Tony Byers

As CIDO, Byers is tasked with advancing Spencer Stuart's strategic DE&I agenda globally and deepening the firm's impact in the market, expanding on work well under way to nurture greater representation across the firm's teams and a culture of inclusion in which each person at the firm feels supported and accepted, with DE&I fully embedded in all aspects of the organization.

Byers has more than 30 years of experience in DE&I. Over the past five years, he has served as a DE&I thought leader, public speaker and strategic advisor to clients through the management consulting firm he founded. In addition, Byers served as Senior Faculty and Director of the Modern Chief Diversity Officer Program (MCDO) at Cornell University's ILR School, Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies (CAHRS), collaborating with senior executives to develop and lead impactful D&I strategies. Prior to this, he successfully led and helped to revitalize D&I efforts in several global organizations. Byers led DE&I globally at Starbucks during a period of high growth and international expansion. He was also the Global D&I Leader at H.J. Heinz Company and spent three years at Cargill focusing on D&I in the North America and Western Europe.

In addition, Byers spent 10 years as an organizational change and diversity consultant and was an adjunct faculty member at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, Minn. for eight years. In 2018, he authored the book The Multiplier Effect of Inclusion: How Diversity & Inclusion Advances Innovation and Drives Growth. Byers received his doctorate in Human and Organizational Systems and his master's degree in Organizational Systems from Fielding Graduate University.