Leading Together: The Combined Forces of the CHRO and CDO in DEI

Subha V. Barry is a C-suite leader and an advisor who brings a unique perspective on the alignment of corporate culture to talent strategy and business results. As a transformational change agent, she has a proven record of identifying and accelerating new business creation, driving sales, and increasing profitability.

Subha is president of Seramount where she drives the firm’s vision, strategy, and business development. Subha joined Working Mother Media (WMM) in 2015 and during her tenure she dramatically improved margins, expanded its portfolio through growth in high-value consulting and learning and development, exponentially grew their client roster, and recruited talented executive leaders to amplify subject matter and functional expertise. In 2021, Subha oversaw the brand’s transformation from WMM to Seramount, a leading strategic professional services and research firm dedicated to building high-performing, inclusive workplaces. Today, Seramount works with 450+ organizations globally, including half of the Fortune 500, to help our partners navigate today’s talent and DEI landscape.

Previously, Subha was senior vice president and chief diversity officer at Freddie Mac, where she served on the firm’s management committee and led their foundation. Prior to her time at Freddie Mac, Subha spent 20+ years at Merrill Lynch as managing director and their first global head of diversity & inclusion where she built their D&I strategy, infrastructure and execution plans from the ground up. She also created a highly successful Multicultural Business Development Group to focus their wealth management business on diverse and multicultural communities bringing in over $8 billion in new assets and $50+ million in annual revenues in just three years. She began her career at the firm as a financial advisor where she was a top 100 advisor among 16,000 in the firm.

Subha is a former adjunct professor at Columbia University’s SIPA, and currently serves on the Boards of SHRM Foundation, Rice 360, Rutgers Cancer Center and the Rutgers Institute of Women’s Leadership. She is also a Board Advisor at PE-owned Snowden Lane Partners. In the past, Subha has served on a variety of Boards as Board Chair, Head of Nominating & Governance, Finance, and HR and DEI Committees.
A native of India, Subha holds a BA from Bombay University and an MBA and MS in Accounting from Rice University. She enjoys golfing, reading poetry and rallying for social change. She has two grown children and lives in Naples, Florida and New Hope, PA with her husband.

As AbbVie’s Chief Equity Officer, Assil Omar leads efforts to foster a diverse, equitable and inclusive culture at AbbVie.

Most recently, Ms. Omar was Vice President, Talent Acquisition and Human Capital Planning and maintains responsibility for that organization. Ms. Omar joined AbbVie in Singapore in July of 2014, to lead Talent Management and Acquisition in the Japan and Asia Pacific region. She has since held roles of growing responsibility, including Human Resource business partnership and Talent Center of Excellence positions.

Before AbbVie, Ms. Omar held Learning and Development positions at Unilever and played a key role in standing up Unilever’s flagship Leadership Development hub, Four Acres, in Singapore. She spent the earlier part of her career in Supply Chain with Agility, assuming different roles of increasing responsibility across Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Ms. Omar holds an Honors Bachelor of Arts, History, International and Comparative Studies from University of Western Ontario and a Master of Arts degree in Education from the University of Toronto. She is a First Mover Fellow at the Aspen Institute for Business and Society.

Tim Richmond is Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer for AbbVie, responsible for leading a global human resources organization focused on engaging high-performing employees and amplifying a culture that drives business performance. As a result of this focus, AbbVie has been named to more than 40 Great Place to Work® and Top Employer® lists and is prominently recognized on “Best of” lists related to diversity, leadership and engagement, as well as for corporate responsibility and business performance.

Prior to AbbVie, Mr. Richmond served as Divisional Vice President, Compensation and Benefits at Abbott. He also held various human resources management positions at 3M Company.

Tim serves on the Executive Committee of the Human Resources Policy Association, on the Advisory Board for the Center on Executive Compensation, as the Chairman of the Advisory Board for the University of South Carolina’s Center for Executive Succession, and as a Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources.

Mr. Richmond earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communications from the University of Minnesota and a master’s degree in labor and industrial relations from Michigan State University.

Bridgette Scales is Managing Director on Seramount’s Advisory team. She is a diversity, equity, and inclusion expert with experience in sales and human resources. Bridgette joined Seramount from American Airlines in 2020, where she was the human resources business partner for customer experience. There, Bridgette was responsible for collaborating on people policies, talent management, career development, succession planning, departmental training initiatives, and aligning employee strategies with American Airline business goals.

Prior to her time at American Airlines, Bridgette spent 27 years at Proctor & Gamble. During her tenure at P&G, she was instrumental in developing and implementing strategies, programs, and processes across a complex and matrix organization. As a DEI practice leader for North America, Bridgette guided and counseled senior leaders on the integration of strategies that included awareness, cultural competency, leadership development, accountability and employee engagement. This led to better processes in the identification of high-potential employees, reduction in attrition rates of minorities, and increased DEI scores on the corporate employee survey.

Bridgette currently serves on the Global Advisory Board for the Women’s Leadership Forum within the P&G alumni network. She also sits on the She Runs It Foundation board’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Advisory Council and is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc.

She has a BA from the University of Oklahoma, an MBA from the University of Phoenix, and a Senior HR Professional certification from HRCI.