Geraldine White
Chief Diversity Officer,
Publicis Groupe U.S.
When I first got involved with Dress for Success locally in New York, I was truly inspired by the women I interacted with while volunteering. I reflect on those interactions often and am honored by the opportunity to make further impact in partnership with Dress for Success through their global Your Hour Her Power campaign to bring greater awareness and support to help more women gain financial independence, upward mobility and true opportunities to succeed.
As Chief Diversity Officer of Publicis Groupe US, Geraldine White has scaled Publicis Groupe’s Talent, Engagement & Inclusion TEI) team to exist as a centrally-embedded practice, bringing the organization’s Viva La Différence motto to life in tangible ways. Leading with a focus on elevating talent experiences; improving systems, policies and practices to create more equity; and continually enabling an inclusive environment for all identities and communities within the Publicis Groupe network.
With more than two decades of marketing and advertising experience spanning DE&I, business consulting, client services and program management disciplines, Geraldine has spent her career overseeing cross-capability integration, productivity, and profitability across a diverse portfolio of industries and brands. Her unique skillsets of applying change management, systems thinking and business transformation has continued to yield measurable impact and sustainable organizational change.
Prior to her current position, Geraldine was the Head of Diversity & Inclusion in North America for Publicis Sapient. She stewarded the development and implementation of Sapient’s global DE&I approach, helping to drive behavior change and more inclusive practices and leadership, leveraging her prior experience growing successful client engagements, process and methodology optimization, hiring and capacity management and business growth.
Her subject matter expertise, thought leadership and community advocacy have extended across industry forums, including New York Advertising Week, MediaVillage’s Advancing Diversity Honors Week, IAB’s Annual Leadership Meeting, Pharrell Williams’ Mighty Dream Forum the 4A’s Equity and Inclusion Congress and beyond. She has been quoted in Forbes, Boston Globe, Campaign US, Digiday, Adweek, Ad Age and others; and has been recognized as a She Runs It Working Mother of the Year and Changing the Game honoree, Compassionate Leaders Circle award nominee and shortlisted as Campaign DEI Executive of the Year. Outside of the office, Geraldine is a devoted mom of four, mentor with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, a Dress for Success career counselor volunteer ,central council delegate for her local school district, as well as a member of the district’s diversity council. She also serves on RIT’s Employer Advisory Board and the Board of A Call to Men, an organization dedicated to transforming society by promoting healthy, respectful manhood and mobilizing male-identified aspiring allies to women and girls around the world.
Hear more from Geraldine on what this campaign means to her.