The Executive Leadership Council’s (ELC) Board of Directors selected Otha T. “Skip” Spriggs III as The ELC’s new President and Chief Executive Officer. He will lead the efforts to sustain the strategic pillars that inform the ELC’s strategic plan. This includes advocacy for black executive leadership across the globe, engagement services and support for multi-cultural and multi-generational leaders at different career lifecycle stages, leading-edge research, coaching and development of leaders, and sustainable global community impact.
“The board selected Skip based on his outstanding qualifications, leadership expertise and longstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion,” said Orlando Ashford, ELC Board Chair and President of Holland America Line. “We look forward to having him at the helm of our organization.” Spriggs said, “I am honored to be chosen as President and CEO of this extraordinary organization of which I’ve been a member since 2009. I look forward to working with our members, board, partners and staff to build upon the ELC’s rich legacy to ensure its continued growth, leadership and impact in the business community and in the communities where our members work and live.”
Otha T. Spriggs III, President and CEO, Executive Leadership Council
Spriggs will succeed Ronald C. Parker, who has served as President and CEO since 2012 and has been an ELC member since 1994. Parker will retire at the end of the year, but he has agreed to stay engaged as long as necessary to enable a smooth transition. “I am excited that Skip will join the ELC and serve as the new leader of this preeminent membership organization of global black business leaders,” Parker said. “He will make a tremendous contribution to our organization as he embodies values that are important to all of our constituents.”
Spriggs is a seasoned HR executive who has served in senior business roles at several Fortune 500 companies across diverse industries during the last 25 years. He is currently Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at TIAA, where he oversees all aspects of human resources strategy and execution for the company’s global workforce.
“I want to thank Skip for his many contributions to TIAA over the past five years,” said Roger W. Ferguson Jr., President and CEO at TIAA and a member of the ELC. “He helped to make TIAA an employer of choice and empowered our 16,000 employees to make a difference for the individuals and institutions we serve around the world. We’re proud that Skip has been selected to lead the ELC, an organization about which he cares so deeply. Under his leadership, I know that the ELC will continue to make great strides in cultivating diverse leaders who can succeed in a complex, rapidly changing global market.”
Spriggs’ career began at UPS, and he has since held executive leadership roles at Boston Scientific, The Home Depot, Levi Strauss & Co. and CIGNA Corp. He is currently a member of the boards of TIAA, FSB (TIAA Direct), Savannah State University’s College of Business Administration and the Institute for Corporate Productivity. He also serves on the HR Advisory Board for the University of South Carolina’s Moore School of Business. He holds a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from Towson State University.
The Executive Leadership Council, an independent non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation founded in 1986, is the pre-eminent membership organization committed to increasing the number of global black executives in C-Suites, on corporate boards and in global enterprises. The ELC comprises more than 600 current and former black CEOs, senior executives and board directors at Fortune 1000 and Global 500 companies, and entrepreneurs at top-tier firms. Its members work to build an inclusive business leadership pipeline that empowers global black leaders to make impactful contributions to the marketplace and the global communities they serve.
