After successfully serving as director of strategy, planning and management, and chief of staff to the president, US programme, for four and a half years, June Yoshinari Davis has been elevated to the position of chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer (CDEIO), Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. She will step into the shoes of Leslie Mays, who retires later this month.
An alumna of Harvard Business School, Davis started off as the startup director, LearnNow in 2000. A year later, she moved to Target, where she served as financial analyst for nine months before becoming strategy manager in 2005. When she left Target, she had become a buyer.
He next stop was Nike, where she was divisional merchandise manager for a year before switching to Capella Education Company. There, she served as vice president, innovation and markets and products.
Four years later, she moved to Teach for America, as senior managing director, people development (including diversity, equity and inclusion).
In 2016, she joined Cargill as global change strategist.
Seven months into this role, she was elevated to global HR inclusion and diversity leader. Another promotion in 2019 saw her occupying the position of global business HR leader. She successfully played strategic business HR partner for global business across North America, Latin America, EMEA and Asia. She also developed and implemented high-performance talent, culture, engagement and organizational-design strategies to drive innovation and outcomes that support business strategy. Additionally, she led succession planning, talent reviews, employee relations, talent acquisition, compensation, and incorporation of best practices around inclusion and diversity.
As CDEIO, Gates Foundation, she will be responsible for the Centre of Excellence, which leads the integration and impact of the DEI strategy across all the Foundation and its offices in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and North America.
