Ashton Emerson Ragsdale

• Leading process improvement and execution of TA and DEI practices .
• Leveraged data to establish accountability KPIs for TA team to increase diversity top of funnel and diverse interview slates.
• Successfully lead and completed executive search for our Tech and Data teams and in turn ended external agency partnerships through success.
• Managed team of 5 and DEI focused partnership/outreach/strategy, onboarding, and learning and development.
  Implemented learning and development plans through strategic thought leadership and partnership with business units and L&D team to increase employee readiness for new hires.
• Established company mentorship program for new hires that increased development and culture of feedback and successful employee onboarding and retention.
• Successfully implemented PATH Forward Inclusion recruiting partnership strategy and BRIDGE program.
  
  Additional Roles
  ERG Advisor-Jan. 2020-Jan.2023
  NYT Company Mentor- Mar. 2022-Mar. 2023

Leading talent management, diversity outreach strategy and internal and external engagement of diverse talent through partnership & events.

• Led change in culture around attending, partnering, and execution of external partnerships focused on increasing DEI Top of Funnel. (+750% events increase YOY).
• Developed Company-Wide DEI Strategy and Increased DEI focused events partnerships (increased by +220% YOY). As result, 75% of the early in career hires were underrepresented candidates & 40% identified as black & Latinx.
• Implemented and piloted new L&D workshops initiative, Bridge Program, internally working with team executives to address equity gaps within the incoming early-in-career talent.
• Recognition from CEO for efforts.

• Led implantation of "I AM AN ALLY" program branding, creation, and enterprise-wide communication as a part of Diversity Leadership Team.
• Improved Talent Acquisition ROI by implementing KPIs and talent pool system for conference events to report on hire-ready candidates. Recognition from CEO based on these efforts.
• Lead company-wide DEI workshops and focus groups in preparation for enterprise-wide "I AM AN ALLY" campaign.
• Created USA TODAY Fellowship program in order to ensure competitiveness and to attract and convert post-grad talent.
• Led Employer Branding Campaigns with improvements to Glassdoor by .5 points and created career landing pages.

Led enterprise-wide finance and accounting full-life cycle recruiting for Gannett/USA TODAY NETWORK and its properties.

• Managed 7 program managers and created culture of learning and development with specialized PMs for each group.
• Exceed hiring goal by 37% per month through process improvement and efficient communication with stakeholders.
• Increase diverse partnerships by 60% and diverse candidate top of funnel.
• Lead end to end hiring, onboarding and offboarding for up to 300 new hires.

Managed up to 40 team members and a 35 million work center.

• Scope: Served as a senior leader among 14 recruiting executives and ensure that events are coordinated and executed efficiently.
• Recruitment: Increase diverse partnerships by 60% and diverse candidate top of funnel.
• Hiring: Serve as the District Resource for prepping candidates before their final round of interviews with our District Manager and Vice President. Delivered a 75% hire rate for candidates prepped.

• Lead a suite of programs such as the Inaugural university-wide Day of Service, Alternative Spring Break programs, and the Angel Tree Project.