Member Conference: Using DEI Councils to Build Operational Success

Suzanne Cardwell Serves as the Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer for CarMax, the nation’s largest retailer of used cars, and is accountable for developing and driving the company’s diversity and inclusion strategy that directly supports employees, customers, and the community.

Jomil Guerrero is New York Life’s Chief Diversity Officer, responsible for building on the company’s  strong diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) foundation and continuing to embed a diverse and inclusive culture into New York Life’s talent practices, business strategy, and community engagement. 

Most recently, Ms. Guerrero served as Chief Operating Officer of IndexIQ, a New York Life Investments boutique. She joined New York Life in 2011 as Director of Finance for both New York Life Investment Management (NYLIM) and NYL Investors. Since then, she has held positions of increasing responsibility, including Managing Director, head of Global Marketing Operations for NYLIM.

Prior to New York Life, Ms. Guerrero was U.S. Controller for the Riverside Company and Controller at Muirfield Capital Management, both investment firms. She graduated from the University of Central Florida with a BS in accounting.  

Ms. Guerrero has been a dynamic and passionate driver of DE&I efforts both within and outside New York Life. She served as a co-lead of the company’s Social Justice Working Group advising the Social Justice Steering Committee established in 2020. The Group’s recommendations included evolving New York Life’s Office of Diversity & Inclusion to become the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Center for Awareness and Advocacy (DE&I Center), which focuses on continuing inclusion and engagement initiatives while expanding professional development with a goal of personal growth and career mobility for diverse employees. 

In addition, Ms. Guerrero is an Advisory Board Member of New York Life’s Latinos for Excellence, Advancement & Development (LEAD) Employee Resource Group (ERG). She previously served as a Co-Chair of ENABLE, the company’s ERG dedicated to raising disability-focused awareness. 

She also recently became a Board member of the Reasons to Smile Foundation Inc., a non-profit dedicated to helping people with intellectual and developmental disabilities reach their potential within the workforce and community. For her work in advancing DE&I, Ms. Guerrero was included in Profiles in Diversity Journal’s inaugural list of Latino Leaders Worth Watching in 2021. 

Nicole Johnson is a Senior Director on the Advisory team at Seramount. She is a seasoned executive who brings over 30 years of a unique blend of corporate and nonprofit experience in finance, multicultural marketing, and DEI. Her strategic, customer-centered, mission-driven, and bottom-line-focused approach allows her to develop and implement strategies that help companies reach untapped markets, deliver culturally appropriate messages, increase inclusive behaviors in their leaders, and positively impact the company’s revenue stream.

Her most recent role was as the Senior Director of DEI at the American Red Cross, where she supported efforts related to Employee Resource Groups, Leadership Development, and Community Engagement. Nicole has built diversity departments for both ARAMARK and Wyndham Worldwide and is proud to see that both are thriving and award-winning. As a result, she has acquired critical knowledge and experience on how to build a diversity department from the ground up. Nicole has also led multicultural marketing efforts for Fortune 500 companies, including AT&T and the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Feeling compelled to share her lessons learned with her fellow DEI practitioners, she launched a boutique consulting firm and was soon dubbed “The Newbie Navigator” as she guided new leaders on their journey to establishing this critical function in their organizations as well as avoiding the pitfalls.

Nicole has a passion for giving and has served on various boards and advisory committees, including the Multicultural Foodservice and Hospitality Alliance, Dress for Success, the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Barnes Foundation, the American Red Cross, and others. She has been a featured speaker at numerous conferences, including Odyssey Network Business Retreat, Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference, The Pennsylvania Diversity Council, and The Forum on Workplace Diversity, to name a few. She’s also shared her knowledge as a visiting professor at Temple University and Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Nicole has a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from Rutgers University. She is an avid furniture up-cycler, will gladly loom knit you a hat in your favorite color, and is an advocate for everyone to grow their own food. Her first real job and real love is her role as a proud mother and life coach to her two children, Social Justice Advocate Sierra and Lacrosse All-American Bryce.

