
Atlanta, GA – The Georgia Diversity Council hosted the 7th Annual Leadership Conference in an effort to recognize and empower multiculturalism and leadership throughout the state of Georgia. The event was held October 21st, 2016 at the Crowne Plaza Atlanta Midtown.
Attendees heard from keynote speakers Nzinga Shaw, Chief Diversity & inclusion Officer for the Atlanta Hawks and Hector A. Muñoz, Chief Marketing Officer for Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, both of whom shared their experiences as leaders and diversity champions. The full-day event also featured concurrent panel sessions that addressed topics regarding diversity and inclusion, leadership and professional development. Executives shared their insights regarding topics such as “Women of Color Leading with Excellence,” “Building Higher Performance Teams: What You Need to Know,” and “The Voice of Leadership: How Leaders Inspire and Achieve Results.”
A series of awards were also given in recognition of leadership and excellence including the 2016 Most Powerful & Influential Women Award, 2016 Multicultural Leadership Award and the 2016 Young Leader in Diversity & Inclusion Award.
“We are so happy to be able to recognize these high-achieving professionals,” said Dennis Kennedy, Founder & CEO of the National Diversity Council. “They have all worked incredibly hard to overcome the barriers and numerous challenges they’ve encountered during their professional paths and have achieved success in their distinguished and impressive careers.”
The Georgia Diversity Council would like to thank the event sponsors for their support of the Georgia Leadership Conference: AIG, AMB Group LLC, Coca-Cola, Comcast Universal, Country Financial, MARTA, and UPS. Special thanks to all the volunteers, speakers and attendees for helping to make this event a success.
Photos and the program booklet from the conference can be found here.
Most Powerful & Influential Women Award Recipients
Lisa Chang, Senior Vice President, Human Resources, AMB Sports & Entertainment
Christina Critzer, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Shared Services Delivery Manager, SunTrust
Roxanne Douglas, Chief Counsel, McKesson
Ceree T. Eberly, Chief People Officer & Senior Vice President, The Coca-Cola Company
Ruth Fornell, Senior Vice President, Global Professional Services, NCR Corporation
Catherine Jefferson, Vice President of People Services, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen
Sarah Ming Hsi, AGM of Technology/CIO, MARTA
Laura Miller, Senior Vice President, Global Solutions, IHG
Margaret Newman, Chief People Officer, HD Supply
Kris Rearic, Vice President, RPO Business Group, Randstad Sourceright
Nzniga Shaw, Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, Atlanta Hawks
Melody Smalls, Vice President & Head of Human Resources, The Weather Channel
Slyvia Taylor, Senior Vice President, Human Resources, Safe-Guard Products International, LLC
Multicultural Leadership Award Recipients
Ashish Bisaria, Senior Vice President, North America Operations, FLEETCOR
Rodney Bullard, Vice President, Community Affairs & Executive Director, Chick-fil-A Foundation, Chick-fil-A
Anthony Davis, Vice President, Head of Human Resources, Atlanta Bread & Company
Craig Eister, Senior Vice President Global Revenue & Property Based Systems, IHG
Duriya Farooqui, Executive Director, Atlanta Committee for Progress
Naima Halim-Chestnut, Regional Civil Rights Offer, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Clyde E. Mize, Jr., Diversity Chair & Partner, Morris Manning & Martin
Hector Muñoz, Chief Marketing Officer, Popeyes Louisiana Chicken
Sunny Nastase, President of Healthcare Sales, UPS
Larry Patrick, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Ferndinand L. Risco, Jr., Executive Director, Diversity & Inclusion, MARTA
Tina Simmons, Senior Vice President, Human Resources, Comcast
Noni Southall, Associate General Counsel, Finance & Assistant Corporate Secretary, W.W. Gratinger
Young Leader in Diversity & Inclusion Award Winners
Ivette Lopez Sisniega, Senior Manager Communications Worldwide Sales, IHG
Luke Putnam, Manager, Global Client Relations Services, AIG
Share the News!
Download PDF