Servant Leader, Advocate, Creative, Adventurer

In corporate environments, I bring over 15 years of comprehensive Human Resources experience, with a recent focus on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging. My expertise spans leadership, collaboration, engagement, content creation, and program development, all driven by a commitment to fostering inclusive communities that fuel innovation and success.

Outside the corporate realm, I'm a passionate creative with a love for travel and photography. These pursuits offer boundless opportunities to view the world through different lenses, fostering personal growth through rich experiences. Together, they form the ideal creative synergy.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Formation of BLAAC

In response to the tragic events surrounding George Floyd's death in 2020, I founded Toshiba's first cultural Employee Resource Group, BLAAC, representing Black, Latin, African American, and Caribbean communities. Rooted in fostering belonging and community, BLAAC aimed to facilitate open dialogue and educational opportunities through speaker series, Heritage Month recognitions, and discussions on health and financial literacy, culminating in community outreach initiatives.

Speaker Series

Introduced BLAAC Presents, a thoughtfully curated series showcasing a diverse array of speakers who delve into topics vital to our community. From entrepreneurship and land ownership to health and wealth management, and Black history, each session offered invaluable insights and perspectives. I'm thrilled to have hosted an exceptional lineup of speakers including luminaries like Chidiebere Ibe, Warrick Scott, Robert Thomas, Damon Lawrence, Michelle Miller, and Sean Gibson. Together, they've shared their expertise, wisdom, and passion, enriching our collective knowledge and inspiring meaningful conversations.

NC HBCU Career Fair

In the fall of 2022, BLAAC collaborated with Toshiba’s Talent Acquisition team to organize the inaugural on-site NC HBCU Career Fair. We engaged with 10 NC HBCUs, inviting them to network and discover opportunities at Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions. The event attracted 27 students from six HBCUs, resulting in the hiring of two students. Building on this success, in 2023, we hosted a second HBCU Career Fair, tripling the number of student attendees.

Adopt-A-School Initiative

In 2023, BLAAC spearheaded Toshiba’s Adopt-A-School Initiative, in collaboration with a local minority-based high school. This initiative was built on three pillars: Summer Work, offering full-time summer jobs to juniors and seniors; Toshiba Insights, featuring talks at Toshiba HQ and the school about Toshiba, job seeker best practices, and professional journeys; and a Back-to-School Drive, where 75 bookbags filled with school supplies were donated by Toshiba team members.

Human Resources

  • Contributed to Kaizen projects aimed at optimizing onboarding, resulting in an enhanced and refined onboarding experience.

    Leveraged MS Forms and Power Automate to replace outdated MS Excel forms, resulting in a more efficient method of managing and tracking headcount requests.

    Modernized the contractor workflow by introducing SharePoint lists as a method of managing agency assignment, candidate sourcing, and status updates.

    Transformed and optimized the contractor system of record to align with business requirements, resulting in an improved means to monitor contractor tenure and reporting.

    Led the initiative to migrate HR/employee documents from an external site to SharePoint, facilitating simplified access and enhanced document management.

  • Led initiatives to drive culture awareness, identified manager strengths and promoted similar practices within their teams to foster purpose and ownership.

    Facilitated team meetings to encourage collaboration and alignment toward organizational goals.

    Provided coaching to team members on best practices, empowering them to create and enhance processes and workflows for improved efficiency and effectiveness.

    As the senior member of the HR team, recognized as the Subject Matter Expert (SME) on historical information pertaining to process, policy, and data.

  • Coached and provided support to executives and line managers globally on policy, procedures, and organizational changes.

    Partnered with HR Business Partners to resolve issues arising during new hire interactions and served as the point of contact for HR-related inquiries.

    Supported managers with Reduction in Force actions, offering guidance on notification meetings and providing supporting documentation.

    Conducted exit interviews and partnered with HR Business Partners to address any concerns raised.

    Developed a Heritage Series to promote cultural awareness during designated heritage months.

    Designed content for and conducted sexual harassment and safety training for new and existing employees.

    Revamped the employee appreciation and recognition program by introducing a rewards system where artificial bucks were issued to employees excelling in customer service, which could be redeemed for cash or gift card value.

  • Collaborated with the finance team to develop a strategy aimed at eliminating organizational change pitfalls as it pertained to cost center alignment.

