Pooja Behl Luthra has never thought about an end point to her learning and education. To her, lifelong learning doesn’t only expand her thinking. It challenges her. Now, with three degrees and 20 years of experience, Behl Luthra, who is based in India, is changing how human resources operates in her home country.
As one of this year’s Distinguished Alumni honorees, Behl Luthra cites her time at The Chicago School, where she earned her M.A. in Organizational Psychology, as a catalyst for rounding out her education. Holding a bachelor’s degree in commerce from Jesus & Mary College, Delhi University and a master’s degree in global business operations from Shri Ram College of Commerce, Behl Luthra expanded on that foundation at The Chicago School, leading to her current roles as founder and CEO of consulting firm Humane Insights and chief human resources officer of the Trident Group.
“My time at The Chicago School combined my love for learning with my love for a subject that I found extremely interesting and intriguing,” she says. “A strong foundation, both in terms of education and work experience, goes a long way in setting the direction where one can take their career,” Behl Luthra says. “With that, I felt confident and well equipped to venture out of my comfort zone. My career has been a great journey so far, where I’ve enjoyed every single learning, opportunity, and challenge I’ve had.”
Her first job opportunity was with the Trident Group, a progressive organization that encouraged her to explore various functions that were of interest to her. After almost four years of working in the field, she wanted to cement her practical knowledge with a more formal education working in HR, which led her to pursue her second master’s degree, and to The Chicago School.
“The Chicago School was one of the very few schools that had niche subjects that were very interesting to me,” Behl Luthra explains. She became a sound researcher thanks to the different projects she completed as part of her curriculum and as a fellow with Dr. Jennifer Thompson.
“I was extremely fortunate to work very closely with Dr. Jennifer Thompson,” Behl Luthra says. “Almost 18 years later, the time I spent with her helps me be a better professional and a valuable member of the teams that I lead.” It also helped her develop leadership skills at the start of her consulting career.
Behl Luthra started Humane Insights, her consulting firm, in 2020. She focused on giving home-grown organizations the expertise needed to help them attract and retain the right talent. Having spent a decade working across industries with organizations in Asia and the Middle East, she realized that an important component of talent management was missing in India.
“India as a nation was committed to giving young start-ups the ecosystem they needed to get started. While things like talent and funding were easy to come by, the companies struggled to manage, develop, and retain their talent,” Behl Luthra explains. “The purpose behind starting Humane Insights was to bridge this gap.”
Seasoned in continually seeking new learning opportunities, Behl Luthra encourages those who seek a path similar to hers to keep challenging themselves. “While it’s easy to feel a little bit proud as alumni of [The Chicago School], ongoing growth and success needs us to bolster this education with a will to continuously unlearn and relearn, put ourselves out of our comfort zones, and understand that there is no substitute for hard work.”