*Top 50 Women Chief Diversity Officers  * Top 15 Champions of Diversity

With almost three decades in this field, LaTricia (LaTreeSa) Hill-Chandler, aka LT, joined the executive team of Southern Bancorp, an Arkansas/Mississippi Delta-based Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) as the first Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, selected to be the first to lead the company’s commitment to representation, fairness and belonging among its employees, customers and communities.  With a master’s degree in HR Management, LaTricia was key in bridging the gap between HR teams and DEI to develop and implement HR policies, cultural audits, learning and development, talent development and data analytics. Prior to this role, she served as the first DEI Officer for Arvest Bank. In this role, LaTricia was the first primary subject matter expert and architect of their diversity, equity and inclusion and cross-cultural relations plans and programs.  This position led to the identification, development, implementation, and evaluation of the strategy across a 4-state footprint of the organization. Prior to this role, LaTricia was a Senior Strategy Manager II for Diversity and Inclusion Development in the Global Culture Diversity and Inclusion Office at Walmart Stores Inc. located in Bentonville, Arkansas.  In this role, LaTricia was responsible for creating strategy and implementing the inclusive leadership initiative; an enterprise-wide diversity and inclusion initiative focused on increasing inclusion awareness through education and training for over 77,000 of Walmart’s global leaders and associates.  LaTricia also developed and facilitated Unconscious Bias Training throughout multiple divisions of Walmart and Sam’s Club in North America.  Under her consulting firm, The Dadden Group, LaTricia was privileged to facilitate Diversity and Inclusion training to 25 military officers at the Pentagon in Washington, DC.  Prior to that, LaTricia was the National Manager for Diversity, Inclusion and Community Relations for Veolia North America located in Indianapolis, Indiana.  Before joining Veolia, LaTricia was the Director for Supplier Diversity with the Indianapolis Public Schools and the Central Indiana Educational Service Center serving 22 districts, where she created the first Supplier Diversity program for any public-school district in the state of Indiana.  LaTricia also held the position of Director of Business Diversity and Compliance Programs at Indiana University, the first of this role for any higher education institution in the State of Indiana.

A first-generation college graduate, LaTricia holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from HBCU, LeMoyne Owen College, and a Master of Science in HR Management from Indiana Wesleyan University.  LaTricia also has earned credentials as a Certified Diversity Executive from the Institute of Diversity Certification as well as, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion certificate from the University of South Florida Muma College of Business.  LaTricia is a graduate of the Stanley K. Lacy Executive Leadership Series (Class XXXVI) and has won numerous awards including Champion of Diversity, presented by the Indianapolis Recorder and Indiana Minority Business Magazine, and the Indianapolis Choice-Avatar of the Year, presented by the National Association of Women Business Owners Indianapolis chapter. *Most recently, LaTricia was recognized as being in the Top 50 Women Chief Diversity Officers by Women we Admire and the Top 15 Champions of Diversity by Diversity Global Magazine.  LaTricia was also named a recipient of the 2020 Women in Business from the Arkansas Business Journal and listed as one of the top Women in Banking by the Arkansas Business and Politics magazine.  LaTricia has been the recipient of the Leading with Excellence Corporate Trailblazer Award from Compassion Fayetteville.  LaTricia was also named a 2023 Woman Trailblazer Honoree by the National Association of University Women.

Recently, LaTricia was selected to be an Expert Evaluator for the Black Ambition 2024 Prize Competition, founded by Pharrell Williams.  LaTricia currently serves as the Board Chair with TASC (Teen Action Support Center) NWA, the board of Directors for A Little Bit of HOPE (ALBOH)- an organization directed to assist underserved students in the areas of STEAM and a Board Member of the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival.  LaTricia also served as the Co-Chair of the Walton College of Business, Dr. Barbara Lofton Office of Diversity, and Inclusion Advisory Board at the University of Arkansas.

A highly energetic and sought out speaker, LaTricia’s multi-industry experiences, coupled with life experiences, her passion and authentic style of delivery for inclusive leadership, organizational development, HR strategies and DEI topics has helped bring awareness and bridge the gap for many people.