Rachel-Yvonne Talton

Dr. Rachel-Yvonne Talton is CEO of the award-winning firm Synergy International Limited, Inc.

Synergy’s purpose is to help organizations enhance the intersection of employee leadership, inclusive

culture, and consumer needs. Synergy uses a unique combination of expertise in research, leadership

development and diversity, equity and inclusion to better understand consumer, employee and

community behaviors and leverage opportunities for cohesion and growth. In addition to Dr. Rachel’s

success as an entrepreneur, she is an award-winning published scholar and keynote speaker in the

areas of leadership, diversity, employee and consumer engagement and trust.

“Dr. Rachel,” as she is affectionately called, is also CTO (Chief Transformation Officer) of Flourish

Leadership, LLC and the Flourish Conference for Women in Leadership, which provides high-achieving

female executives and entrepreneurs with executive coaching, masterminding cohorts, and the

company’s signature offering: Transformation Immersion™. Transformation Immersion Retreats

provide in-depth analysis and mentoring to help executives flourish in their professional careers, and

personal lives. Flourish is also engaged in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion workshops where we help create

business strategies to help companies create inclusive leaders, an inclusive culture and execute inclusive

policies.

Dr. Rachel serves on the Board of Directors of the Cuyahoga Community College Foundation, the Akron

Community Foundation, In Council with Women, as well as JumpStart Inc. She also served on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of Destination Cleveland, where she chaired the Marketing

Committee for six years.

Dr. Rachel is a member of the Cleveland Bridge Builders Class of 2002, as well as the Leadership

Cleveland Class of 2005. Recognized by several organizations, Dr. Rachel was recognized as a 2015

Woman of Distinction by the Girl Scouts of America, a 2015 Women Who Excels by Smart Business

Magazine; a 2014 Young Professional of the Year (STAR Award) by the Women of Color Foundation.

Her firm, Synergy, was also selected as winner of the prestigious 2014 Medical Mutual Pillar Awardee

for Community Service and a 2016 Cascade Capital Business Growth Awardee.

Dr. Rachel has been selected the 2021 Woman of Achievement by the Greater Akron Chamber of

Commerce, a 2021 Smart Business Magazine Progressive Entrepreneur, a Hidden Philanthropist by The

Soul of Philanthropy in 2021, as one of the top 100 CIO’s in the U.S. by the National Diversity Council in

2021, the 2020 Woman of Vision by the National Coalition of 100 Black Woman and as a finalist for the

2010 Northeast Ohio ATHENA® International Award, a global award recognizing exceptional leaders

who seek to inspire others to pursue excellence in their professional and personal lives. She has also

received the NAWBO “Top 10 Women Business Owners” Award, Crain’s Cleveland Business “Top Forty

Under 40” Award, Kaleidoscope Magazine’s “Top 40-Under-Forty Leaders in Northeastern Ohio” Award.

In addition to her awards in economic and social development, Dr. Rachel is also a proud member of

the Links, Inc., Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., ICWW, and the PhD Project.

Dr. Rachel also belongs to several professional organizations including the Market Research Association,

the American Marketing Association, and the Academy of Management. She has been featured as an

expert in brand strategy and market research on ABC News, Fox News, The Cleveland Plain Dealer,

Crain’s and MBA Magazine, amongst many others. She has authored several practitioner and academic

articles, including “Dare to Build Trust in Times of Distrust” and “Trust Payoffs in Distrust Dominated

Environments.” Her #1 Amazon bestseller in Leadership, Flourish: Have it All Without Losing Your Self

was published in January 2016.

Dr. Rachel earned her Doctorate in Management from Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead

School of Management, where she has served as Adjunct Professor of Marketing. She also holds a

Diversity & Inclusion Training Certificate from Cornell University. Her research is focused on the impact

of perceptions of trust, satisfaction, and value on consumer loyalty in dynamic-industry environments.

She holds an MBA with a concentration in Finance from Cleveland State University, as well as a BA in

Psychology. She is a lifetime member of the Beta Gamma Sigma International Business Honor Society.