Dr. Stewart Desson
CEO and Founder, Lumina Learning
Dr. Stewart Desson, PhD MSc MSc BSc FCIPD is an experienced Business Psychologist, the CEO and founder of Lumina Learning, and the author of the innovative Lumina Spark psychometric. He has a PhD in Psychology (University of Westminster) and is a Chartered Fellow with the CIPD. He also has an MSc in Change Agent Skills & Strategies (University of Surrey), an MSc in Operational Research (University of Birmingham) and a BSc in Operational Research (Leeds University).After working for 15 years for British Airways, Stewart was interested in creating psychometrics that go beyond the limits of personality type testing which puts people into boxes, and instead embrace psychological diversity. He has shown that adaptive and ‘maladaptive’ traits can be measured at both ends of the Big Five’s polarities and in 2017 he obtained a PhD in Business Psychology from the University of Westminster. Stewart wanted to develop a non-dichotomous programme which can measure people's personalities in a variety of situations. The result is the hugely successful Lumina Spark which is used with clients across the globe. Organisations using Lumina Products include national and multi-national corporates, consultancies and professional services firms, local and national government, law enforcement and emergency services, health and academic institutions, non-profit and charitable bodies, Olympic and national sports teams, and a multitude of diverse youth groups. Currently, over 30 employees work from the Lumina Global Office. Stewart has a passion for building a community of like-minded professionals innovatively applying Lumina Learning’s suite of Products and Solutions. Stewart has designed and delivered a broad range of training programmes and runs these internationally. He is particularly focused on looking at how personality can help and hinder people’s application and effectiveness in terms of innovation, leadership, engagement and dealing with pressure.A deeply experienced Organisation Development Consultant, Stewart travels internationally as an inspirational speaker and sought-after Change Agent.