Margaret Johnston-Clarke is a French-American Yale graduate with more than 30 years of experience in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Corporate Social Responsibility, Philanthropy, Branding and Communications. Since 2017, she is Global Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer for the L’Oréal Groupe. 

Margaret has spent more than half of her career at L’Oréal in key positions including Deputy General Manager of the Fondation L’Oréal and Head of Brand Communications at Lancôme and Garnier. She spent five years at LVMH as Head of Image and Integrated Communications for Moët & Chandon, and over six years at the non-profit Fondation Agir Contre l’Exclusion (FACE) where she ran several educational programs in inner cities. 

Margaret lives in Paris, France and is married to an American artist with whom she has three children. She has been awarded Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite (National Order of Merit) and received the 2019 Woman Economic Empowerment Award from the Global Invest Sustainable AGEFI Awards. She is also a member of the Conseil de la Mixité et de l’Egalité Professionnelle dans l’Industrie since March 2019. 

Katie Oertli Mooney is a Managing Director at Seramount. She is an accomplished DEI leader and thought partner with expertise in driving strategy and growth of diversity and inclusion change management, planning and programs. Prior to joining Seramount, she was responsible for overseeing the client delivery, staffing, operations and growth as Vice President of Jennifer Brown Consulting. She was accountable for the firm’s successful consulting project delivery to clients from the Fortune 1000, government agencies, startups, to nonprofits.

Prior to that, she managed the DEI enterprise learning and development strategy at Capital One specializing in differential investment programming to support historically underrepresented talent and communities of color. She is currently on the Board of Directors for the GSBA; the largest LGBTQ and allied chamber of commerce in North America and is supporting the organization in 2020, by advancing diversity, equity and inclusion for the Board of Directors, for the benefit of GSBA staff, members, partners and the LGBTQ+ and allied community of Washington State. Katie has a Master’s degree in Human Resource Management with a concentration on Diversity and Inclusion Management from Georgetown University. She is based in Seattle, WA.

William Rolack Sr. is Kroll’s Chief Inclusion and Diversity Officer, based in New York. He has over 20 years of experience leading diversity and inclusion strategies, human capital management and mobility management. William works closely with the Kroll leadership team and other stakeholders to develop strategic programs aimed at accelerating inclusion and diversity in the workplace and the commercial impact those programs have on high performing teams that drive economic value, innovation and business integration. Prior William led the Global DEI strategies at Workforce Logiq, and for Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Office of the Commissioner. Currently, he serves on the board of Abilities Inc., and the National Association of African Americans in Human Resources as the Immediate-past National President. He has been featured in the Black Enterprise Business Report, News 12 Long Island, HRO Today, CIO.com and Long Island Business News. William has been named Savoy Magazine’s 2023 Most Influential Executives and received the NAAAHR Trailblazer Award in 2021. William earned his BS degree from SC State University and his MBA from Long Island University.

Nichelle Wash is a Director on the Advisory team at Seramount. She is a results-focused DEI leader who specializes in supporting key areas of DEI strategy. She has been the chair of DEI councils and quasi-government boards, building support for the senior leadership team to integrate DEI throughout their lines of business. This work resulted in culture and change management for employees across the enterprise that was focused on sustainability and scale. She has also overseen diversity recruitment and outreach efforts for organizations, providing real solutions to attract and retain employees with a focus on diverse hiring strategies. Nichelle is a sought-after facilitator who has delivered workshops around DEI for over a decade. She was recently recognized as Woman of the Year for her role in designing and delivering DEI education; hosting a precollege camp to increase the number of girls interested in coding and entrepreneurship; and she sourced projects to address homelessness and support pathways to housing security across her home state of Indiana.

Nichelle is an alumna of Indiana University Bloomington, where she started her career in health care and biomedical research before pivoting to a career in higher education. In her self-healing time, Nichelle enjoys listening to audiobooks, playing basketball, dancing to live music, and traveling.