And I’ve served as senior vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank, Personnel Cabinet Secretary for the Commonwealth of Kentucky (youngest and the first black female gubernatorial appointee to this post), Chief Human Resources Officer for Charter Schools USA (FL), Vice-Chancellor of Human Resources for Maricopa Community Colleges (AZ), Senior HR Executive for Philip Morris USA (VA) and Georgia-Pacific Corp. (GA) and other positions in both the health care and legal fields.
Through my work and strong local and national board memberships, I’ve been recognized as an accomplished thought leader in progressive HR strategies and in advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, corporately and civically.
My entire career and my passion for my work stem from my grandmothers and their children (my parents), who were very involved in the Civil Rights Movement. My company, Harper Slade, is named in their honor.
It was their passion and guidance that instilled in me, the importance of righting wrongs and insisting that people of color be presumed to have the same level of humanity as all other human beings, with all of the rights and privileges that come from such presumption.
Racial equity has been an elusive issue that has been with our country since its inception, and now more than ever we’re at a point of economic reckoning as our country becomes more reliant on the increased presence of black and brown people.