Dr. Dorothy Riddle is a certified management consultant (CMC), an award-winning author, and a social change specialist. Her professional work in over 85 countries (including 74 developing economies), has focused on the role of service in enhancing the quality of our lives – economically, socially, and spiritually. She has trained over 10,500 small business owners, worked in over 30 service industries, authored trade-related 15 books, and has served as an advisor to trade and economic development ministers around the world. She is acknowledged as an economic development expert due in part to her ground-breaking 1986 book Service-Led Growth: The Role of the Service Sector in World Development (Praeger). Dr. Riddle was the first Canadian appointed by the Prime Minister to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC), which she co-chaired in 1996. Academically, she is a former professor of international services trade and economic development, cross-cultural communication, psychology, and women’s studies, having taught in graduate programs in Canada, China, Europe, and the United States. More detailed background appears on Wikipedia. A more detailed professional resume is available here.
In order to empower small service firms, Dr. Riddle has designed five online tools to assist small business: the E-Business Readiness Scale, the Services Export Readiness Diagnostic (versions for Canadian firms and for firms from developing countries), and the Goods Export Readiness Diagnostic (versions for Canadian firms and for firms from developing countries). She has worked extensively on employment equity policies and the design of client-centered employment services, and has authored three workbooks for improving the quality of career and employment services and is the co-developer of the online Employment Readiness Scale™.
Dr. Riddle began her work on social justice issues within the American Psychological Association, advocating for gender equity and an end to viewing alternate lifestyles as psychiatric disorders. She began the first degree-granting women studies program in 1971 at City University of New York, conducted the first research on children of gay parents, and developed the Riddle Homophobia Scale [link] which has been modified over the years to assess discrimination based on a range of factors. More recently her research and advocacy work has focused on removing the barrier of distance for the increasing number of individuals worldwide with hidden mobility disabilities (see…).
In addition to being widely published for her economic development and gender equity work, Dr. Riddle is the author of the award-winning trilogy, Enough for Us All. These books examine who we are, the widespread forms of depersonalization that are reinforced through our media, and we fail to treat others with compassion and respect. She is also the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the School for Esoteric Studies and actively engaged in developing ways that violence can be resisted without further escalation.
Dr. Riddle grew up in China and India, providing her with a unique perspective on poverty and social issues, and has a B.A., summa cum laude (University of Colorado), a M.B.A. (University of Arizona), and a Ph.D. in psychology, with a minor in statistics and research methodology (Duke University). She is widely published in trade and scholarly journals (see a partial list of publications at ResearchGate), and is listed in the Who’s Who of American Women, the World Who’s Who of Women, and the International Who’s Who of Professionals. Her engagement in her community and the world has consistently focused on building bridges of tolerance and understanding among persons from different cultural, socioeconomic, and faith communities while working for justice and equity with compassion.
