Rebecca Parrilla, Manager of Intercultural Learning & Development
Rebecca brings to LCW a lifetime of intercultural experience as well as a wealth of expertise with consulting services and learning programs for multi-cultural audiences. She has lived and worked for extended periods in Asian, Latin, and North American cultures and is a native of Puerto Rico. Rebecca joined LCW after spending twelve years consulting within the global banking industry and, more recently, leading education programming in Shanghai for two years at the university level. Rebecca speaks both Spanish and English fluently and -- inspired by her recent years in the People's Republic of China -- has recently started studying Mandarin Chinese as an addition to her language portfolio.
As Manager, Rebecca's specialty is preparing client organizations, global managers, diverse teams, and traveling subject matter experts to succeed in cross-cultural settings. She leads the design and implementation of LCW's growing body of highly acclaimed Intercultural Development Programs and supports our clients in their goals to incorporate cross-cultural competencies into their worldviews, systems and workflows. She is also an expert on the nexus point between global diversity and the culture of the LGBT community (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) -- both inside the U.S. and globally. She has spoken at Out & Equal and is also co-author of the LGBT version of the training tool Cultural Detective®, used by many professionals and companies for intercultural competence training, teambuilding and coaching. Her portfolio of major client accounts includes Hospira, Monsanto, Aon Hewitt, NASDAQ OMX, John Deere, Blistex, Wells Fargo, Discover Financial Services, the Project Management Institute and the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business.
Rebecca’s expertise in intercultural competence, global diversity, and U.S. cultural values benefitted from over a decade consulting in the global banking industry with ABN AMRO in Chicago, where she worked with clients in the U.S., Latin America, Europe, Asia and Australia. She managed numerous, often competing priorities with ease while fostering projects' success in multi-cultural environments, across dispersed global teams. In 2004, Rebecca exited banking to pursue a full-time teaching position at Shanghai Dian Ji University in China, where she remained for two years. She was responsible for the development and delivery of creative English language programming, preparing Chinese university students to succeed in one of the world's fastest growing economies. She also took over the responsibility of acting as liaison between the University's International Education College administrators and the foreign teaching staff.
Rebecca is a certified administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) and continues to explore best practices in global organizations through the Intercultural Communication Institute. She is also a member of the Society for Intercultural Education Training and Research (SIETAR) and regularly presents at SIETAR conferences in the USA, Europe and Brazil.
Having grown up in Puerto Rico, Rebecca first moved to the mainland of the U.S.A. to attend Washington University in St. Louis and obtain a Bachelor's degree in business. She later earned an MBA in International Business from DePaul University in Chicago, as well. Rebecca has studied Italian business best practices in companies such as the Four Seasons Hotel (Milan) and Whirlpool Europe (Comerio) through a DePaul University-sponsored International Business Seminar. Her education is further supplemented with on-the-ground experiences in the U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Canada, Bulgaria, Argentina, Brazil, India, Australia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos. Today Rebecca and her family reside in Chicago.