Vanessa Spatafora
Winthrop,MA
Summary
Highly experienced professional with a demonstrated history of subject matter expertise and operational program excellence in Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DEI) practices, policies, and related organizational or industry associated challenges. Focus on change management and challenges related to DEI driven partnerships, talent attraction and management, strategic planning, multi-stakeholder engagement, and professional and organizational development. Results driven innovative thinker who values data driven insights, tackling root causes, resilience, and agility.
Overview
15
15
years of professional experience
Work History
Sr Diversity Equity & Inclusion Program Manager, Talent Acquisition
Amazon Prime Video & Studios Global Media & Entertainment
07.2022 - 06.2023
- Developed inaugural Global DEI Talent Attraction Strategy leveraging market availability data, for 5+% YoY growth for Women, Black and LatinX talent
- Manage 20+ external partners and vendors, including platforms onboarding, partnership agreements, and programmatic design, 4.8/5 satisfaction rating
- Ongoing inspection of all workflows to challenge the status quo resulting in the launch of 4+ implemented mechanisms for day-to-day operations and clear accountability
- Gain confidence of Amazon Global Media & Entertainment Sr. Leadership team through wholistic DEI acumen development, and talent generating partnerships
- Designed and implement bi-weekly, monthly, and Quarterly data driven analysis for areas of success, identified risk, and recommended action, resulting in 100% leadership adoption and engagement
- Identified and negotiated a series of 8+ global standard recruitment and talent engagement processes to address gaps in existing programmatic frameworks, increasing the effectiveness and measurability of progress across 4 dispersed global teams
- Responsible for day-to-day operations of full DEI talent attraction program with continued incremental advancement through stakeholder and team engagement, including management of 6 five person initiative teams
Director, Inclusion Equity, & Belonging
DraftKings Inc. Inclusion Equity & Belonging
04.2019 - 06.2022
- Devised and launched DraftKings first DEI Culture Assessment leveraging quantitative and qualitative discovery, with 15% focus group engagement company wide
- Developed and launched first of its kind DEI strategic plan and operational framework with focus on short and long-term scalable action plans with data driven assessments and results oriented accountability
- Spearheaded DEI Data Visualization capabilities for Executive and Sr Leadership, to understand benchmarks and establish unique full cycle talent action planning for 14 global business units across B2B and B2C organizations
- Advanced learning related to relevant DEI topics across company-wide learning initiatives, with design considerations unique to neurodiversity and difference in communication styles
- Established three-pronged approach to ongoing DEI learning discussions and self-reflection opportunities, available to all 3,250+ global employees, with specific programming for Executive and Sr Leaders with strong emphasis on action and accountability
- Lead DraftKings first ever multi-stakeholder social justice response team to act as change catalyst comprised of Employee Advocates, CEO and Co-Founders, Legal, Public Relations, Internal Communications, Employment Branding
- Designed and implemented holistic cultural competency and cross-cultural collaboration enablement processes for effective global acquisition and integration of 700+ DraftKings employees and 650+ SBTech employees across six countries and ten offices
- Drove decision making frameworks for increased DEI value alignment across policies and benefits serving employees seeking best in class gender affirmation, continuing education, fertility and family planning, and working mothers return to work benefits
- Created and administered systemic bias disruption strategy for bi-annual promotions and annual review rating processes
- Redesign recruitment process to increase talent pipeline diversity and implement structured behavioral interviewing, progressing representation of Women by 30% and BIPOC employees by 37% over 3 years
- Lead and develop DraftKings Global Inclusion team of three, and manage annual budget allocation of $1.25m
Diversity and Inclusion Manager
Goodwin Procter LLP. Diversity and Inclusion
03.2015 - 03.2019
