Mardia A. Shands is a multi-disciplinary Human Resources executive with extensive experience in social impact, diversity, equity, and inclusion and workforce development across multiple industries including healthcare, consumer products goods, manufacturing, supply chain, and IT. Her career has spanned from multi-national global corporations to small not-for-profits across North America and Africa.

She is an Aspen Institute Job Quality Fellow and is also a Venue Magazine Woman of Influence. She is a sought-after speaker on the topics of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Human Resources. She is on the White House’s Healthcare Jobs Recovery Panel representing the National Skills Coalition and Business Leaders United for Partnerships. She serves on the Board of Directors for the YWCA of Greater Seattle and serves the Seattle Jobs Initiatives as a Healthcare Table Captain that seeks to expand the region’s healthcare workforce. Ms. Shands’ extensive experience as a human resources leader includes labor relations, talent acquisition, organization development, and employment law. She is an advisory board member for SEIU 1199NW Training Fund that endeavors to grow healthcare workers’ skills through additional technical education, primarily entry-level workers. She is the past chair of the Workforce Investment Board for Butler, Warren and Clermont Counties in Ohio. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. where she is an active member of the Seattle Alumnae Chapter, serving on the Executive Board.

Ms. Shands is pursuing her Ph.D. in DEI and Health Equity from the University of Washington. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Cincinnati and a master’s degree in Labor and Employment Relations also from the University of Cincinnati. She holds the Senior Professional in Human Resources designation from the Human Resources Certification Institute and the Senior Certified Professional certificate from the Society of Human Resources Management. She is also a Certified Diversity Executive.

@MardiaShands