Emily M. Dickens

Emily M. Dickens, J.D.

Chief of Staff, Head of Government Affairs and Corporate Secretary for SHRM

Emily M. Dickens is Chief of Staff, Head of Government Affairs, and Corporate Secretary for SHRM. An executive team member, Dickens is responsible for implementing the CEO's vision, corporate communications, corporate governance, global policy, government affairs, and the organization's real property.

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As the Head of Government Affairs for the world’s largest human resources trade association, Dickens leads SHRM’s Advocacy Team — the “A-Team” — which is composed of nearly 19,000 HR professionals across the United States that are positioned front and center in efforts to advance the interests of the HR profession. Dickens has been a featured expert on workplace issues and business leadership – with commentary appearing in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes Magazine, Essence Magazine, Law 360, WTOP, HR Dive, among many others. In addition, Dickens has testified before Congress and the EEOC on worker and workplace topics like AI, gender bias, and paid leave.

Additionally, Dickens serves on the boards of the following industry organizations to maximize SHRM's impact and voice in global, national, and local business and labor policy debates: B20 Indonesia Women in Business Action Council (Deputy Co-Chair); USCIB-United States Council for International Business; The Bryce Harlow Foundation; and the National Foundation for Women Legislators. Dickens also serves as the Secretary-General for the World Federation of People Management Associations (WFPMA) and as a USA delegate for the North American Human Resources Management Association (NAHRMA).

Before joining SHRM, Dickens served full-time as a passionate advocate for access to higher education for minority students as the general counsel/head of policy for the DC-based Thurgood Marshall College Fund; Vice President of Public Policy for the Association of Governing Boards for Colleges and Universities; and the Assistant Vice President for Federal Affairs at the University of North Carolina System. Dickens leverages her higher education background to promote the importance of the education-to-employment pipeline. She has also worked at Duke University and Fayetteville State University in administrative and external affairs roles.

Actively engaged in board service, Dickens is also a member of the Strategic Education, Inc. HIRE Advisory Board and the North Carolina Central University Board of Trustees. She is also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated where she has served as Chairman of the International HBCU Task Force, and Director on the board of the sorority’s Education Advancement Foundation.

Emily M. Dickens is a graduate of North Carolina Central University and North Carolina Central University School of Law.

SIGNATURE KEYNOTE

Workplaces That Work For All: Understanding Policy, Advocacy, and Inclusion

As we navigate the complex landscape of contemporary workplaces, it’s critical to understand the instrumental role that policy and advocacy play in shaping effective and sustainable work environments. Drawing connections between legislative developments on the Hill and their direct implications for your boardroom and beyond, this talk demystifies the often opaque realm of policy-making, offering practical insights into how you can align your organizational strategies with evolving societal frameworks.

Your audience will learn from and be inspired by Emily M. Dickens, Chief of Staff and Head of Public Affairs at SHRM, as she shares compelling personal stories that underscore the transformative impact of creating opportunities out of unforeseen circumstances—and highlight why fostering diversity and promoting equity are strategic imperatives that drive organizational effectiveness. This narrative sets the stage for a broader exploration of how inclusion can be cultivated among employees, leading to a thriving workplace culture that works for all.

Explore Other Keynote Topics

As long as we have a heartbeat, polarizing topics will continue to exist both inside and outside of the workplace, leading to pain and division among colleagues, leadership, and even customers. The question is not if we deal with conflict, but how we as people and as organizations will handle it when we inevitably do. The problem is, no one has led the discussion about how to guide today’s workforce to remain civil when discussing polarizing topics… until now. With extensive experience in navigating organization-wide conflict, and influence over 362 million workers worldwide, SHRM’s Executive Voices are uniquely positioned to help all of us nurture civility in the workplace.

 

No stranger to the ups and downs of a divided workplace, through Civility Starts at Work, SHRM executives explore the impact of civility on work culture, and provide an outline for equipping employees to have candid, civil dialogue while supporting the mental health of all employees. Walk away with a strategic roadmap for facing the storm of conflict, gain insight on just how to measure and quantify people and strategy, and put your audience on a path to inspiring a more civil world.

Internal and external pressures make one thing very clear: when it comes to pursuing organizational success, you can adapt or die. With the introduction of AI, changing economies, and more sparking change across the workforce, the need to evolve rapidly grows, but who is leading the charge? While many may look to the C-suite for direction, it’s HR that is the linchpin for navigating the adoption of tech, talent change management, and productivity. With a pulse on innovation and people management, your organization has the power to harness and integrate the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) with Human Intelligence (HI) to create meaningful change and exponential impact.

 

In this talk, SHRM’s Executive Voices speak to how HR is uniquely positioned to monitor and integrate innovation into an organization, all while anticipating pitfalls and advancing positive outcomes. Backed with real-world examples, this keynote will teach your audience how to train for skill gaps in a truly digital economy, and pull back the curtain to reveal how to thrive in the age of intelligence.

In an era where the digital economy has given rise to new measures of global expansion, many companies find themselves unprepared to harness the wealth of talent at their fingertips. When we open up our organizations to a world of candidates - literally - we often lack the research and training that is needed to bridge international differences and build connections across the globe. Through the message of Untapped Talent, SHRM executives provide key strategies on tapping into previously overlooked talent pools, ensuring your workforce possesses the skills needed for success.

 

Learn how a global workforce is defined and what steps must be taken to become one, while gaining the tools needed to juggle this unprecedented growth. SHRM’s Executive Voices take decades of combined experience in people management and global expansion to bring you best practices for talent acquisition and retention in this new era of unparalleled opportunities.

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