Dani Monroe launches the inaugural Chief Diversity Officer Summit on Martha’s Vineyard.
Although there are many paths to progress in inclusion, equity, and diversity, the most direct route is through the collective impact of Chief Diversity Officers. With this thought in mind, Dani Monroe founded and launched the inaugural Martha’s Vineyard Chief Diversity Officer Summit. Over 125 Chief Diversity Officers (CDOs) from around the U.S. and representing 24 industries gathered to reflect on current times, reset their mindset and re-envision the road ahead.
Monroe noted that the Summit attracted more attendees than she could ever have imagined. CDOs from Fidelity, MetLife, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Google, Amazon, Cushman Wakefield, and Liberty Mutual participated. The Summit collectively represented some 1.6 million employees nationwide and noted that nearly 40% of the CDOs present reported to the CEO.
Dani Monroe, Founder, MV CDO Summit, President, CenterFocus International, Inc. ~Cheryl Richards Photographer~
“With the Summit, I wanted to strengthen the leadership capability of CDOs, especially given that their responsibilities are more complex today than ever before. Some may not have known they needed this gathering, but before we can lead DEI into the future, we must take the time to reflect on the tumultuous era in which we live and see how the role of CDO has evolved,” said Monroe.
Path to progress
During the Summit, CDOs discussed their path to progress by:
- 1. Acknowledging how the CDO role has evolved. Today, in addition to focusing on the business case for diversity and human capital strategies, their work now incorporates responses to profound societal and political issues – social justice, economic inequities, and Roe vs. Wade. While these issues remain unresolved, CDOs must create a path to progress, despite the realities that sometimes may include empty hopes, shallow values statements, and insufficient resources.
- 2. Prioritizing self-care for CDOs. While CDOs negotiate internal and external reputation and responsibility, the stress level has been unprecedented. INC. magazine reported the CDO role grew 107 percent in the past six years. Korn Ferry recently reported that 78 percent of professionals say CDOs are more critical now than they were in the wake of the social unrest of 2020. Self-care for CDOs is essential as the call to negotiate conflict and influence reputation has increased.
- 3. Networking and relationship-building with peers in communities of practice – The Summit brought like minded minds to address relevant topics – from engagement with Boards to understanding ESG (environmental, social, and governance)- the newly added dimension of CDO work. Attendees learned from each other and connected with people who share their same experience and trauma. CDOs need to know that they are not alone during times of challenge and that healing comes with the power of the collective.
Collective impact
Melonie Parker, Chief Diversity Officer, Google, said, “I was so grateful to participate in this year’s Summit and found it to be a really powerful experience. Today, more companies and organizations are hiring Chief Diversity Officers, so having this event focused purely on CDOs and bringing practitioners together as a peer group across all industries was relevant and needed.”
“The Summit underscored that this work is not done in isolation,” Parker adds. “It made me think about my role, and Google’s role, in the stewardship of this work. We’re very serious about transparently sharing the DEI work we are doing at Google: our guiding principles, our framework, our holistic strategy, and learnings. No one company can make progress alone – we have to make progress as a collective. I’m always thinking about the next practices, not just best practices, so
this Summit helps ensure we’re all walking in lockstep. Whether you’re new in this field or not, having a support structure like this CDO Summit was wonderful so we could learn from and support one another and ultimately move this work forward together.”
Dr. Kizzmekia S. Corbett, Leading Coronavirus Scientist, Assistant Professor of Immunology and Infectious Disease
Summit speakers and attendees felt the dynamic of the truth and transparency. Speakers included Dr. Damon Williams, Dr. Alisha Moreland-Capuia, the Founder and Director of McLean Hospital’s Institute for Trauma-informed Systems, Pulitzer Prizewinning author Nikole Hannah Jones, and Dr. Laura Morgan Roberts. The Summit hosted a Community Conversations Under the Tent with Dr. Kizzmekia S. Corbett, one of the leading scientists who developed the COVID vaccine; Sunny Hostin, anchor, and co-host of ABC’s “The View”; Michele Norris, an opinion columnist at the Washington Post; and Byron Pitts, anchor and chief national correspondent at ABC News.
Diana Cruz Solash, Vice President of Talent, Inclusion, Diversity & Equity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, said, “It was great to see my extended, professional family at the CDO Summit. While most conferences focus primarily on DEI strategies and tactics, the Summit placed an emphasis on CDOs as leaders. Together we engaged in real talk, deepened connections, and discussed self-care. The Summit was about how we show up and how we lead. The programming also allowed time for us to really ‘see’ ourselves – especially in the role of CDO, which is often a lonely place.” Acknowledging the challenging role of CDOs, Cruz Solash shared that “no matter the difficulty of issues and divides, CDOs must never lose proximity to the communities they seek to engage.”
CDOs face unprecedented complexities in our society and are expected to bridge divides and solve severe issues in their companies and communities. We must reset our expectations collectively to adapt and re-envision new possibilities and opportunities in a changing world.
