Corie Pauling, senior vice president, chief inclusion, diversity and equity officer, and head of corporate social responsibility, TIAA Episode 41
Episode Summary
In this episode, Christine Shaw speaks with Corie Pauling, senior vice president, chief inclusion diversity and equity officer, head of corporate social responsibility at TIAA. Corie describes her career path, sharing how she made the move from civil rights law to her role at TIAA. Corie also discusses her passion for empowering women and members of the Black community to Be the Change.
Episode Notes
We discuss:
- How growing up in Detroit shaped Corie’s professional career
- The impact that Corie’s first law firm had on her throughout her career and how they helped her build her confidence
- The importance of pushing yourself outside your comfort zone
- What makes Corie so passionate about her work in the diversity, inclusion and equity space
- What led TIAA to launch the Be the Change initiative
- And more!
Tune in to learn about Corie Pauling’s passion for working in the diversity, inclusion and equity space for women and members of the Black community!
Resources: InvestmentNews | Christine Shaw | TIAA | Corie Pauling | Be the Change
Guest bio: At TIAA since 2006, Corie Pauling became the organization’s senior vice president, chief inclusion & diversity (I&D) officer and head of corporate social responsibility in 2018. Corie was instrumental in the launch of the I&D function at TIAA over 12 years ago and served as a primary legal and business advisor and thought leader in this area. In her prior role, Corie held the position of senior director and associate general counsel in the Employment, Benefits & Labor Law Group, providing trusted counsel to TIAA’s executives, its prior I&D leaders and other human resources leaders and also business managers on a broad range of workforce issues, and she also managed employment litigation nationally. In the I&D space, she offers extensive experience in strategy development, board interface, EEO policy/training, social justice platforms, I&D data analytics/metrics, supplier diversity, pay and performance equity, talent acquisition and engagement, employee/business resource groups, federal contractor compliance and workplace investigations. She also leads TIAA’s enterprise corporate social responsibility (CSR) function, which last year led over 230 volunteer projects, 10K employee volunteers and $11 million in corporate and workforce giving globally, including progressive pandemic outreach initiatives. Through her groundbreaking leadership and strong enterprise collaborations, TIAA has achieved powerful indicators of workforce and business innovation through I&D and CSR strategies, and the organization has garnered lauded employer of choice recognition by renowned organizations such as DiversityInc, Forbes and others.
A former shareholder with the international employment law firm Littler Mendelson and also a former partner with the legendary civil rights law firm Ferguson Stein Chambers, Corie’s experience includes counseling financial services institutions and other Fortune 500 companies as well as representing individual employees in employment and education rights litigation. She has significant trial and appellate experience on civil rights matters. Having presented before the American Bar Association, the National Bar Association, the North Carolina Bar Association, the Practicing Law Institute, the Society of Human Resources Management and other organizations, Corie frequently speaks at programs on emerging employment law, diversity, equity and inclusion topics.
An engaged civic leader and 13-time competitive marathoner, Corie was incredibly honored to be listed among the 2021 Elite 100 Black Women leaders by Diversity Woman magazine, on the 2020 list of North America’s Most Influential D&I Leaders by Hive Learning and also a 2019 Black Enterprise Most Powerful Women in Corporate Diversity and, very meaningfully, the 2012 TIAA Working Mother of the Year in conjunction with the national publication Working Mother and a 2011 recipient of the Young Civic Leader Award by the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. Corie also served on the Board of Governors of the North Carolina Bar Association and as chairperson of the NCBA’s 500-attorney Labor and Employment Law Section. Among other leadership posts, she served on the Board of Directors for the Levine Museum of the New South and Charlotte’s Arts & Science Council Advisory Committee, and co-chaired the Mecklenburg County Bar’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee. An avid “late bloomer” runner, she is also thrilled to have qualified for and run the 2018 Boston Marathon, with training underway now for another shot in 2022.
Corie holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan and also a Juris Doctor from Northwestern University School of Law.