Dr. Katherine Elizabeth Giscombe, PhD

Katherine Giscombe, Ph.D., is a Diversity & Inclusion thought leader, researcher, and organizational change practitioner. She designed and led the groundbreaking study on race and gender in the workplace, Women of Color in Corporate Management: Opportunities and Barriers, which was sponsored by the Ford Foundation and the non-profit organization Catalyst. Having authored a series of reports based on that and subsequent research, and having led several consulting engagements, she continues to be a national presence in creating solutions for under-represented groups and the organizations in which they work.

A frequent presenter at business and academic conferences, on topics including career development, glass and concrete ceiling issues, mentoring and sponsorship, and the creation of inclusive work environments, Dr. Giscombe received her Doctorate in Organizational Psychology from the University of Michigan and trained in research methodology at the Institute for Social Research. She has a multi-disciplinary background, having conducted marketing research in a number of companies prior to her Ford Foundation work on women of color. Most recently she has worked on how systemic inequality affects people of color and what business organizations can do to address the issue.

On the economic front, Dr. Giscombe has been an active task force member of the Closing the Racial Wealth Gap Initiative, a national collaborative managed by the Center for Global Policy Solutions and the Insight Center for Community Economic Development and has written several op-eds on the subject. Her areas of expertise also include sexual harassment and women of color in the political arena.

Her media appearances include a Bloomberg interview on the issues facing Black Americans in the workplace, Arise on women of color leaders, CUNY on sexual harassment of women of color, and the Wall Street Journal on-line on women CEO's.