Senior Consultant

• 2023 - Present

Truth DEI was founded by the former Executive VP/Chief Legal Officer of the Arizona Diamondbacks to foster growth and forward momentum for diversity, equity & inclusion by educating and equipping organizations across multiple sectors (professional sports teams, corporations (including Fortune 500), non-profits, and schools) on DEI to improve business culture, relationships with business partners and community members, and to increase their bottom line. Senior Consultant • Leadership Consulting – serve as a strategic partner empowering organizational leaders to drive meaningful and lasting change by conducting organizational assessments (data/metrics; policies; programs; initiatives; and communication), developing or enhancing DEI strategies, and providing coaching • Team Education – design and deliver trainings and workshops helping team members throughout the organization develop deeper understanding of DEI and a lens through which they see the world (unconscious bias; allyship; microaggressions; privilege; inclusive leadership; etc.) so that they, regardless of their position, can own their portion of supporting a diverse and inclusive culture as aligned with the organizational mission and strategy • Business Development – connect with organizational stakeholders and decision makers to generate and expand opportunities for Truth DEI to positively impact our society Show less

Director / Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and Corporate Social Responsibility

• Jan 2022 - May 2023

Diversity & Inclusion Manager

• Sep 2019 - Jan 2022

• Oversee global recruitment, retention, development and advancement policies, practices, programs, and strategies for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) to advance firm goals of providing an increasingly inclusive workplace to harness the benefits of diverse teams, and provide excellent client value and the highest quality legal counsel • Refined and implemented DEI metrics and accountability policies and practices, including, associate utilization/work allocation, business development opportunities (including formal pitches, client RFPs; DEI surveys; attorney awards), professional development, and achieving Mansfield Rule certification for the first time • Advise, and build consensus amongst, firm leaders • Increased the Diversity & Inclusion Executive Committee’s gender, racial/ethnic, and geographic representation • Support the Diversity & Inclusion Executive Committee and firm-wide and local Diversity Councils • Reignited and advise affinity groups, and established a new leadership position to facilitate communication between, and collaboration with, affinity group leads and firm leadership • Designed, facilitated, and secured external consultants/subject matter experts for DEI educational programming, including the first firm-wide unconscious bias training, and sessions on the history and impact of racism and the law relating to various racial/ethnic groups; utilized these programs to raise internal and external profiles of diverse attorneys and staff • Collaborate across departments, offices, and practice groups to infuse DEI into the DNA of the firm • Lead planning and execution of the firm's Diversity & Inclusion Conference • Liaise with various external organizations to support diverse attorney development and raise the firm’s external profile • Contribute to internal and external communication in collaboration with Marketing and Communications/PR teams, including drafting the Firm’s first DEI Mission Statement and launching “V&E Cares” webpages Show less

Director and Head, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion for EducationCounsel

• 2018 - Sep 2019

Key achievements:• Concurrently, co-lead team of 12 volunteers and established EdCounsel's first ever Racial Equity Task Force; emphasis on shifting culture and norms by designing and delivering internal diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives• Implemented training and development initiatives focused on DE&I; results included successfully revising search and hiring practices and creating and executing racial on-boarding process• Introduced brand new racial equity on-boarding process to bring awareness to new hires re: equity efforts, shared language and direction for future growth while fostering equity related conversations • Invited by the National Association of College Admission Counseling (NACAC) as their first African-American male Keynote Speaker for Diversity & Inclusion Conference; promotional webcast was viewed by more attendees than any other webcast, ultimately increasing brand recognition for both NACAC and EdCounsel Show less

Senior Legal & Policy Advisor

• 2017 - Sep 2019

Member of the EducationCounsel team (affiliate of Nelson, Mullins, Riley and Scarborough) promoting educational advancement through legal, policy, and strategy consulting and diversity, equity and inclusion for this full-service law firm and education policy think tankKey Achievements:• Research, identify and advise clients on diversity-related admissions and institutional policies and practices; bring best practice benchmarks to clients (14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause, Title VI, Title IX and state law)• Identify, research and review Federal, State and Administrative law and policy; research clients' documents analyze data to assess strengths and existing gaps in institutional policies and practices• Analyze and summarize current federal court cases with potential impact on education including college admissions discrimination, transgender bathroom/locker room rights and free speech• Proposed and designed online review form for evidence review related to a client's ADA compliance; results included significantly improved data capture and output while significantly reducing person-hours required for analysis Show less

Asst. Director of Admissions/Admissions Counselor/Admissions Ass't

• 2008 - 2017

Served as sole professional responsible for recruiting undergraduate (matriculating adult) students for this 184 year-old academic liberal arts institution Assistant Director of Admissions (2011 - 2017) Admissions Counselor (2009 - 2011); Admissions Assistant (2008 - 2009) Key Achievements: • Successfully forged and maintained relationships with area corporations including AT&T, Coca Cola, Konica Minolta and Atlanta Public Safety) to develop pipeline of qualified students • Redesigned and spearheaded International Baccalaureate (IB) recruitment campaign; became "best practices" campaign and re-branded the University as "the school for IB" • Collaborated with academic executives from admissions, financial aid, communications and the Provost office to ensure student population growth and ongoing program viability • Provided leadership oversight for travel/territory management staff of six; provided training and leadership development for team and designed and procured branded merchandising for recruiting/admissions events • Successfully presented rationale and influenced President to maintain the Adult Degree Program which was scheduled to be cut due to program's financial loss; reevaluated program's fiscal viability which ultimately became a $1MM+ profitable program and remains in place to this day • As Admissions Counselor, increased overnight visits by potential students by 350% and increased enrollment from assigned territory by 41% (over previous year's results) Show less

Graduate Teaching Assistant

• 2015 - 2016

While carrying full course load, provided teaching assistance (International Business Foundations course) to 45-50 students per semester; University ranked as second most innovative university in the country which has awarded more degrees to African-Americans than any other non-profit university in the U.S. Graduate Assistant (Institute of International Business) While carrying full course load, provided teaching assistance (International Business Foundations course) to 45-50 students per semester; University ranked as second most innovative university in the country which has awarded more degrees to African-Americans than any other non-profit university in the U.S. Graduate Assistant (Institute of International Business)