- Developed and implemented global DEI strategy, trainings, systemic bias disruptors, sponsorship and executive coaching programs designed to foster greater inclusion of diverse talent and the 1,100+ global attorney workforce
- Engaged with executive leadership to identify talent related challenges and opportunities, and develop intentionally scalable engagement efforts to drive greater retention and improved performance amongst diverse employees
- Developed and executed externally facing premier client events, pro bono and community networks, pipeline program partnerships, and develop interactive web-based platforms to partner with clients on advancing DEI
- Developed and maintained internal and external firmwide DEI communications, including but not limited to quarterly newsletter content, marketing collateral, market survey content, info-sheets and annual reports
- Developed data visualization platforms, enabling deep analysis and measurement, with process disruption insights to drive organizational change from talent attraction through talent management in collaboration with global governing stakeholders
- Managed annual budget of $550,000+ for firm’s global DEI initiatives and dedicated resources, and oversee leadership of global diversity committees and local councils
Diversity & Inclusion
Deloitte (Monitor Deloitte formerly The Monitor Group)
04.2013 - 03.2015
- Diversity and Inclusion Council (D&IC): program development for affinity specific (Women's Initiatives, Black Employee Network, Hispanic Network, Asian Business Resource Group, and Armed Force) and/or intersectional trainings and events for both internally and externally facing programs aligning with global firm talent strategy
Knowledge Management Business Analyst
Deloitte (Monitor Deloitte formerly The Monitor Group)
01.2010 - 03.2015
- Technical and creative design for SharePoint Wiki content, providing networked context for thought leadership
National Learning and Development Coordinator
Suffolk Construction Co., Inc. Learning and Development
01.2008 - 01.2010
Education
Diversity & Inclusion Certificate Program -
Cornell University ILR School
01.2021
The Leadership Consortium (TLC) -
HBX by Harvard Business
01.2020
B.S. - Communications, Public Relations
Suffolk University
Boston, MA01.2006
Skills
- Training, Facilitation, & Coaching
- Strategic Planning
- DEI & People Analytics
- Change Management
- Executive Presence & Communications
- People & Program Management
- HRIS & EEO Design
- Systemic Disruption
Speaking Engagements
- Cross-Departmental Female Leadership: Leading the Charge, Wharton Business Daily Show with Dan Loney, SiriusXM
- Female Disruptors: Three Things You Need to Shake Up Your Industry, Authority Magazine
- Accelerating the Diversity of Tech Leadership, Women in STEM, The Gordon Institute at Tufts University
- Diversity, Equity, & Opportunity, Massachusetts High Technology Council
- Anti-Racism in Tech - Keeping the Momentum Toward Systemic Change, Drift x DraftKings x Wayfair x Toast in Collaboration
- Incorporating DEI Initiatives into your Employment Branding Strategy, VentureFizz
Industry Associations
- Out & Equal Conference 2015
- Pride in Our Workplace (PIOW)
- BAGLY (2013-2015)
- Association of Law Firm Diversity Professionals Annual Conference Planning Co-Lead (2017)
- Diversity Advocates (2019-2022)
Hobbies and Interests
- Systemic Bias Disruption
- Talent Attract & Management Systems
- Program Development
- Psychological Safety
- Collaboration and Stakeholder Engagement
- Action Planning & Accountability
- Pipeline Development
- Coaching and Mentoring
Timeline
Sr Diversity Equity & Inclusion Program Manager, Talent Acquisition
Amazon Prime Video & Studios Global Media & Entertainment
07.2022 - 06.2023
Director, Inclusion Equity, & Belonging
DraftKings Inc. Inclusion Equity & Belonging
04.2019 - 06.2022
Diversity and Inclusion Manager
Goodwin Procter LLP. Diversity and Inclusion
03.2015 - 03.2019
Diversity & Inclusion
Deloitte (Monitor Deloitte formerly The Monitor Group)
04.2013 - 03.2015
Knowledge Management Business Analyst
Deloitte (Monitor Deloitte formerly The Monitor Group)
01.2010 - 03.2015
National Learning and Development Coordinator
Suffolk Construction Co., Inc. Learning and Development
01.2008 - 01.2010
Diversity & Inclusion Certificate Program -
Cornell University ILR School
The Leadership Consortium (TLC) -
HBX by Harvard Business
B.S. - Communications, Public Relations
Suffolk University
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