Inclusion: STILL the Competitive Business Advantage

Shirley Engelmeier’s groundbreaking work in the area of inclusion and diversity has been a catalyst for change, spurring others to embrace her philosophy that inclusion is a business imperative. Engelmeier is a consultant to the C-Suite, linking inclusion work to companies’ strategic priorities. This is not a “nice to do,” but a “must do” for businesses in the 21st century hoping to gain and maintain a competitive edge.

Engelmeier has been working to meet client outcomes as an inclusion and diversity strategist and consultant for more than 25 years. Prior to that, she held senior management positions in global consumer product organizations Brown & Williamson and Frito-Lay. She has pioneered inclusion and diversity initiatives that have a major impact on improving business results through more engaged employees, breakthrough innovation and the retention of top talent. She, and the pioneering InclusionINC team she leads have moved the field of inclusion and diversity from tactics to strategy through their proprietary InclusionSCORECARD®.

In her work to confirm the business case for inclusion, Engelmeier has led the charge to globally validating inclusion behaviors and inclusive leader competencies. Moving beyond pop-culture hype, she leads the field in groundbreaking work to help senior executives excel by integrating the exploration ofunconscious bias with the development of inclusive leader competencies through an Inclusive Leader 360 and executive cohorts.

A highly regarded business strategist, Engelmeier has consulted with Fortune 1000 companies and emerging enterprises on inclusion and diversity initiatives across many industries, working with companies including: Michelin, BASF, Mortenson Construction, ESPN, Denny’s/Advantica, Intuitive Surgical, SCI, 3M, to name a few. Originally trained as an educator, Engelmeier earned her B.S. degree from the University of Minnesota and resides with her family in Minneapolis.