Anise D. Wiley-Little, Committee Chair

Anise D. Wiley-Little brings over twenty five years of diverse business experience in the discipline of Human Resources.

As Managing Partner with MEGA-K Enterprises, advises, businesses and executives on HR strategy, all aspects of diversity and worklife. Wiley-Little engages in confidential executive and life coaching for CEO’s, CDO’s and other C-suite executives.

As Vice President of HR and Allstate’s first chief diversity officer, she held accountability for enterprise-wide diversity strategy, supplier diversity, talent acquisition, worklife and was HR business partner to the Sales organization. Prior to this assignment she headed the Compensation Department for Allstate.

Wiley-Little’s diversity work resulted in significant national recognition and increase in supplier diversity spend to one billion, making Allstate World Class.

Wiley-Little is a writer on issues of diversity and has been profiled in numerous publications including the Chicago Tribune, Workforce Management, Investor’s Business Daily, Diversity Journal, PR Week, HR Magazine and others.

She is the recipient of the Most Influential African Americans Freedom Award for her quiet contribution to racial justice and equality. The Leadership Award from the People’s Voice for Most Influential African American; selected one of Chicago’s most influential in Who’s Who in Black Chicago; a 2010 YWCA Women of Achievement Award Winner in the Business Category and recognized by SHRM as one of the Top 100 Global Thought Leaders for Diversity.

Author of soon to be released “Profitable Diversity: How Economic Inclusion Can Lead to Success”. Wiley-Little is an alumna of Illinois State University and holds a Master’s from the University of Illinois.

 

Deborah Dagit

Deborah Dagit joined Merck as their Chief Diversity Officer in June 2001.  She has had responsibility for global equal opportunity, employee relations, recruiting and staffing and diversity & inclusion and has now transitioned to lead Deb Dagit Diversity, a consulting firm that offers practical just-in-time resources, tools and support for diversity practitioners.

Under Ms. Dagit’s leadership at Merck, organizations such as Diversityinc, Working Mother, the Families and Work Institute, the Department of Defense 2010 Freedom Award (Veterans), the 2005 Department of Labor New Freedom Award (People with Disabilities) and the Human Rights Campaign have recognized the company for its exemplary work in diversity and inclusion. Merck has undergone more than 55 different federal audits for compliance with U.S. Affirmative Action/Equal Employment Opportunity requirements for federal contractors since 1980 – each time, receiving a letter of compliance.  Ms. Dagits’ current clients include TD Bank, Northrop Grumman, KeyBank, the Marine Corp, Lincoln Financial, The City of New York, the Arcus Foundation, Highmark, Traveler’s Insurance, Linkage, Iowa Women’s Leadership, and the Northeast HR Association.

Ms. Dagit joined Merck from Silicon Graphics, Inc. where she was the leader of Learning Communications and Diversity since 1993.  Prior to Silicon Graphics, Ms. Dagit was the leader of Strategic Cultural Initiatives for Sun Microsystems, Inc. from 1991 to 1993.  She played a key role in the passage of the American with Disabilities Act through lobbying efforts in California and Washington, D.C.

Ms. Dagit earned a bachelor’s degree with honors in Psychology from Oregon State University, and conducted her master’s coursework in Clinical Psychology at San Jose State University.  She was a founding member in 1991, and a past Chair of the Conference Board’s Workforce Council on Diversity.

Among her many awards, Ms. Dagit has received the 2010 Winds of Change Multicultural Form on Workforce Diversity, the 2006 Champion of the Year from Out and Equal; the 2000 Exemplary Leader from Silicon Graphics; the 1999 Advocate of the Year from the Black Employees Network; the 1997 Award of Professional Excellence from the Northern California HR Council; and the 1996 Tribute to Women in Industry. Ms. Dagit was also asked to speak on diversity and inclusion at the December 2008 “Citadel of Free Speech” City Club of Cleveland which was broadcast live on NPR, and to testify in July 2011 before the U.S. Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions committee re: best practices for improving employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

Ms. Dagit is married and has three children ages 17, 18 and 19.



