The Dallas Regional Chamber (DRC) announced today that Jared Fitzpatrick will become its first-ever Senior Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) on Monday, October 26.
Mr. Fitzpatrick brings to the DRC, the largest Chamber in North Texas, extensive experience working on DEI initiatives in the Dallas Region. Most recently, he served as a Senior Culture and Human Resources Strategy Advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. He previously held positions with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Huron Consulting Group.
“Jared will help us help companies improve their ability to be more diverse, more equitable, and more inclusive at the Board level, in the C-suite, and in their workforces,” said John Olajide, 2020 DRC Chair of the Board and President and CEO of Axxess. “He has the experience, energy, and passion for DEI work that will help improve our community, and help us apply the DEI lens to everything we do. We can’t wait for him to get started.”
Mr. Fitzpatrick, a University of Houston graduate who earned his MBA from the University of Alabama-Birmingham, holds a Yale School of Management certificate for Fostering Diversity and Inclusion. He will serve as the senior executive responsible for the DRC’s DEI work with its 800 member companies who employ more than 500,000 workers. He will work closely with the co-chairs leading the permanent Board-level DEI Council, and its four sub-councils, which are focused on Diversity in Leadership, Education & Workforce, Community Investment in Underserved Areas, and Policing and Criminal Justice Policies.
“The DEI work we do as an organization and in the community is intrinsically tied to all the work we do to make the Dallas Region the best place in the U.S. for all people to live, work, and do business,” said DRC President and CEO Dale Petroskey. “Jared is the right person at the right time to work with our DRC team, our 800 member companies, and our community partners to make us all more diverse, more equitable, and more inclusive.”
The DRC Board of Directors created this senior DEI position in June, at the same time it formed the DEI Council. Just four weeks ago, the DRC announced another first – the hiring of Senior Vice President for Community Engagement Tosha Herron-Bruff, who will work closely with Mr. Fitzpatrick.
“I can’t wait to get started on this important work for the DRC and the Dallas Region,” Fitzpatrick said. “It’s an honor to be the first chosen to hold this exciting position at an organization that has a great reputation for working closely with business leaders and community partners to make the Dallas Region not only a dynamic business community, but also a community that’s more accessible for all. Weaving DEI into the fabric of all the DRC does will help make our community even stronger.”
The DRC recently updated its mission statement, adding the phrase “for all people” to highlight the importance of making the Dallas Region “the best place in the United States for all people to live, work, and do business.”
In June, nearly 100 DRC Board members and other executives signed “A Commitment from Dallas Business Leaders,” a detailed pledge to work every day in every way to build a more inclusive community. It was published as a full-page message in The Dallas Morning News.