Hanold Associates Places Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer for Red Hat

May 9, 2022 – Hanold Associates HR & Diversity Executive Search has placed Shuchi Sharma as chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer for Red Hat, a provider of enterprise open-source software solutions. Ms. Sharma previously served as global vice president, diversity, and inclusion at SAR, a software development company. Val Lopez, Sandra Peña and Ivy Arlia led the assignment for the search firm. Ms. Sharma is charged with expanding Red Hat’s DEI function on a global level, emphasizing DEI as a core attribute of the company’s business strategy. She will be a part of the company’s corporate leadership team as a business leader, change-agent and advisor to Red Hat’s executives, associates, and communities.

“In her new role, Shuchi will be responsible for leading Red Hat’s DEI Global Center of Excellence, which is focused on setting our DEI strategies that align with our short and long-term business goals and partnering across our leadership, business and people practices,” said the company. “These practices include attracting and retaining diverse talent, career advancement and associate development. In her role, she aims to foster a culture of belonging for all associates and help make Red Hat a more open and inclusive company in the technology industry.”

Strong Experience

Ms. Sharma brings nearly 20 years of experience in business management and DEI leadership to Red Hat. While at SAP, she developed and implemented a cohesive DEI strategy to drive the company toward achieving its goals on workforce diversity. In addition to her DEI experience, Ms. Sharma has held a variety of leadership roles including leading SAP’s business consulting practice across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, building a global marketing function for business consulting, and leading the strategic sales advisory business for SAP’s HR cloud software business in North America. Ms. Sharma spent 10 years working in 14 countries, and brings a deep understanding of what it means to operate as a global entity to her roles. Prior to SAP she also held positions at Ernst & Young and SAS.

Related: Hanold Associates Recruits Chief People Officer for PE-Backed Hydrow

Founded in 1993, Red Hat is the world’s leading provider of enterprise open source solutions, using a community-powered approach to deliver high-performing Linux, cloud, container, and Kubernetes technologies. The company helps its customers integrate new and existing IT applications, develop cloud-native applications, standardize its industry-leading operating system and automate, secure and manage complex environments. The company was acquired by IBM for $34 billion in 2018, becoming IBM’s largest acquisition ever. Headquartered in Raleigh, NC, Red Hat operates around the globe in more than 40 countries with nearly 20,000 employees based out of 100 offices.

Respected HR Consultants

Chicago-based Hanold Associates is a boutique executive search firm focused on HR and diversity and inclusion officers. Its client list is diverse across industries, geographies and business scenarios, and culture is at the core of everything the firm does. Its clients include the National Football League, Zoom, Domino’s Pizza, Under Armour, Patagonia, Gucci, Tom Brady’s TB12, Kohler, REI, Live Nation Entertainment, Dick’s Sporting Goods, McDonald’s, Major League Baseball, Kellogg, Apollo, Big Ten Conference, Blackstone, TPG, L Catterton, Northwestern University, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Electronic Arts, Fiat-Chrysler, SC Johnson, eBay, Moderna, Hillrom, Great Place To Work, Fossil, Vail Resorts, AbbVie, Carnival Corp., Biogen, Allstate, Bridgestone, Wikimedia, ClubCorp, Nike, Abercrombie & Fitch, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, and Ford Motor Co., among others.

Ms. Lopez is a partner with Hanold Associates. She specializes in recruiting executive-level HR and diversity, equity, and inclusion leaders. She has over a decade of experience in rapid-growth, private equity-backed SaaS businesses, specializing in M&A integrations and change management. She is especially strong in translating strategy to action, particularly with respect to managing change initiatives and designing and implementing DEI programs. Prior to joining Hanold Associates, Ms. Lopez was global head of employee engagement and inclusion/VP of DEI at Cision.

Ms. Peña, a partner with the search firm, focuses on the recruitment of human resource professionals across industries including learning and development, talent management, HRBP, total rewards, talent acquisition, organizational development, and diversity and inclusion. Previously, she was an executive recruiter for Korn Ferry where she specialized in the recruitment of chief financial officers and finance executives. Before Korn Ferry, Ms. Peña was senior director of business development and account management for Latin America and the U.S. for the Corporate Executive Board in its information technology practice.

Ms. Arlia, an associate, focuses on recruiting HR and diversity, equity and inclusion leaders across industries and geographies. Prior to joining Hanold Associates, she held internships in the Chicago and Boston areas with Allstate Insurance and ESP Properties where she focused on customer relations, market research and corporate sponsorships.

Related: Hanold Associates Recruits Chief People and Culture Officer for Major League Baseball

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media