Sharon Harvey Davis is the VP of Diversity Equity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer for Ameren. In her role, she is responsible for leading all DEI strategic efforts, including diversity training, employee resource groups, diversity communications, and the executive diversity council. Under Sharon's leadership, Ameren has been ranked as one of the nation's top utilities by DiversityInc for 12 consecutive years. Throughout her 19 years of experience with Ameren, Sharon has seen many changes within the diversity space. She shares some of the developments and progressions that have taken place, both within Ameren and with diversity work overall. We discuss some challenges she has faced, and some of the coming trends for DEI work as well. To connect with Sharon, you can find her on Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharon-harvey-davis-76234a5

Kobena-Marcus J. Collins is the diversity and inclusion advisor for Kohl’s Corporate offices and serves as the diversity recruitment consultant for Bridge-Builder Professional Staffing. He has a passion for diversity and inclusion work, as well as helping candidates to get clear on what it is they are looking for, and to help them to find a great fit with an organization. His travels and multicultural background have given him personal insight into the importance of diversity and inclusion, and he brings that to the work he does every day.

Excited to share a recent conversation with Girish Ganesan, a strategic leader and innovative thinker with a passion for improving organizational performance. In his current role as the Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion at TD Bank Group, he is responsible for overseeing development, implementation of diversity and inclusion tactics, strategies, and programs for the customers, colleagues, and communities they serve.

Caroline Chambers is the senior director of diversity equity and inclusion at Graham Media Group. In her role, she leads all aspects of the DEI strategy to ensure intentional, measurable practices for building core talent, fostering workplace culture programs that promote equity as well as inclusivity. While she may be relatively new to the broadcast space, she is definitely not new to the work of being a DEI practitioner. Her background includes management roles in financial services, healthcare, and nonprofit organizations. In our conversation, we talk about the changes and growth within the broadcast media industry with regards to diversity, equity, and inclusion. She shares some new approaches Graham Media Group has taken with respect to applying the DEI lens to all areas of the organization. We also talk about the importance of accountability, and even though it may be daunting, there are ways to make it positive and encouraging. To connect with Caroline, you can find her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caroline-chambers01cc

Sabrina Griffith is a consultant, trainer, and strategist who works to encourage inclusion and belonging in corporations, businesses, and organizations, as they strive to create equitable practices. She uses her experience over the last 15 years as a DEI practitioner to develop and facilitate engaging and comprehensive sessions on DEI topics, including gender sexuality, LGBTQ+ allyship, bias, race, colorism, and classism to name a few. In our conversation, we discuss how she got started in DEI work, what it’s like to start from scratch with people who are new to these conversations, and ways organizations can approach talent acquisition with intention for creating more diverse, equitable, and inclusive spaces. To learn more about and connect with Sabrina, find her on LinkedIn, or on her website, https://www.griffithconsultingservices.com/

Heather Holland is the founder and Chief People Officer of Holland Energy Consulting, and in her role, she raises awareness around diversity, equity, and inclusion work within the energy, manufacturing, education, and transportation industries. In our conversation, we discuss the lack of diversity within these industries and we respond to the argument that a diverse workforce just isn’t out there for positions in these industries. We also talk about how companies should examine where they fall when it comes to whether they lead the pack with DEI, if they simply follow trends, or if they lag behind, and some tactics of how they can do better. To learn more about Holland Energy Consulting, go to: https://www.hollandenergyconsulting.com/

Gena Pemberton is the VP of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at OmniCom Health Group and in this role she is responsible for developing and driving forward the diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy for the network. Her background includes corporate finance roles over 13 years at Johnson and Johnson, an MBA from the University of Phoenix, and a diversity and inclusion certificate from Cornell University.

Welcome to season 2 of our Uplifting Impact! We have some exciting changes heading your way this season, and one of those is that we have added Justin Ponder as our co-host. Justin is the Chief Information Officer of Uplifting Impact, as well as an educator in the area of ethnic studies. In this episode, we talk about some of the updates and changes we’re making to the podcast, we introduce Justin and the work he has done, and he talks about some of the trends he is seeing in the diversity, equity, and inclusion space.

Daniel Shaffer is a freelance nonprofit consultant and grant writer, focusing on women and minority owned businesses. After graduating with a degree in international relations, he joined a program working in predominantly Black and underserved communities within Pittsburgh, and shortly after found himself wanting to leverage his privilege to help open doors for members within his network that may not have had the same access otherwise.

Mita Mallick is the head of inclusion, equity, and impact at Carta, and has previously served in cross-cultural marketing roles, such as the Head of Diversity and Cross Cultural Marketing at Unilever and worked on projects like the Vaseline Healing project. She has been named Working Mother of the Year by She Runs It, as well as being listed as one of the 50 People Under 40 who are shaking up beauty. In our conversation, we talk about the importance of diversity within an organization from end-to-end, meaning, all aspects of the business. I was also personally excited to share with her how much I loved a recent article she wrote, “I don't want to be a super mom. I just want to be a mom” and the expectations our society has on mothers and motherhood. To learn more and connect with Mita, you can find her on Linked In.