Moving Up

William T. Rolack Sr.

William T. Rolack Sr. joined Adecco Employment Services as diversity manager for the Swiss company¹s U.S. operations. Rolack will be responsible for developing and implementing programs within the Adecco Dimensions four-pronged diversity initiative, encompassing diversity education, diversity recruitment, supplier diversity and community outreach. Rolack is president of the Greater New York Chapter of the National Association of African Americans in Human Resources and serves on the parent organization's board of directors. He received a bachelor of science degree from South Carolina State University and an M.B.A. from Long Island University.

Debra Langford

Debra Langford was promoted to executive director, strategic sourcing, at Time Warner Talent Management. Previously director of strategic sourcing, Langford is now responsible for recruiting a top-tier slate of diverse candidates for all senior positions within Time Warner¹s divisions. She already has created external networks of diverse top-tier candidates and has been successful in mining those networks for successful hires throughout the company. Since 2002, Langford has brought 61 diverse executives into the company at the level of vice president.

Leslie Mays

Leslie Mays joined Pfizer Inc. as vice president of global diversity and inclusion. In this new position, Mays will be responsible for developing and leading the design and implementation of global diversity strategies and plans for Pfizer. Mays has a broad range of human resources and change management experience, most recently with Royal Dutch Shell Group, where she served for the last nine years. As vice president and head of global diversity and inclusiveness at Shell, Mays established the first auditable global diversity and inclusiveness policy in a global corporation. Prior to joining Shell, she held leadership positions at General Mills and Reebok.

John W. Mathews
John W. Mathews was promoted to vice president of engineering for Radio One Inc. He most recently served as director of engineering, a position he held since February 2000. In his new position, Mathews will help develop the Lanham, Md.-based company’s strategy for the use of current and new technologies. He will also devote substantial time to improving and expanding the reach of Radio One’s existing broadcast station portfolio.

Michael K. Powell
Michael K. Powell, former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and son of former Secretary of State Colin Powell, joined Providence Equity Partners Inc. as a senior adviser. He will advise the firm on technology and regulatory issues in the media, communications and information industries, on selected new investment opportunities and on certain of the firm’s existing investments. Powell spent over seven years as an FCC commissioner and served as chairman from January 2001 to March 2005. Before joining the commission in 1997, Powell was chief of staff of the antitrust division in the Department of Justice and, prior to that, was a lawyer at O’Melveny & Myers LLP. He also served as an international policy adviser to then Secretary of Defense Richard B. Cheney. Powell has a bachelor’s degree in government from the College of William and Mary and a law degree from Georgetown University.

Don Richards
Don Richards was named to the newly created post of senior vice president of agency diversity programs at the American Association of Advertising Agencies. Richards will have responsibility over all of the association’s diversity programs, including Operation Success, the group’s multicultural advertising intern program, and Operation Jumpstart, the minority scholarship program. He most recently served as associate national director, affirmative action and diversity, at the Screen Actors Guild. Richards spent 22 years with Leo Burnett Worldwide, one of the world’s largest global ad agencies, where he became the company’s first African-American vice president. Richards held senior management positions at Marschalk Co. in New York, currently Lowe & Partners, and at DDB Needham.

Rosemarie I. Strawn
Rosemarie I. Strawn owner of the training and coaching firm Positive Actions, is president-elect of the New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners (NJAWBO). Strawn is a motivational speaker, corporate trainer and published author. Since 2001, she has motivated teams to increase productivity, teamwork and communications with each other and their customers through customized training seminars and motivational speeches that cover such subjects as public speaking, time management, and stress management. A graduate of New Jersey Institute of Technology, Strawn earned an M.B.A. from St. Peter’s College. 

Roslyn Neal Dickerson
Roslyn Neal Dickerson was appointed regional senior vice president of diversity, the Americas, for InterContinental Hotels Group. Dickerson will be reporting directly to Steve Porter, president, the Americas, IHG. Prior to joining IHG, Dickerson served as corporate vice president, chief diversity officer, with Honeywell, headquartered in Morristown, N.J., beginning in 2002. As a global senior leader at Honeywell, Dickerson initiated a complete redesign of the strategy, operating structure and governance model for diversity management at Honeywell and provided leadership and coaching for business unit leaders.