Tiane Mitchell Gordon

Principal and founder of Square One Consulting, Tiane Mitchell Gordon serves as an advisory partner, consultant, executive coach and speaker for organizations (profit and not-for-profit) on human resources and diversity & inclusion issues.

Square One Consulting provides HR based consulting services with a focus on the impact of diversity and inclusion on change management, talent/succession management, executive coaching, performance management, organizational development and strategy formulation.

Prior to founding Square One, Ms. Mitchell Gordon had a fifteen year career at AOL, LLC, the last seven as Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer.  Ms. Mitchell Gordon spent more than 20 years holding human resources leadership and management positions in the internet, publishing and financial services industries.

Ms. Mitchell Gordon has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology, cum laude, from Wesleyan University; post-graduate studies at Trinity College (USA); and professional development through the University of Michigan Ross School of Business Executive Education and American Management Association.  She has been identified by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) as one of its 100 Global Thought Leaders in Diversity & Inclusion, and, has served as a Diversity Expert in Residence for East Carolina University and the University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill.  Ms. Mitchell Gordon is also a CookRoss Certified Unconscious Bias Educator.

 

Frank McCloskey

Frank McCloskey recently retired from a 38-year career with Georgia Power, the largest subsidiary of Southern Company. From 2000 to 2010, he served as the first-ever Vice President of Diversity for Georgia Power. In this position, McCloskey oversaw the development and implementation of long-termed, broad-based management and organizational culture change affecting diversity and inclusion. Strategic initiatives were implemented to achieve higher levels of trust and performance with every employee and manager, creating elevated transparency and fairness in the processes for compensation, hiring, selection, training, and development. The employee concerns program was revamped with establishment of the Workplace Ethics department. Additionally, managers received specialized development in providing meaningful employee performance and career feedback and reducing fear of retaliation. Female and minority representation increased by 8 and 10 percent, respectively, as the overall employee workforce decreased by 31 percent over the previous 16 years. During the past decade, the company also spent more than $2.2 billion with female, minority- and veteran-owned businesses.
Since beginning his career in 1972, Frank held various marketing and supervisory positions within the company’s customer operations organization. He is past chair of the Atlanta Urban League, Leadership Atlanta, and the Buckhead Business Association.  Currently, he serves on the board of the Anti-Defamation League, the Workplace Program Advisory Council of the Tannenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding, and the editorial board of INSIGHT into Diversity. McCloskey has been a recipient of the Willie O’Ree National Hockey League’s “Black Ice” Diversity Award, the Rainbos PUSH Coalition’s Keep Hope Alive Equal Opportunity Award, and the American Institute for Managing Diversity’s 25th Anniversary Diversity Leader Award.
He and his wife participated in the March of the Living, an international education program bringing
young adults to Poland and Israel to learn lessons from the Holocaust as well as World Pilgrimages
to Turkey, Greece, Jordan, and Israel with Jewish, Christian, and Muslim clergy and community
leaders from Atlanta.

 

May E. Snowden, MBA, MPA

May Snowden is an affiliate of The Conference Board and FutureWork Institute. With more than 20 years of experience, Snowden insightfully creates and leads initiatives that strengthen corporate cultures and brand identification while improving relations with customers and vendors. In November of 2007 Snowden & Associates was launched because of her passion for this work and her commitment to

developing new conscious awareness of thoughts, values, biases and actions that lead to injustice and inequality among people.

Snowden is an independent diversity and inclusion strategist, consultant, educator, facilitator, speaker, and executive coach. She inspires corporate leaders to articulate a global diversity and inclusion vision.

May is a nationally recognized diversity and inclusion “voice” with significant experience as a C-level human resources leader with major P&L operating experience.  May has delivered world class HR strategies and diversity initiatives and reengineered organizations to improve efficiency and productivity, while reducing costs.  She has worked for leading corporations, including VP of Global Diversity for Starbucks Coffee Company, Chief Diversity Officer for Eastman Kodak Company and Executive Director of Diversity for US WEST.  May has senior-level experience as a corporate relations liaison with state and local governments and the US Senate.

Snowden received her undergraduate degree in business from the University of Maryland at College Park, and holds a Master of Executive Business Administration and Master of Public Administration degrees from the University of Colorado at Boulder.