Now What? Rethinking DEI in a Divided Era
In-person session offerings are on a first-come, first-served basis. Seating is limited.
To view all event accessibility & accommodations details, visit here.
General session doors will open around 8:00 AM.
We’re at a critical time in our nation’s history, a time where we’re (at once) as diverse as we’ve ever been and as divided as we’ve ever been. Business and government leaders have scrambled for solutions, with organizations throwing money at DE&I initiatives and the general public taking sides and casting blame toward anyone with a differing opinion. But the same tired approaches aren’t yielding any real progress, only increased polarization. Join Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., and Professor Erec Smith for a fireside chat as they discuss the need to REEVALUATE, RESET and EXECUTE to create change that lasts.
All general sessions will be livestreaming at the Spotlight Stage in the INCLUSION Marketplace (Monday and Tuesday only) and the Oglethorpe Auditorium.
Advanced seating assistance is available for anyone with mobility issues, sensory sensitivity, pregnant women, etc. Please head to the Accessibility & Accommodations Advanced Seating waiting area outside the doors to the Main Stage by 7:45 AM to be seated at 7:50 AM.
If a speaker has provided session materials, please see below or visit https://presentations.shrm.org
All virtual sessions inherently run the risk of audio or visual issues due to factors out of our control. If any technical difficulties arise, we appreciate your patience and understanding as we work diligently to resolve it. All virtual sessions, unless marked as "LIVE ONLY" or "VIRTUAL LIVE ONLY", are recorded and will be available to view on demand until December 1, 2023.
Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP
Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, is President and Chief Executive Officer of SHRM. With nearly 340,000 members in 180 countries, SHRM impacts the lives of more than 362 million workers and their families globally.
As a global leader on the future of employment, culture and leadership, Mr. Taylor is a sought-after voice on all matters affecting work, workers and the workplace. Recognized as one of the “300 Most Influential Executives in Corporate America” for 2024 by Savoy Magazine and one of the “Most Influential People Shaping Public Policy” in our nation’s capital by Washingtonian Magazine, Mr. Taylor is frequently asked to testify before Congress on critical workforce issues and authors the weekly USA Today column, "Ask HR."
Mr. Taylor's career spans more than 20 years as a lawyer, human resources executive and CEO in both the not-for-profit and for-profit spaces. He has held senior and chief executive roles at IAC/InteractiveCorp, Viacom's Paramount Pictures, Blockbuster Entertainment Group, the McGuireWoods law firm and Compass Group USA. Most recently, Mr. Taylor was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.
He is the author of the national bestseller, RESET: A Leader’s Guide to Work in an Age of Upheaval, which immediately upon its release in September 2021, was in the top three of The Wall Street Journal’s list of best-selling hardcover business books.
Mr. Taylor is a member of the United Way Worldwide Board of Trustees and serves on the corporate boards of XPO Logistics (NYSE: XPO), Flores & Associates, and Guild Education. He previously served on the White House American Workforce Policy Advisory Board and as chairman of the President's Advisory Board on Historically Black Colleges and Universities during the Trump Administration.
The Women Business Collaborative (WBC) named Mr. Taylor as one of its 2023 Trailblazers in Gender Equity and Diversity for his work to achieve equal position, pay and power for all women in business. In 2020, he received the Distinguished Executive of the Year Award from the Academy of Management, and he was named 2021 ALA Professional Society CEO of the Year by CEO Update.
He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources and is licensed to practice law in Florida, Illinois and Washington, D.C.
Erec Smith, Ph.D.
Erec Smith is an Associate Professor of Rhetoric at York College of Pennsylvania. Although he has eclectic scholarly interests, Smith’s primary work focuses on the rhetorics of anti-racist activism, theory, and pedagogy. He is a co-founder of Free Black Thought, a website dedicated to highlighting viewpoint diversity within the black diaspora. Smith’s recent writings include several op-eds as well as his books, A Critique of Anti-Racism in Rhetoric and Composition: The Semblance of Empowerment (2020) and The Lure of Disempowerment: Reclaiming Agency in the Age of CRT (2022). Smith is a research fellow in politics and society for the Cato Institute.