Diverse by Design Taking the {Virtual} Stage at NSBE This Week!
Diverse by Design, powered by ITSMF and Per Scholas, is honored to be back for two featured sessions during the National Society of Black Engineers’ Annual Convention. #NSBE47, The Holistic Engineer, will showcase the best talent, treasure and more.
The Business Case for Diversity
On Tuesday, April 6 at 2:50 p.m. EDT, we’ll host Diverse by Design: The Business Case for Diversity. According to a 2019 McKinsey report, ethnically and culturally diverse companies are 36% more profitable than companies that are more racially monolithic. Being intentional about diversity simply makes good business sense.
This 50-minute event will feature a dynamic conversation between:
- Hans Brown, Global Head of Enterprise Innovation and CIO for Corporate Technology, BNY Mellon
- Richard Cox, Chief Information Officer, Cox Enterprises
- Marcus Daley, Chief Technology Officer, S&P Global
- Hank Spraggins, Head of IT Strategy, Dropbox
- DEI Champion Toacca Rutherford, Managing Director at JPMorgan Chase & Company, will moderate the discussion
Diverse by Design: Black Like Me Story Slam
On Wednesday, April 7 at 3:55 p.m. EDT, we’ll host our first ever Diverse by Design Black Like Me Story Slam. One of the major barriers preventing Black individuals from entering the tech industry is a lack of exposure to the many different roles a career in tech offers. Representation matters. Storytelling changes lives. This 50-minute event will feature 4 Black tech professionals at varying stages in their careers. Emceed by storyteller Garrison Hayes, each will share their journey, lessons learned, and the joys and struggles of being a Black professional in tech in a Story Slam format.
Featured Speakers Include:
- Nicole Keaton Hart, Executive in Residence, Georgia State University
- Angel Henry, Sr. Director Professional Services-VMO, Genesys
- Angel Johnson, Owner, Hanna Enterprise
- Vincent Shorter, Global IT Director, Abbott
The Business Case for Diversity: About Our Speakers
Toacca Rutherford, Moderator
Managing Director, JPMorgan Chase & Company
Toacca Rutherford is a Product Owner in Digital Self-Service. She is responsible for creating an optimal, consistent digital experience that enables millions of Chase customers to complete servicing needs in digital channel across multiple financial products. Customers include consumers, private clients, small and commercial businesses, and support for merchant services.
Prior to this role, Toacca served as the Head of Business Engineering responsible for product execution, business engagement, and centers of excellence to transform Chase toward a product-aligned organization. In large-scale transformations, Toacca was the Chief Development Officer for Consumer, Business Banking, and Auto Finance Technology to modernize software development for global technology teams. In application delivery, Toacca led development teams as the Global Head of General Ledger Technology and Chief Technology Officer for Corporate and Investment Bank’s Finance Technology.
Toacca began her career at JPMorgan as a Database Administrator and Developer in the firm’s trainee program. She was recruited after graduating from Rutgers University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering. Toacca’s professional associations include Chase Diversity and Inclusion Council, JPMC Black Executive Forum, JPMC Technology Diversity Council, JPMC Black Organization for Leadership Development, Diverse by Design, Information Technology Senior Management Forum, and Year Up. She has also been licensed by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) with a Series 99 for Registered Operations Professionals of Broker Dealers.
Toacca is passionate about giving back in the firm and her community. She is an Advisory Board Member of Horizons National and Board Member of Horizons Newark to produce experiences in academics, arts, sports, technology, and culture for children in under-resourced communities. Toacca believes in creating pathways that can elevate underrepresented groups in STEM fields to address the increasing talent and skills gap. This has been a cornerstone of her firm-wide and community impact.
Toacca is a devoted wife, and mother of three daughters and a Pomsky.
Hans Brown
Global Head of Enterprise Innovation & Global Chief Information Officer – Corporate Technology, BNY Mellon
Hans Brown is the Head of Enterprise Innovation and Chief Information Officer for Corporate Technology at BNY Mellon.
In his role as Head of Enterprise Innovation, Hans is responsible for global Innovation Centers focused on rapid experimentation on new ideas and developing products and services in collaboration with clients, fintechs, “big tech” companies and internal teams.
He is also responsible for BNY Mellon’s partnership strategy creating partnerships and principal investments with startups and external stakeholders to deliver new capabilities, products, content that enable the company and its clients to be successful.
