All posts by Dr. Deborah Ashton, Tracie Hall

ADR Advisor Deborah P. Ashton, PhD, CDM: President/ Planet Perspective, Founder/ Equity Rising, is a HR and DEI executive with 30+ years of global and Fortune 500 experience. She led DEI at Medtronic, Darden Restaurants, Harley-Davidson, Argonne National Laboratory and Novant Health. She is an Inclusion Magazine’s 2021 D&I Hall of Fame inductee and a Savoy Magazine 2014 Top Influential Women in Corporate America. Dr. Ashton serves on the Advisory Board for Mill Road Capital’s Progressive Governance Fund and served on the Advisory Council for The George Washington U., Women in Leadership. Tracie M. Hall, Esq., MBA: Owner/ TM VentuHeRs, Member/ Equity Rising has over 20 years of strategy and human capital, including succession and executive advisory experience for global iconic brands as well as start-ups. She balances her people and strategy time by volunteering with Meals on Wheels, serving on health-related boards, and serving the elderly.

Equity Rising: DEI Expertise in the Boardroom – by Dr. Deborah Ashton, Tracie Hall

Abstract

After the killing of George Floyd, Equity Rising, a group of Black professionals, came together to address social justice and equity in the government and in corporations. They believed that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) expertise is essential to the total sustainability strategy of corporations and, therefore, is an essential boardroom function. The DEI expertise brings both functional and demographic diversification of board members.  This article contends that since traditionally the DEI function has been populated primarily by people of color and women, DEI expertise will add to the demographic diversification of the board. With the increase in demographic diversity for other functional board positions, DEI experts will aide in establishing a critical mass of women and people of color in the boardroom. 

Continue reading Equity Rising: DEI Expertise in the Boardroom – by Dr. Deborah Ashton, Tracie Hall