SHRM Center for Inclusion & Diversity Announces Executive Council to Strengthen Evidence-Based Employer Guidance
Senior leaders across business, workforce strategy, legal, healthcare, financial services and organizational culture will bring practitioner perspective to C-I-D research, tools and employer guidance.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – SHRM, the trusted authority on all things work, workers, and the workplace, today announced members of the Executive Council for its Center for Inclusion & Diversity (C-I-D), an advisory body established to strengthen the rigor, relevance, defensibility and real-world application of the Center’s research and employer guidance. Launched in June 2026 as the research-driven evolution of CEO Action for Inclusion & Diversity, C-I-D works to help organizations build workplaces that are legally compliant, workplace unifying and business accretive.
The Executive Council brings senior practitioner judgment into C-I-D’s evidence-to-practice model. Members will help challenge assumptions, sharpen research questions and strengthen how findings become standards, tools and guidance employers can explain, apply, measure and review. The Council serves in an advisory, non-governing capacity, with final decisions remaining with SHRM leadership.
“Evidence only matters if it can withstand the realities employers face. The Executive Council gives C-I-D a disciplined way to bring senior practitioner judgment into our research and translation process. We want these leaders to challenge assumptions, sharpen the questions and help us turn findings into guidance employers can use with confidence,” said Carolynn Johnson, president of the SHRM Center for Inclusion and Diversity.
Council members featured in this announcement include Victoria Russell, Terrence Jones, Veronica Rodriguez, Lissiah Hundley, Rich Tafel, Armond Kinsey, Paul Francisco, and Julie Osborne.
The Council will initially advise on four C-I-D research priorities: ERG Effectiveness; the Inclusive Leadership Premium; Quantifying the Civility Premium and I&D ROI; and AI, Career Mobility and Hiring Systems. Members’ experience across sectors will help connect findings to the workforce, legal, technological and operational decisions employers face.
About the SHRM Center for Inclusion & Diversity
The SHRM Center for Inclusion and Diversity is a research-driven think tank and member community helping organizations build workplaces that are legally compliant, workplace unifying, and business accretive. Through original research, measurement standards, and practical advisory resources, the Center equips leaders to treat inclusion as a business discipline grounded in evidence. Learn more at shrm.org/center-for-inclusion-diversity
About SHRM
SHRM is a member-driven catalyst for creating better workplaces where people and businesses thrive together. As the trusted authority on all things work, SHRM is the foremost expert, researcher, advocate, and thought leader on issues and innovations impacting today’s evolving workplaces. With nearly 340,000 members in 174 countries, SHRM touches the lives of more than 362 million workers and their families globally. Discover more at SHRM.org.
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