    Managed workflows, overseeing global hiring processes, and monitoring change management initiatives.

    Maintained the HR Action Form, ensuring accurate data collection for global onboarding and change management efforts.

Highlights and Features

RECOMMENDATIONS

  • I worked alongside Cathy for several years at Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions, as we both ran employee resource groups. She was instrumental in developing the ERG landscape at Toshiba, heavily involved specifically in starting and/or running the BLAAC and VALOR (Veteran's) ERG groups. During this time she implemented many firsts for Toshiba, spearheading our first HBCU week, our first HBCU HQ career fair, and bringing in countless speakers and educators to Toshiba on topics ranging from, but not limited to, personal finance, mental health, and entrepreneurship. This had never been done before! Her passion for her community and DEI were unmatched, and I was inspired by her ability to lead others to join her in changing corporate culture. I highly recommend Cathy as a colleague and leader, as I've seen first hand her work ethic and passion for DEI and human resources.

    Manda Miller - Strategy

  • I had the pleasure of working with Cathy across a variety of projects at Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions. From working with her to support her leadership of HBCU career fairs, community outreach, DE&I initiatives, and other employee events, I saw firsthand the absolute passion, enthusiasm, professionalism, and pride that she brought to everything she did. She built strong, lasting relationships with individuals, teams, and departments across the company, showed respect to everyone she worked with, and was vital to the success of everything she took ownership of. She is an example of the best person and colleague you wanted to be around, and I am proud to have worked with her.

    Matthew Young - Manager, Corporate Marketing and Events

  • I have had the pleasure of working with Cathy for the past couple of years. Our teams work closely together, and we have truly relied on her ability to communicate any obstacles we may be facing and keep both teams informed. Cathy is a very conscientious worker who consistently juggles multiple tasks and always handles any issues that arise swiftly and accurately. I appreciated her organization and attention to detail. Cathy makes sure that if something gets to her with errors they are corrected before it goes any further. I have found Cathy to be a dedicated and hardworking professional and believe she will be an asset to any team!

    Laura Dominguez - Technical Recruiter, CTG

  • Determination.

    I usually encourage folks to avoid using common buzzwords like "determined" or "passionate" when describing themselves because... Well, isn't everyone? Typically, not always the case. But that isn't the case with Cathy. I've never in my career met someone as determined as Cathy. With any project or task assigned, Cathy will go to the moon and back to ensure its success - One of her finest and truest of qualities. I sometimes wonder "How does she do it?"

    Outside of determined comes in a true, caring friend and colleague. A listening ear is always available when you need it with Cathy. She never makes you feel rushed, and always makes you feel important, seen, and heard.

    Any team would be lucky to have Cathy - An outstanding colleague, friend, and mentor.

    Julia Orlidge-Diehl - University Relations, Toshiba

  • Cathy Foreman and I have worked together for the past 2 years after she assumed the responsibilities as the Contingency Workforce Program Manager for TGCS. She is my primary contact for contract staffing needs. Cathy impressed me from day 1 with her ability to handle her new role without missing a beat. She is intelligent, resourceful, creative, and cares about her suppliers. She truly considers all of us as valued partners who are important for the success of TGCS due to our ability to provide talent to hiring managers across the enterprise. After she moved into her current role, she quickly ascertained that the program would work better by engaging with IT to improve communications with her suppliers. We now have a portal for reviewing the information we need to find the right resources and observe the compliance requirements for this program. In addition to the contingency staffing responsibilities, Cathy started the Enterprise Resource Group at TGCS and serves as a leader and advocate. ERGs are voluntary, employee-led groups whose goal is to foster a diverse and inclusive environment. In addition to supporting colleagues at TGCS, Cathy and her teammates host job fairs, work with local high schools to enlighten students about opportunities within TGCS and other organizations, and more. She has a passion for making the world a better place for all! Cathy loves life and finds joy in traveling and connecting to people, and she appreciates humor! Hearing Cathy laugh can be a bright spot in my day!

    Rowena Heath - Retired, Senior Account Exec, Dexian

  • Cathy is a natural leader who knows how to leverage peoples' strengths toward the common good. She is sensitive to the deeper needs of her colleagues and addresses them appropriately. She will be an invaluable asset to your operation.

    Kahlil Crawford - Technical Writer