This technology industry panel will explore programs and activities that corporations use to address employee diversity and inclusion. The conversation will focus on which industry models of inclusion are working, and why.
Sonja Gittens Ottley is Head, Diversity & Inclusion at Asana, where she’s responsible for crafting the company’s strategies for recruiting employees from underrepresented groups and creating an inclusive environment that allows them to thrive. Prior to her roles in diversity & inclusion at Asana and at Facebook, she was global policy counsel for Yahoo’s Business & Human Rights Program, the first of its kind in the tech sector. She is a native of Trinidad & Tobago.
Nicole Sanchez is CEO and Founder at Vaya Consulting. Previously, Nicole served as the VP of Social Impact at GitHub and was responsible for: diversifying the company's workforce and user base; building strong community partnerships; and promoting GitHub as a platform for impactful social change. She is an industry expert in diversity, inclusion and social impact with 20+ years working on access for underrepresented communities in government, higher education and technology. She is a mom, writer, native Californian, and firm believer that access to technology can bring about massive social change. Nicole is an alumna of Stanford University and UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.
A. Charles Thomas, a 17-year data and analytics professional, and recently joined General Motors as their Chief Data and Analytics Officer.
Before joining General Motors, Charles served as an executive vice president at Wells Fargo & Company and also served as the head of their Enterprise Data & Analytics organization.
As the Chief Data Officer at Wells Fargo, he was responsible for developing the company's approach to managing data, including the development of Enterprise Data Governance, Foundational Data, and a common data architecture. Thomas’s team acted as a hub collaborating with line of business data teams to ensure commonality of data, methods, techniques, tools, and governance. This “hub and spoke” model allowed Thomas to leverage his team’s data management and analytical skills to provide more consistent information, more effectively identify and manage risk, provide better customer experiences, and more efficiently develop and deliver technology solutions for the company.
Thomas was also a member of the Wells Fargo Management Committee and the Enterprise Diversity & Inclusion Council. He sits on the Board of Directors of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). Prior to joining Wells Fargo in 2014, Thomas was the chief data and analytics officer for the United Services Automobile Association (USAA) in San Antonio. He also has held data analytics leadership positions at Harte-Hanks Direct Marketing, Hewlett Packard, and Reliant Energy. Thomas has a bachelor’s degree in history from Baylor University, a master’s degree in sociology with a concentration in Applied Social Research from Baylor, and a doctorate in sociology with a concentration in Organizational Behavior and Quantitative Methods from Yale University.
Dr. Kellie McElhaney is a professor and Distinguished Teaching Fellow at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. She founded the Center for Responsible Business, solidifying corporate responsibility as a core competency and competitive advantage of the school. Haas was rated #1 in the world for corporate responsibility by The Financial Times. She is now the Founding Director of the Center for Gender, Equity and Leadership, which focuses on strategically investing in women in business. Kellie has received the Founder and Visionary award and the Cheit Teaching Excellence award at Haas.
Kellie’s research focuses on the following areas: (1) The business value and leadership strategies of investing in women and diversity; (2) Strategic corporate responsibility and its alignment with business objectives, competencies, and value creation; (3) Global macro trends and business implications, risks and opportunities. She has developed and teaches a variety of courses linked to her areas of expertise in the undergraduate, MBA, and executive MBA programs at the Haas School of Business, as well as in executive education programs globally. She authored a book entitled Just Good Business: The Strategic Guide to Aligning Corporate Responsibility and Brand. She produces thought leadership, white papers and case studies of companies who are investing in women (Wal-Mart, E&Y, Gap, Inc.), and conducts research in the area of equal pay, unconscious bias, women and leadership, and the ROI of women in leadership.
Kellie consults and keynotes for Global 1000 companies and organizations all over the world on strategic leadership for investing in women, diversity and inclusion, and corporate responsibility. She also has a TED talk on these topics.