Embrace Identity, Accelerate Impact: Tribeni Chougule, our latest WINS Coach Partner
At Women in Sustainability Network, we love shining a light on leaders who bring both courage and compassion to the work of creating change.
That’s why we’re delighted to welcome Tribeni Chougule as our newest Coach Partner.
With a career spanning engineering, global corporate leadership, and now as founder of Kinspace, Tribeni brings a rare blend of systems thinking, inclusive leadership, and deep personal insight.
Her passion is helping people embrace their whole selves – identities, differences, and lived experiences – as powerful sources of strength in their journey.
In this conversation, we invite you to get to know Tribeni, hear her reflections, and discover the wisdom she carries for all of us navigating change and leading with purpose.
Q Your journey has taken you from engineer to global corporate leader, and now to founding Kinspace as an Inclusive Impact Coach. What were some of the turning points along the way, and what lessons have stayed with you through these transitions?
When I began my career, all I wanted was to work in technology and one day earn an MBA. I did not plan for the twists that would teach me as much about people as about systems. Every move, from programmer to project manager to account leader and thereafter, stretched me in unexpected ways. I learnt that I stay most alive when I am challenged and learning something new.
Early on, I took chances on roles that did not always look linear on paper but felt right in my gut. Those unconventional choices became springboards, reminding me that sometimes the next step does not need to be obvious to anyone but you. I also discovered a second current running beneath my technical work: a pull towards people, creating engagement, building belonging, and championing gender equity.
Looking back, those threads of curiosity, courage, and care are what connect every transition I have made. They are also what gave birth to Kinspace, a space to help others navigate change, reconnect with who they are, and lead with clarity, courage, and conscience.
You’ve worked on sustainability and inclusion at a global scale in the corporate world, and now you partner closely with individuals and teams. How do those experiences shape the way you coach today — and what feels different about supporting change at a more personal level?
Over the 25 years of my corporate career that spanned sustainability, inclusion, technology, financial services, and three continents, I learnt both the power and the limits of systems. Some of my most memorable projects were not the smoothest ones, but the ones where teams came together through trust, collaboration, and belief in a shared purpose. Those moments reminded me that true impact happens when people feel included and psychologically safe to bring their full selves to work.
I also saw how often confidence and capability can be eroded by bias, assumptions, and systemic barriers. The same change initiative could evoke very different responses depending on whether someone felt valued or othered. Those experiences taught me that inclusion is not a policy but a lived practice.
Through Kinspace, I now help individuals and teams recognise and release those ingrained limitations, reconnect with who they are, and lead with courage and authenticity. This not only enables individuals to fulfil their potential, but also allows organisations to benefit from more engaged, creative, and impactful talent driving their collective success. What feels different about this work is its intimacy and depth. Change is no longer theoretical; it is personal, visible, and deeply human.
Identity is such a powerful theme in your work — whether that’s gender, neurodiversity, or the migrant experience. How do you encourage people to embrace their whole selves, and even see their differences as strengths to lead with?
Identity has always been at the heart of my work because for a long time, I too wrestled with which parts of myself were welcome and which needed suppressing. Being a woman of colour, a migrant, neurodivergent, and someone who has navigated different industries and cultures, I know how easy it is to internalise the labels others place on us. Over time, I realised that the more I tried to fit in, the more I disconnected from who I was. Without my whole self, I was losing out on my unique strengths and capabilities.
In my coaching, I invite people to turn that lens inward because self-awareness is the foundation of leadership. Working from the inside out allows individuals to align who they are with where they aspire to be. Through reflection, storytelling, and strengths-based approaches, we explore how every experience, even the difficult ones, carries insight into what matters most to them.
When people begin to embrace their identity in its entirety, they no longer see their differences as barriers but as resources. They lead from a place of authenticity and self-trust, and that alignment naturally amplifies their presence, purpose, and impact.
