MONTREAL, Feb. 28, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Diverst, the first comprehensive Diversity and Inclusion SaaS platform for corporations and government agencies, is pleased to announce the composition of its newly-created Advisory Board.
“This strong and diverse group of people reinforces Diverst’s own diversity DNA and provides new inclusion and belonging perspectives from important external lenses," declared Diverst founder and CEO, Andre Laurin, who went on to say: “The board will help Diverst gain a deeper understanding of the communities it serves, improve and diversify its engagements and collaborations, suggest new modules based on best practices and shape the dialogue that we maintain with all our stakeholders.”
The board is comprised of the following members, all of whom are leaders in their field:
Grace Vandecruze - Managing Director, Grace Global Capital LLC and Board Member of M Financial Group
Grace Vandecruze has over 25 years of investment banking experience and an excellent track record advising insurance companies and financial regulators. As both a Board Director and insurance industry investment banking expert, she has advised insurance companies and regulators on mergers & acquisitions, financings, capital strategies, valuations, restructurings, private placements, due diligence and other transactions. Grace has worked on numerous, debt and equity offerings (including IPOs), and regulatory projects in the global life and P&C reinsurance and insurance markets, and more broadly in financial services. She has always been active in the community and has served on numerous nonprofit boards, including The Clay Center and Thomas Memorial Hospital. She also is a licensed sailor and has participated in several Wharton Leadership Treks to Bhutan, Annapurna, Kilimanjaro and Everest Base Camp. Grace received her bachelor’s degree from Pace University and earned her Master of Business Administration from The Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania.
Elaine Harris - Founder, Golden Rule Technology, founder of Breakthrough Marketing Technology, LLC and former Director at Honeywell
Elaine is strategic business executive and integrative thinker with global experience in market research, insight development, market development, and brand management. She is Founder of Golden Rule Technology, a firm that leverages virtual reality and innovation processes to address issues of inclusion, bias and discrimination, Elaine develops solutions to address issues of bias that negatively impact organizations. A new understanding of gender and race fosters new thinking and behaviors that will improve the ability of organizations to fully engage all their talent and better serve their communities. Elaine’s community involvement includes work with Black Alumni/ae of MIT & Philadelphians Organized to Witness, Empower and Rebuild. Elaine received her B.S. Chemical Engineering from MIT and her MBA in Marketing, Strategic Planning, from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
John Reid - Strategy Consultant
John is a business Strategy and Operations Management Consulting Executive with over 20 years of experience in strategy development, global business process redesign, implementation and operational excellence in the pharmaceutical, industrial and consumer products industries. John is a trusted advisor to senior executives on strategic, tactical, and operational management issues in a variety of organizations with a strong focus on implementation. Skilled in advising, building consensus, driving business transformation efforts and providing operational direction to enhance business performance by improving customer value, streamlining cost structures and increasing revenue. He has held various consulting and management positions at Pfizer, PWC, Accenture, McKinsey and Johnson & Johnson. John brings to the Diverst Advisory Board impeccable operating credentials, strategic vision and unparalleled change-management experience. John received his B.S. Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University and Master of Business Administration from The Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Robert Rodriguez – President of DRR Advisors, LLC
Dr. Rodriguez is President of DRR Advisors, a diversity consulting firm specializing in Latino talent initiatives, employee resource group optimization and diversity strategy formation. Robert has worked with over 150 companies in the past 10 years helping them with their diversity programs. Prior to founding DRR Advisors, Dr. Rodriguez had a rich career that spans academia and industry. He has been the Assistant Dean and Senior Director of Diversity at Kaplan University, a Business School Professor at Capella University and an Adjunct Professor DePaul University. Robert was equally prolific in business, holding HR management leadership positions with firms such as R.R. Donnelly & Sons, BP and 3M. Robert is a highly respected advisor, consultant and thought leader in the Diversity and Inclusion space. Dr. Rodriguez is the creator of the widely-adopted 4Cs for ERG management, a highly-coveted public speaker and much sought-after consultant to some of the world’s most trusted brands.
Marcus L. Smith – Independent Director & Private Investor
Marcus L. Smith serves as an Independent Director for NYSE listed MSCI and an Independent Fund Trustee for Eaton Vance. Prior to his board work. Marcus worked for 23 years at MFS Investment Management, where he managed the MFS Institutional International Fund (MIEIX) for 17 years. During his tenure, the portfolio grew from $121 million to over $22 Billion in assets under management. The portfolio received the Lipper Award in 2005 & 2010 for Best 3-year performance of 359 Large Capitalization international portfolios. In addition to his portfolio management duties, Marcus served on the Equity Management committee for 15 years and was directly responsible for staff in Boston, Mexico City, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto & Singapore. Active in the community, Marcus works with several nonprofits including the Posse Foundation, Boston Advisory Board. Marcus earned a Bachelor of Science, Cum Laude, in Computer Science from the University of Mount Union and a Master of Business Administration from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
With the members confirmed, the inaugural meeting of the Diverst Advisory Board is scheduled for the end of March.
About Diverst
Diverst is the pioneering Diversity and Inclusion SaaS platform for corporations and government agencies. Diverst provides under-represented and un-represented employees with a voice, inclusion, belonging, up-skilling opportunities and aspirational career trajectories. Diverst provides organizations with D&I-aligned engagement, mentorship structures, innovation, expert content, measurement and predictive data; to help increase employee belonging, grow cultural inclusion and to connect D&I with ROI. Diverst is proud to count some of the F500 most recognized and trusted brands as clients.
For further information, please contact:
Canada & USA
Andre Laurin
CEO
+1-514 566-6606
andre@diverst.com
Louis Crevier
COO
+1-514 349-9834
louis@diverst.com