Boys & Girls Clubs hires first diversity officer
Another prominent name in the city's business community added an executive position focused on inclusion.
Atlanta-based Boys & Girls Clubs of America named H Walker as its first diversity, equity & inclusion officer. In this newly created role, Walker is tasked with driving a community-focused strategy for “breaking down barriers,” the nonprofit's commitment to addressing and dismantling racism and inequity for all youth, employees and volunteers at Boys & Girls Clubs throughout the nation, on Native lands and on U.S. Military bases worldwide.
Lorraine Orr, the organization's chief operations officer, said a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion is both "foundational" and "fundamental" to what Boys & Girls Clubs stands for.
"As we undertake this work of dismantling racism and inequity, it was critical we build infrastructure to create long-term, sustainable impact," Orr said in a news release.
Walker's served in numerous organizational culture and diversity, equity and inclusion leadership roles globally for companies including The Coca-Cola Company, IBM, McDonald's Corp. and the United States Postal Service.
The Boys & Girls Clubs, which recently received a $30 million gift for its Great Futures 2025 Impact Plan, joins a litany of others that are boosting roles committed to diversity. That includes Cox Enterprises, which said Jan. 27 it promoted Tiffanie McDonald to vice president of inclusion and diversity. In her new role, McDonald will lead the implementation of the company's inclusion, diversity and equity strategy.