THE PATH THEY
TWO CHIEF DIVERSITY OFFICERS TOOK THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED
By SHEREE R. CURRY
U.S. Bank’s Greg Cunningham and Best Buy’s Amelia Williams Hardy have a few things in common. They are both chief diversity officers, or CDOs, at Minneapolis- based Fortune 500 companies. They both obtained a bachelor’s degree from a historically Black university before securing their MBA elsewhere. And both sit on advisory boards at the University of St. Thomas – Cunningham at the Dougherty Family College since its 2017 inception and Hardy at the Opus College of Business as of 2022. “It was an easy decision for me to support Dougherty Family College. I saw myself in those kids,” said Cunningham about the associate degree option where 95% of the scholars are of Asian, Black, Latino or Indigenous descent. He has taken time to speak in DFC classes and inspire its scholars to dream big. As African Americans who made their careers in marketing, Cunningham and Hardy know the road to success involves choices. For example, neither was
seeking a senior leadership position in the DEI space when they were first tapped by their respective companies. “I wasn’t a diversity practitioner and didn’t have any experience in HR,” Cunningham said. He landed in Minneapolis in 1995 as an area director for the United Negro College Fund – the organization whose scholarship made it possible for him to attend college, and where he now has a seat on the national board. He went on to spend 16 years in marketing at Target Corporation and one year in customer engagement for MPR News. He’s been CDO at U.S. Bank since 2015. “I never had a desire to do (DEI work) full time. I live it,” said Hardy, who spent 15 years at 3M before landing as a marketing director at Best Buy in 2014. Hardy was tapped by Best Buy CEO Corie Barry to step into a DEI vice president role. Hardy said, “This was right after the murder of George Floyd. My perspective changed after living through that unrest. I said, ‘What
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