By: Ingrid Emmons
ExecuInsight LLC is thrilled to welcome Ingrid Emmons, a renowned leader in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Employee Engagement Strategist to the Advisory Board. Ingrid joins the Board with over 25 years of experience across multiple industries, including financial services, hospitality, health care, and the IT sector. She is currently the Vice-President of DE&I and Employee Experience at Aveanna Healthcare, a pediatric home health care organization. Ingrid has valuable leadership expertise to offer, and is considered a deep specialist in the many roles she’s held, both domestically and abroad.
Embracing Inclusion in Organizations
As an award-winning DE&I leader, Ingrid believes deeply in her mantra, “When you feel valued, you add value.” Ingrid views DE&I strategies in tandem with employee engagement across an organization. In adding to the people component, negotiating the financial and marketing pieces of any program is crucial to achieve employee engagement. She emphasizes, “You can have the best program in the world, but if nobody knows about it, then it doesn’t matter.”
Ingrid has both the educational background and professional experience to deliver successful business outcomes. She holds a MBA, with an undergraduate degree in marketing and accounting. The combination of her finance and marketing background coupled with the analytical piece from a MBA perspective equips her to be an influential problem solver. Ingrid is a firm believer that DE&I leadership is not just for individuals with traditional HR degrees, but an opportunity for someone coming from any field or background to make a difference. Her advice for others is to not wait for the perfect spot, but rather to “make space where you want to fit in.” In terms of embracing inclusion, Ingrid’s approach includes three distinctive strategies:
The Big Three
“Follow the Effort”
For Ingrid, leadership is about what you find time to fit in your days and modeling that behavior for others. One of Ingrid’s values is putting words into action and focusing on efforts behind a passion. She points out that many people say they are too busy and can’t fit more into their schedules. However, it is her belief that if something is really important, individuals and organizations will find the time and prioritize that which is most meaningful.
Ingrid has put tremendous efforts into her passion for giving back to women and providing opportunities to share their craft as artists. As a Jamaican, Ingrid has strong ties to her home country and is dedicated to giving local artisans platforms to have visibility. One way she does this is by hosting trunk shows in the US with garments made by clothing designers from Jamaica and Trinidad.
“Culturally Humble” Leadership
Ingrid is excited about her role at ExecuInsight and serving on a Board with women who uplift other women. As a leader, Ingrid has the expectation that she will learn from others on her team. She emphasizes the importance of admitting when you are wrong, or not knowing something, and being willing to apologize. “Being on a continuous learning journey is what ultimately makes you a good leader.” Ingrid has lived in three different countries and is an avid traveler. She’s visited over 20 countries and recognizes the importance of understanding the language of the audience for which programs are intended.
“Generous Lens”
Ingrid uses the term “generous lens” to describe the role of senior leadership in creating a trusting work environment, which serves as the foundation for embracing inclusion. By modeling behaviors, senior leaders set the tone and give permission around interactions within an organization. Instead of making DE&I something difficult to attain, it becomes woven into the fabric of how organizations operate.
Anything is Possible
Ingrid celebrated her 50th birthday this past year, which she considers an important milestone. At this point in her career journey, Ingrid is on a carefully curated path she is able to build and enjoy. She feels on a personal and professional level that, “Anything is possible! Everything is possible!” She is looking forward to this new phase of life and flexibility on how to invest her time.
Ingrid is most proud of her role as a mom to three adult children Chandler (30), Tristan (26), Schaefer (20). Her view is that it is critical to set the tone for what both your son and daughter should expect from themselves and of others. Her mantra is “you teach people how to treat you” and hope her children have adopted this approach. My children are better versions of me by far, and I couldn’t be more proud of who they are and watching who they will become.
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Written By: Katie Conboy