As Chief Information Officer for Corporate Technology, Hans is responsible for the delivery and transformation of the technology supporting Human Resources, Finance, Risk, Compliance,
Regulatory, Legal and Corporate Treasury within BNY Mellon.
Hans is a member of BNY Mellon’s Technology Executive Committee, the Asset Serving and Digital Executive Committee, and the Enterprise Digital Council. He also serves on the Board of Symphony and on the Strategic Advisory Council of the ASEAN Financial Innovation Network (AFIN).
Hans brings to the role a strong digital pedigree and a wealth of experience working across continents to enable organizational cultural change and rapidly deliver digital solutions in the financial services, telecoms and consumer electronic industries.
Prior to his current role, he was Head of International Technology for BNY Mellon, responsible for leading technology innovation and delivery in Asia Pacific and Latin America.
Hans has a Master of Science in International Technology Management from the University of Warwick in the UK as well as a Master of Engineering in Civil and Structural Engineering
from the University of Liverpool. He has been a keynote speaker at multiple corporate and industry events on technology evolution and trends as well as the rise of Fintech’s and APIs in financial markets. He was a key contributor to the ABS-MAS Financial World: Finance As A Service API Playbook, published by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Richard Cox
Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Cox Enterprises
Richard Cox is senior vice president and chief information officer for Cox Enterprises. He provides oversight and direction to corporate IT and business leaders on strategy, standards and opportunities for data analytics and business intelligence, development and support, infrastructure, security and technical services.
His career with Cox began in 2013 at Cox Automotive, a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises. There he held several leadership positions including vice president of client performance and vice president of business operations and customer care. He was instrumental in supporting operational transformation and the analytics function across Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book.
In 2018, Richard was chief operations officer for the City of Atlanta as an executive on loan. As COO, Richard provided oversight and executive management for the city’s operating departments including aviation, fire, police, parks & recreation and public works as well as internal operations including information technology.
Prior to joining Cox Automotive, Richard was CEO and president of Jones International University as well as vice president of customer experience at Orbitz Worldwide. In this role, he led a team of more than 2,000 employees while transforming the online and offline customer experiences.
Richard is on the board of directors for Genuine Parts Company. Richard has served on the Atlanta board of directors for Year Up, the Super Bowl LVIII Host Committee board of directors, as well as the board of directors of the Westside Future Fund. He is a strong advocate and supporter of the City of Refuge, located in the heart of Atlanta’s westside.
Richard earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Liberty University and a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Management Information Systems from Kennesaw State University.
Marcus Daley
Chief Technology Officer, S&P Global Ratings
Marcus Daley, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) S&P Global Ratings, is responsible for leading the Ratings Technology team in developing essential product solutions, transforming the technology supporting the Ratings division and driving cultural change.
Previously, Marcus was Chief Technology Officer for inContact where he revitalized the technology organization and led an initiative to deliver a single cloud native platform that was used by all products. Prior to that, he was CTO for S&P Global Market Intelligence where he implemented a global strategy that leveraged Big Data, Machine Learning, and industry tools to deliver world-class solutions and quality to customers.
With 25+ years in the technology industry building and supporting a range of products across industry categories, Marcus is a seasoned executive with a passion for developing leaders and technology transformations.
Hank Spraggins
Senior Director, Head of Technology Strategy & Operations, Dropbox
Hank Spraggins has a degree in Computer Science from Drexel University. Recently, he relocated to the Bay area where he works as Senior Director, Technology Strategy and Operations for Dropbox, the fastest SaaS company to reach $1B in revenue.
His responsibilities include Strategic IT Platforms, IT Risk, CyberSecurity, & Governance, SWE Director for employee applications, and Vendor Management. Hank also leads the BlackDropboxer Mentoring Program as part of Dropbox’s Employee Resource Group (ERG).
Professionally, he has had several roles as a leader, “roll up your sleeves“ technologist, “SaaS at Scale” Cloud strategist, and program management executive across various industries. He has led transformations and managed teams more than 100 employees strong and is responsible for critical programs and services. He is an engineer at heart.
He’s married to a wonderful school principal and teacher. Together, they have three business-minded daughters and one technically minded, entrepreneurial son.
Nia Darville
Director, Diverse by Design
Nia Darville was appointed to the position of Per Scholas’s Director of Diverse by Design in January 2021. In her role, she is responsible for providing vision and leadership, fiscal responsibility and sustainability, alliance cultivation, strategic thinking, and event management for Diverse by Design. Prior to her promotion, Nia served in various capacities in Per Scholas’ training organization bringing innovation and efficiency to each role she held. Nia obtained her Bachelor of Science degree from Andrews University and is currently pursuing her Master of Business Administration with an emphasis in Organizational Management at Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University.
