Member Conference: Next-Level Strategy: Designing for Complexity and Change

Erika is Citi’s Head of Talent Management and Engagement, responsible for developing global diversity, equity and inclusion strategy and driving Citi’s agenda on talent planning, succession planning and leadership development.

Prior to joining Citi, Erika was Chief Diversity Officer at Goldman Sachs from 2018 to 2021 and Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Bloomberg from 2015 to 2018. Prior to this, she led executive and diversity hiring efforts at Bank of America and Lehman Brothers. Erika’s background includes a range of banking and finance roles, including Head of Business Development for Black Entertainment Television, Senior Associate in High Yield Capital Markets at Morgan Stanley and Senior Policy Analyst for Domestic Finance for the United States Department of the Treasury. She began her career as an Analyst in Public Finance at Lehman Brothers.

Erika is Vice Chair of the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation and serves on the Boards of Columbia Business School and the Riverside Hawks. Erika earned a BS in Economics from the State University of New York at Albany and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Barbara Frankel is the Managing Director of the Insights division at Seramount, working on global and US diversity surveys, national thought-leader projects, and groundbreaking research on inclusion and DEI topics and how to create family-friendly workplaces. She was the leader of the recent Pledge to Progress research project, which details corporate America’s progress in combating racism in the year since the murder of George Floyd.

Barbara is a thought leader, editor, writer, manager, and consultant in global and US diversity management, business development and marketing, business journalism, and human- and civil-rights advocacy.

She previously was executive editor and senior vice president at DiversityInc. Barbara has served on the national Board of Directors of GLSEN (Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network) and the global advisory board of WeConnect International, a nonprofit that helps women entrepreneurs be corporate suppliers, as well as Garden State Equality.

Ripa Rashid (she/her) is the Managing Director of Seramount’s Chief Diversity Officer Collaborative and a member of Seramount’s leadership team.  In this role, she oversees the CDOC research agenda, driving innovation, and collaborates with Seramount’s partners to foster inclusive cultures and systems where all talent can thrive and business outcomes are maximized. Ripa is a senior executive with over 20 years of experience in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and has held C-suite roles across talent, DEI, and culture, with deep expertise in the media and financial services sectors. Most recently, she served as Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer (CDIO) at Consumer Reports and previously held leadership roles at Cowen (a Wall Street investment bank acquired by TD Bank), Time Warner, and MetLife.

In 2018, Ripa co-founded and co-led Seramount’s consulting division, advising Fortune 500 companies and professional services firms on innovative DEI practices to shape inclusive, high-performing cultures. Earlier, she served as Co-President of the Center for Talent Innovation (CTI, now CoQual), a renowned think tank in the DEI space, and founded Hewlett Consulting Partners, CTI’s advisory arm. Her early career includes global consulting roles at Booz & Company (now Strategy&), PwC, and Mitchell Madison Group, where she advised financial services and media clients on strategic growth, risk management, and operational excellence.

Ripa is an adjunct professor of management at NYU Stern School of Business, where she teaches an MBA course on inclusive leadership. She is the author of three books on DEI: Winning the War for Talent in Emerging Markets: Why Women are the Solution (Harvard Business Review, 2011), Growing Global Executives (Rarebird, 2015), and Disrupt Bias, Drive Value (Rarebird, 2017). Her thought leadership also extends to over two dozen articles and insights papers featured in publications like Harvard Business Review and Strategy & Business.

A sought-after speaker and panelist, Ripa has addressed audiences at the UN, OECD, International Women’s Forum, Diversity Woman, ADCOLOR, ASCEND, and the National Diversity Council, among others. She has been invited by companies such as Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, Aetna, Infosys, and Standard Chartered Bank to share her expertise on DEI.

Ripa holds an AB cum laude in Astronomy and Astrophysics from Harvard University, an MA in Cultural Anthropology from NYU, and an MBA in Finance and Management from INSEAD. She has been named one of the “Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business” by the Asian American Business Development Council Ripa is an active member of the Harvard and INSEAD alumni communities, the INSEAD Global Women in Business Club, and the South Asian Executive Women’s Network. She serves on the Board of One To World, a nonprofit dedicated to global education, and advises Monumental Me, a professional development platform. Ripa has lived and worked in over a dozen countries and currently resides in New York City with her husband and their two sons.

Bridgette Scales is Managing Director of DBP and 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.

Laura Sherbin is Managing Director of Research, Assessment and Strategy at Seramount. She is an economist who specializes in the creation of advantage through inclusion and diversity. Most recently, Laura was co-president at the Center for Talent Innovation (CTI) in New York City, a premier think tank and content provider that studies global workplace diversity.

Laura has co-authored several Harvard Business Review articles, including “How Diversity Can Drive Innovation,” “How Gen Y and Boomers Will Reshape Your Agenda,” and “Off-Ramps and On-Ramps Revisited,” as well as the Harvard Business Review research report titled “The Athena Factor: Reversing the Brain Drain in Science, Engineering, and Technology.” She has also taught a Women and Globalization course at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.

Laura built the rigorous data analytics machine and team that have been core to innovative approaches to measuring and tracking employee experiences. She is known as a leading expert in applying diversity and inclusion data to human behavior in organizations and using such data to quantify how workforce sentiments and satisfaction affect company bottom lines.

Laura holds a BS in math and economics from the University of Delaware and earned her PhD in economics from American University. She currently resides in Irvington, New York, with her husband, their four children, and their dog, Gus. Laura has always loved math and numbers, but when not working, she also enjoys baking, traveling, and meditating.

Chantel C. Smith is a dynamic business consultant, DEI leader, and sought-after speaker dedicated to driving business transformation through people-centered strategies. With over a decade of experience, she specializes in strategy development, talent management, and organizational effectiveness, helping companies build sustainable and inclusive workplaces.

Before transitioning to full-time consulting, Chantel served as Vice President of Global DEI and Talent Management at a leading PR firm, where she spearheaded large-scale initiatives to enhance workplace culture, improve employee engagement, and embed diversity, equity, and inclusion into business operations. Her expertise spans corporate, agency, and nonprofit sectors, where she has partnered with leaders to develop high-impact programs that drive measurable change.

Chantel’s approach blends strategic planning, data analysis, and long-term transformation to help organizations implement scalable, sustainable solutions. She has led initiatives that increased leadership diversity, improved talent mobility, and elevated both employee and client experiences. A recognized thought leader, she frequently speaks on DEI strategy, brand positioning, and business innovation.

Chantel holds a B.S. in Professional Communications and an MBA. Outside of work, she enjoys traveling, embracing new experiences, and giving back to her community.

Jon Veasey-Deters is a Senior Research Analyst on the Insights team at Seramount. In his role, Jon supports Chief Diversity Officer Collaborative members with custom research on current topics such as keeping DEI strong in volatile times, Gen Z talent in the workplace, and Generative AI’s role in the talent lifecycle. He also supports Diversity Best Practice members with on-demand research on topics of interest. Prior to this role, Jon worked on the short-term K-12 research team at EAB.

Jon graduated from Wesley Theological Seminary with a Masters of Theological Studies and the University of Virginia with a BA in Political Science. He currently lives in Arlington, Virginia and in his free time enjoys cooking, pursuing his sommelier certification, and traveling.

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.