Monica L. Bankston
Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion | Pure Storage
Monica is currently the Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion for Pure Storage, a global tech company based in Mountain View, CA. With over 4,500 employees worldwide, Pure Storage is a key player in the solid-state storage array market. Monica spent some time as the Global Director of Diversity & Inclusion for Coca Cola North America, and prior to her time at Coca Cola she was the Global Diversity & Inclusion Officer for Corning Incorporated – a multinational technology company specializing in glass, ceramics, and related technologies based in Corning, NY. At Corning she was responsible for partnering with leadership teams globally to improve the diversity of Corning’s workforce through three areas of focus: hiring to availability, managing promotions and minimizing attrition. Her results included designing and implementing a five-year strategy focused on D&I education, metrics, branding, recruiting and retention.
Monica has over twenty five years of experience in Human Resources in the financial services, retail, manufacturing and tech industries. Prior to her role with Corning, Inc., Monica led diversity recruiting, strategic partnerships and talent management initiatives for Walmart in Bentonville, AR. She also led early in career program design and execution, and gained expertise in talent management, executive development programs and campus/corporate/diversity recruiting at Bank of America during her time there.
Monica received her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Montreat College and a Master’s of Science in Organizational Change and Leadership from Pfeiffer University. She is a member of the board of trustees for The Rockwell Museum in Corning, NY, a board member of the Cosmopolitan Women’s Club, and a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. She currently resides in Fort Mill, SC with her husband Deron and their two sons, Myles, a recent graduate of Howard University, and Michael, a sophomore at Savannah College of Art & Design.