Black Like Me Story Slam: About Our Speakers
Garrison Hayes
Chief Storyteller & Emcee
Garrison Hayes is a creator and speaker whose work exists at the intersection of justice, faith, and storytelling.
Garrison serves as the Program Lead for mentorship in the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the University of Virginia where he directs a higher education pipeline program dedicated to providing middle school, high school and undergraduate students with resources to achieve academic, career and social success.
Garrison is an Atlanta, Georgia native living in the Washington, D.C. area with his wife.
Nicole Keaton Hart
Executive in Residence, Georgia State University
Nicole Keaton Hart is an experienced, influential leader and cultural change agent in Information Technology who drives transformational initiatives. With over 25 years expertise in Information Technology, Nicole is a proven visionary and pragmatic leader. She has held key senior leadership and C-level roles such as Senior Vice President for SunTrust Bank and Chief Information Officer for Fulton County Government. She currently serves as an Executive in Residence at Georgia State University, Robinson College of Business. In addition she is a Board Member, CEO, and a Doctorate of Business Administration candidate at Drexel University.
Angel Henry
Senior Director, Professional Services-VMO, Genesys
Angel Henry has a passion for diversity in the field of IT. Her knowledge of why women and minorities are oftentimes missing from the C-Suite provides awareness for IT leaders to drive change.
Angel has more than 20 years IT experience, primarily in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries and over 15 years in the project management discipline. She has become a recognized thought-leader on the topic of the Agile Mindset, which fosters an environment of innovation and productivity.
Angel is a sought-after trainer and speaker as well as an Adjunct Instructor in the Indianapolis area, helping students realize their full potential in the field of IT. She is a member of several professional and community organizations, including BDPA, Information Technology Senior Management Forum (ITSMF) Executive, AgileIndy, Women in Agile, and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. Angel enjoys swimming and is an avid reader of Christian fiction novels. Angel is married to
Dshawn Henry with a daughter, Moriah and son DJ. Dents in the Ceiling, Angel’s first book, a summary of experiences of 30 African American women working in tech, is coming soon!
Angel Johnson
Owner, Hanna Enterprise
Angel Johnson, Owner of Hanna Enterprise, is a speaker, technologist, cybersecurity professional, panelist, crypto & real estate investor, IT Leader directing mobile app & infrastructure teams to success. She is a self-taught stock market, real estate and cryptocurrency investor and has a love and passion for technology. Angel is currently a Cybersecurity Specialist, Project Director for the10kproject.com, Black-owned Crowdfunding, and Governor for guapcoin.org, Black-owned Cryptocurrency. Angels is also currently working on structuring Hotel Acquisition and deals.
Vincent Shorter
Global IT Director, Abbott
Vincent Shorter leads a global IT strategy team that focuses on innovative business solutions for supply chain, manufacturing, professional services, and quality for Abbott Diagnostics Division.
Prior to joining Abbott, Vincent was with Monsanto where he held various roles to include: IT Director-North America Supply Chain, IT Director-Application Delivery and Support, Global Director for Change Management, Director- Global Infrastructure Technical Solutions and Global Infrastructure Organizational Management teams.
Vincent is a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel. During his over 20-year career in the U.S. Army, he led various teams in multiple geographical locations within the continental United States, Honduras, and Kuwait.
He is a graduate of the Information Technology Senior Management Forum’s (ITSMF) Executive Academy. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business from California State University and he has a dual Masters in Business Management and Information Technology Management from Webster University. Vincent also completed a Chief Information Officer Certification from the National Defense University, Washington D.C.
Vincent is a lifetime member of the Military Officers Association (MOAA), the BDPA technology organization, and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
Throughout his career, he has focused on being a results-oriented leader that empowers his teams.
Nia Darville
Director, Diverse by Design
Nia Darville was appointed to the position of Per Scholas’s Director of Diverse by Design in January 2021. In her role, she is responsible for providing vision and leadership, fiscal responsibility and sustainability, alliance cultivation, strategic thinking, and event management for Diverse by Design. Prior to her promotion, Nia served in various capacities in Per Scholas’ training organization bringing innovation and efficiency to each role she held. Nia obtained her Bachelor of Science degree from Andrews University and is currently pursuing her Master of Business Administration with an emphasis in Organizational Management at Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University.