Akberet Boykin Farr

Akberet Boykin Farr has been appointed vice president of diversity and social responsibility at Emerson, effective December 1, 2020. In this role, she is responsible for the executive leadership and management of the company’s diversity and inclusion initiatives, management of the Emerson Charitable Trust, oversight of the company’s corporate social responsibility reporting, and serves as its community liaison in St. Louis.

Boykin Farr joined Emerson in 1998 as an employee relations manager and in 2004 was promoted to human resources director at its motor technologies business. After Emerson sold this business to Nidec Motor Corporation, she joined Nidec in 2010 to serve as its local vice president of human resources.

In 2014, Boykin Farr returned to Emerson as a director of corporate human resources. In 2017, she was promoted to vice president of diversity and inclusion. She has overseen the development and rollout of the company’s D&I programs, including unconscious bias training globally and the launch of employee resource groups to help promote a diverse and inclusive workplace.

Boykin Farr is a graduate of Saint Louis University where she completed her undergraduate and graduate studies, earning a bachelor’s degree in management and industrial relations, an MBA in human resource management, and a doctorate in organizational theory and public policy studies. She currently serves on the boards of directors for the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis and City Academy, also in St. Louis.