Ekpedeme “Pamay” M. Bassey

Ekpedeme “Pamay” M. Bassey is chief learning and diversity officer for the Kraft Heinz Co., where she drives a culture of continuous learning, bold creativity and intellectual curiosity, is responsible for the company’s global learning and development strategy, and initiatives and amplifies the work that every Kraft Heinz employee does to create and nurture a diverse and inclusive workplace. Pamay has deep expertise in learning theories derived from artificial intelligence research and practical experience designing and developing highly rated learning solutions and transformative leadership development programs.

A lifelong learner who loves laughter, words, big ideas and serving her community, Pamay knows the power of doing big things in small increments. She is a true believer that learning can be a superpower that can transform people, families, communities and organizations. This belief is demonstrated in her passion projects that, for over a decade, have focused on the ways people believe, worship, lead and learn.

Her TEDx talk and weekly journal, both named “Navigating Sacred Spaces,” are based on her project work and her book: “My 52 Weeks of Worship: Lessons from a Global, Spiritual, Interfaith Journey.” Her 365 Days of Learning project – where she made a promise to learn something new every day for a year and share it with her organization – has been the foundation of a learning transformation at Kraft Heinz and inspired her new book, “Let’s Learn Our Way Through It, Shall We?” — created to encourage others to commit to their own personal and professional learning journeys.

Prior to Kraft Heinz, Pamay served as the global head of learning platform and professional development for BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager. Before that, she was president of The Pamay Group, an e-learning design and strategy company. She began her career in Accenture's Media Technologies Group.

Pamay is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a senior faculty and advisory board member of the Josh Bersin Academy and serves on the board at both Houlihan Lokey and the M&G Etomi Foundation, which seeks to break the harsh cycle of poverty by creating various programs and activities to teach the value of self-empowerment and improvement to the people of the Niger Delta region in southern Nigeria.

Pamay earned a B.S. in symbolic systems from Stanford University with an artificial intelligence concentration and an M.S. in computer science from Northwestern University. She is also a graduate of the Second City Conservatory program in Chicago, an advanced study of improvisational comedy and theater.