Busboys Books Presents: Michelle Gadsden-Williams for Climb
Date and Time
Nov 19, 2018 6:00 pm
Location
450K
450 K St NW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20001
Nov 19, 2018 6:00 pm
450K
Please join Busboys and Poets Books for an evening with author Michelle Gadsen-William who will be in conversation with Dia Simms at our 450 K street location.
Renowned as a diversity and inclusion strategist, Gadsden-Williams held C-Suite positions at major organizations for many years . . . and then took the off-ramp to probe a different career path, launching Ceiling Breakers LLC, with the primary goal to help women and professionals of color reach their full potential. As a woman of color and corporate executive who has worked and traveled the world for several Fortune 500 companies—all while managing a chronic illness—she provides insight into overcoming the barriers facing professionals in today’s workplace.
In Climb, Gadsden-Williams combines her inspirational life story with pragmatic solutions to address problems facing women in corporate America, offering a professional playbook for tackling today’s most pressing workplace issues.
MICHELLE GADSDEN-WILLIAMS is an award-winning global diversity expert, activist, philanthropist, and the managing director and North American inclusion and diversity lead at Accenture. She has more than twenty-five years of experience working in the consumer goods, pharmaceutical, financial, and professional services industries. She has held positions of global responsibility for corporations such as Credit Suisse, Novartis, and Merck & Co. She serves on several boards including the Jackie Robinson Foundation, Lupus Research Alliance, and the Women’s Leadership Board of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Gadsden-Williams has a BA in communications with a minor in marketing from Kean College, and an MS in organizational dynamics from the University of Pennsylvania. She lives in New York City with her husband, David Jamal Williams.
DIA SIMMS, President of Combs Enterprises - Dia Simm’s worked her way up to President of Combs Enterprises after Sean “Diddy” Combs initially recruited her to be his assistant in 2005. She brings her relentless commitment to excellence and her unparalleled track record as a creative strategist and marketer to the leadership team of Combs Enterprises. She has since held numerous roles as part of the Combs executive team, including general manager of advertising and marketing firm, the Blue Flame Agency, and president of Combs Wine & Spirits. Simms oversees business activities across the companies and investments built and cultivated by Mr. Combs including Combs Wine & Spirits, Blue Flame Agency, AQUAhyrdrate, Bad Boy Entertainment, Sean John, Revolt Media, and Capital Prep Harlem. In 2017 Dia was listed as a powerful executive on Billboard’s annual Women in Music list as well as the Ebony Power 100 list. In April of 2018 she was an honoree of the Matrix Awards from NYWIC. Dia balances her work and personal life by commuting between Combs Enterprises in New York City and Los Angeles to her home in Baltimore where she resides with her husband and daughter.
