Verizon has selected Christina Schelling to serve as its SVP of Talent and Diversity to lead its diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) efforts.
When Schelling joins the telecom on May 2, she will help the company further engrain DE&I efforts within its talent strategy. She will also work to improve the company’s learning and development, career planning and leadership programs.
Schelling brings more than two decades of human resources experience and most recently led HR for global corporate functions at The Estée Lauder Companies. Before that, she held leadership roles across the HR department at Prudential and was responsible for talent development, business transformation and DE&I at American Express.
“At Verizon, we are committed to creating a workplace that reflects the diverse communities around us,” Chief Human Resources Officer Samantha Hammock said in the company’s announcement. “Christina’s proven track record and passion for creating a fully integrated talent organization with DE&I at the core will enable us to more deeply infuse DE&I into all of our ways of working.”
Since 2016, Verizon has stepped up its DE&I efforts and in 2021 revealed that people of color made up just over 37% of the combined Verizon marketing and agency teams, compared to the U.S. Census benchmark of 36%.
The company also scored 100% on the 2022 Disability Equality Index as well as the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index.
“Having seen Verizon’s work throughout the pandemic to care for their employees, I’m delighted to be joining a company that clearly reflects my own beliefs,” Schilling stated. “To truly drive change and achieve real progress, we must embed DE&I throughout our systems, processes and operations,”
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