Sarita Bhatla

Career

Sarita Bhatla is an Executive Coach who draws on rigorous training and extensive leadership experience to support clients navigating complex professional and personal challenges. A certified Professional Coach, she works with deep respect for each client’s expertise and lived experience, emphasizing partnership, collaboration, and practical insight throughout the coaching process.

Sarita’s coaching is grounded in more than 31 years of experience in the House of Commons and federal public service, including 17 years as an executive. Over the course of her career, she provided strategic advice to Cabinet Ministers and led major policy, program, and legislative initiatives. She held executive roles in the Privy Council Office, Global Affairs Canada, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Canadian Heritage, and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
She concluded her public service career as Director General of the Accessibility Office at Canadian Heritage, where she led the integration of accessibility legislation and policy into broader diversity, equity and inclusion strategies.

In addition to her coaching practice, Sarita has delivered specialized consulting services in support of executive staffing processes in the federal government. Her work has included assessing CVs against the Key Leadership Competencies, designing structured interview guides, conducting and rating interviews, developing and evaluating written exams, and providing constructive developmental feedback to candidates.

Coaching

Sarita’s coaching is informed by her experience as a compassionate, inclusive, and pragmatic leader, and by her commitment to helping clients connect with their authentic leadership style. She tailors her approach to meet clients where they are—whether they seek performance-focused support to strengthen their effectiveness within their organization or developmental coaching to build long-term capacity and growth.

Her background in accessibility enriches her work with neurodiverse clients and with leaders who support them. She helps clients build awareness, adopt inclusive leadership practices, and develop sustainable strategies that integrate professional responsibilities with personal well-being.

Qualifications/Certifications

Sarita is certified as a Professional Coach through Integral Coaching Canada. She holds a Master’s degree from l’Institut des hautes études européennes (Strasbourg, France) and an Honours B.A. in Political Studies and French Language and Literature from Queen’s University. Throughout her career, she has undertaken extensive training in leadership development, mental health, and diversity and inclusion.