INROADS' New Board Members Enhances Organization's Position As A Leading Solution For Diverse Talent Ecosystems And Closing Socioeconomic Gaps In America

ATLANTA, Nov. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- INROADS adds leaders to its National Board of Directors  — adding corporate, entrepreneurial and media heavyweight to an already high-performing and inclusive body of leaders.

"INROADS has a powerful history, and a bold future. I welcome each of our new board members. They join INROADS at an important and exciting time. Each of our new board members is committed to helping us transform the lives of the talented and underrepresented, while also making the world a better place," says Barron Witherspoon, board chairman, INROADS, and global vice president for Industry Affairs & Corporate Race Relations, P&G. 

Learn more about INROADS' newest national board members:

Roxanne Lagano, executive vice president, chief human resources officer and global operations,  Zoetis
Roxanne Lagano is a connector. As a global executive, her passions consist of matching employees at Zoetis to opportunities to shine, while also providing them the tools to grow. At Zoetis — a company that has been acknowledged as one of the best places for working mothers — Lagano is an example of the company's commitment to providing opportunities for employee experiences that advance their leadership. Lagano helped lead the way when Zoetis spun off from Pfizer. She was influential in establishing Zoetis' distinctive company culture — one that's anchored in the belief that colleagues must make the difference, always do the right thing, be customer obsessed, run it like they own it, and work as one. As an INROADS board member, Lagano will use her experience to support strategies that help establish workplace cultures of inclusion at corporations around the world.

Karen Hunter, president and chief executive officer, Karen Hunter Publishing
Karen Hunter has a powerful voice. She also has a powerful mind. She uses it to advance matters of culture and community. She is an award-winning journalist and publisher, and as the owner of Karen Hunter Publishing, she has published multiple New York Times No. 1 bestsellers. As the host of the Karen Hunter Show, she breaks news and provides insights that tap into the pulse of a culture. In her role as one of INROADS' newest national board members, she is committed to using her voice and platforms to inspire solutions for community and corporate inequities.

Thomas Ransom, executive vice president, head of sales and client experience strategy, Truist
Thomas Ransom's success as an executive at Truist has been built on doing what's right. Ransom has earned a reputation for inspiring his company to invest, donate and support diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Examples of this include his leadership on the company's African-American Affinity Business Resource Group, whose financial support of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. was driven by the company's commitment to telling the African-American story and preserving history. That same drive for doing what's right has led Ransom to accept INROADS' national board position. He is committed to addressing financial inequities facing entrepreneurs and business leaders of color in America.

Chantalle Couba, financial services executive and founder, Namaste Consulting, 2019 Eisenhower Fellow
Chantalle Couba is a progress architect. As a passionate ambassador for creating safe work spaces for women, her work as a strategist and qualitative researcher has earned her selection as a 2019 Eisenhower Fellow. This coveted fellowship — provided to 15 to 20 emerging American leaders annually — connects global thought leaders to accelerate innovation and solutions. The experience aims to broaden their horizons as problem solvers so that, upon return to America, the Fellows may use their talents to solve some of the nation's biggest challenges. Couba's systems-based approach to creating solutions draws upon global benchmarking and designing solutions for leading financial services companies. As an INROADS national board member, she brings an impassioned, global perspective to challenges and opportunities emerging for talented and underrepresented leaders. 

Rich Simons, general manager, parts sales and marketing, Daimler Trucks North America
As an executive, Rich Simons is effective. He has an innate knack for connecting talent to solutions in a way that drives performance. It is this skill that has led to a career at Daimler Trucks North America that has been filled with promotions. His career as an executive requires leadership that touches several powerful brands, including Freightliner, Western Star, Thomas Built Buses, and others. As an INROADS national board member, Rich is committed to using his expansive network of corporate brands to produce solutions that connect the diverse and talented to leadership opportunities.

Kevin Simmonds, principal, cybersecurity & privacy, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)
Kevin Simmonds understands risk. As a consultant to global financial companies and a variety of other industries, he is a leading voice in the financial technology sector. His work with PwC helps companies understand cybersecurity attacks, and prepare to embrace the technology for protecting their customers' payment information. Simmonds understands that innovation is key to any company staying ahead of risk. That innovation is realized when emerging talent is given opportunities to lead. As an INROADS national board member, Simmonds is committed to identifying pathways for the talented and underserved to offer innovation to the financial technology industry.

"INROADS has maintained a position of strength as a solutions provider for corporations that have inequitable workplace cultures. Our newest national board members advance INROADS' strength and provide us additional visionary leadership, and unprecedented access to corporate and media resources," says Forest T. Harper Jr., president and chief executive officer, INROADS, Inc.

About INROADS 
INROADS was founded more than 50 years ago. Inspired by the famed I Have a Dream speech, Frank Carr founded INROADS to remove career barriers to corporate opportunities for people of color. Today, INROADS is credited with establishing the Black middle class. With more than 40,000 alumni, INROADS is the largest nonprofit organization committed to leadership and career development for underserved and underrepresented talent in the world. INROADS has placed students in more than 154,000 paid internships throughout its history, and graduated more than 40,000 alumni into full-time professional and leadership positions with more than 1,000 corporate partners. Currently, INROADS serves 800-1,300 interns and 200 corporate clients. Learn more at INROADS.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn: @INROADSInc.

SOURCE INROADS Inc.

Related Links

http://www.inroads.org