Working from the inside out allows individuals to align who they are with where they aspire to be
Stepping into entrepreneurship is rarely a straight path — it often brings uncertainty, self-doubt, and discovery. What helped you stay grounded through that shift, and what wisdom do you now share with others navigating big life and career changes?
When I began my formal coaching journey a few years back, I saw it as another stream within a broader portfolio career that I had been building. Earlier this year, when the opportunity came to build my entrepreneurial journey fully around coaching and sustainability consulting, I decided to take the plunge. It has required deep patience, especially because I am building this business around a new professional identity. My corporate experience in sustainability and leadership translates naturally, but people also need time to see the cumulative value of my varied career and how it shapes my work as a coach.
Entrepreneurship has been humbling and often lonely. Finding community has been vital. So has perseverance. I have learnt that if something does not work, it is not failure; it simply means I have not yet arrived at the right solution.
I remind myself not to chase perfection but to honour clarity, energy, and pacing. Passion without rest can lead to burnout. Nature continues to be my guide, reminding me that growth takes time and that patience is a powerful form of progress.
The wisdom I share with others is to trust their instincts, find their rhythm, and stay true to their purpose. Every iteration brings them closer to who they are becoming.
As you join the Women in Sustainability Network, what excites you most about bringing your coaching to this community? Where do you see the greatest opportunities to support women’s leadership in creating a more sustainable world?
Joining the Women in Sustainability Network feels like a full-circle moment. I first connected with this community when I became Director of Inclusive Impact and Sustainability at Visa in 2021. At the time, I was exploring my own transition into sustainability leadership, and WINS was one of the spaces that inspired me most. Returning now as a Coach Partner feels like coming home, yet in a different role to give back, to share, and to learn.
What excites me most is combining my lived experiences, insights from mentees, colleagues, and clients, and lessons from leading inclusion and women’s networks. I have seen how identity, self-belief, and systemic barriers can intertwine and dim potential. Coaching provides a reflective space to separate those threads and help women reconnect with who they are so that they can lead and create from a place of strength.
Research shows that while the fight-or-flight response is often discussed as the default reaction to stress, women more typically exhibit what psychologists describe as the tend-and-befriend response. This reflects a preference for nurturing, collaborating, and strengthening social bonds as a way of creating safety and resilience. It is a deeply human instinct, yet one that is rarely acknowledged in leadership narratives, despite being so relevant to the collective, regenerative work of sustainability.
The greatest opportunity lies in helping women recognise this natural capacity as a strength and to harness it with clarity and balance. When women lead from that space, their impact becomes not only sustainable but truly transformative.
Looking to the future, what are the questions or challenges in sustainability and leadership that you feel we most need to pay attention to — and how do you hope to help others meet them with courage and creativity?
The question that feels most pressing to me is not only how we sustain the planet, but how we sustain ourselves while trying to do so. Many sustainability professionals carry an invisible emotional weight, balancing care for the planet with the pressures of performance. Without inner sustainability, even the most purpose-driven work can lead to depletion.
I believe the future of sustainable leadership depends on two key capacities: adaptability and connection. Adaptability allows leaders to stay open and creative in a constantly changing world. Connection to people, purpose, and nature keeps them grounded in what truly matters. Through my work with the Spotlight model and in coaching, I see how adaptability becomes stronger when anchored in awareness, belonging, and balance, both human and ecological.
Women in sustainability often hold both empathy and urgency, which can be powerful yet emotionally demanding. Supporting them to adapt without losing their compassion, and to draw from nature’s rhythms as a guide, is where I see the next frontier of leadership.
I often invite leaders to engage with nature around them, and pause even briefly, to observe how natural ecosystems balance growth and renewal. That perspective can reshape how they approach pressure, collaboration, and progress.
Equally important is how we integrate this connection into our work with others, bringing nature’s wisdom into how we engage with stakeholders, communities, and organisations. When leaders model that interdependence and reciprocity, they spark change that is not only effective but regenerative.
To me, this is what it means to lead from identity and integrity, to stay anchored while evolving, and to find courage and creativity in the living systems that sustain us all.