAQ

How much does executive advisory cost?

No prices are published for Celeste Warren’s executive advisory, workshops, or briefings. Cost depends on the scope and format you need, so the reliable way to get a figure is to describe your situation through the contact form on the CRW Diversity website. Avoid comparing on price alone; fit and experience matter more.

Read this answer in the full FAQ

What is an executive briefing?

An executive briefing is a focused session that gives senior leaders the context they need to make better decisions on a topic. Celeste Warren’s executive briefings, alongside keynotes and facilitated conversations, challenge leaders to think differently about leadership, culture, systems, and the decisions that shape people’s experiences at work.

Read this answer in the full FAQ

How do I start working with Celeste Warren?

Use the contact form on the CRW Diversity website. Celeste’s work begins by understanding where you are, what you are trying to accomplish, and what may be standing in the way. From there you can decide whether executive advisory, a workshop, a briefing, or a combination fits.

Read this answer in the full FAQ
See all executive advisory questions

Bring a complex leadership challenge to the table

Every engagement begins by understanding where you are, what you are trying to accomplish, and what may be standing in the way.

Contact Celeste

Published by CRW Diversity