Tamla Oates-Forney, the CEO of Linkage, a SHRM company, joins All Things Work to share a concerning statistic: Women now make up nearly half of the workforce and are the most educated group in the labor market—yet they’re not matriculating into leadership at the same rate as men. With new executive orders reshaping workplace policies, tune in for critical takeaways for how businesses can take a “same but different” approach to designing viable, holistic, talent optimization programs that address these disparities—and how to leverage tools like SHRM’s new BEAM framework to ensure inclusivity and compliance.
Episode Guest
-
Tamla Oates-Forney
Tamla Oates-Forney is an innovative thought leader and speaker, women’s advocate, wellness champion, philanthropist and investor. She serves as CEO of Linkage, a SHRM company, a global leadership development firm committed to advancing women and accelerating inclusion in leaders and organizations.
Tamla previously served as EVP, Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) for USAA, where as a member of the Executive Council she led USAA’s team of more than 500 HR professionals spanning talent development, talent acquisition, pay and benefits, culture and employee services for 37,000 teammates.
Prior to joining USAA, Tamla served as Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer at WM (previously Waste Management). She spent the majority of her career (20 years) at General Electric, where she held multiple leadership roles, including HR Leader for GE Africa, Chief Diversity Officer for GE Appliances and Lighting, and Vice President of HR for GE Energy Connections.
Tamla is also an independent director and member of the Human Capital and Compensation committee for Summit Materials. She serves as a member of the Board of Advisors for her alma mater, UNC Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, and is a sought-after speaker, advisor and thought leader for several HR-related technology startups.
She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she earned her Bachelor of Science in business administration. A renowned expert in her field, she has received multiple honors, including being featured in The New York Times, Fast Company, The Network Journal’s 25 Influential Black Women in Business and Savoy’s 2020 Most Influential Black Executives in Corporate America. She is also a member of the Executive Leadership Council (ELC), a network of black CEOs and business leaders who support the development of diverse talent and the promotion of social justice.
Tamla enjoys spending time with her husband, Warren, and their two children, Annia (25) and Camden (15). She also enjoys traveling to Africa, discovering new vegan restaurants, working out, and watching interior design shows on HGTV. She is a member of the 1% club having completed a marathon in 2018.
Feature Stories
As part of SHRM's commitment to providing cutting-edge resources, get additional perspective and more insights in content curated from SHRM and around the web.
Mary Kitson, the founder and director of Mentor HR®, as well as the senior program manager at MITRE explores the pivotal role mentorship plays in career development, particularly within the HR profession.
Uncover the transformative role of AI in I&D with Michael Bach, whose expertise ranges from I&D thought leader to, best-selling author to, seasoned IT and operations professional. At the SHRM INCLUSION 2024 conference, Bach stressed the careful integration of AI to mitigate biases, underscoring AI's potential to innovate HR functions like attracting talent, conducting pay equity audits, and maintaining workplace accessibility.