Lee Jourdan

Chevron’s former Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer (CDIO) shares his expertise on the causes that limit diversity in organizations today. And he reveals concrete solutions that move business forward and recognize workplace diversity and inclusion for what it truly is: Competitive Advantage

Neither our ethnicity, gender orientation, religion, or whatever makes us diverse, makes us inferior or superior to another. So, how do we ensure all have an equal opportunity to compete? Lee Jourdan

After 15 years in high-level business development roles at Chevron and decades of experience in the energy industry, Lee Jourdan was tapped to develop a more diverse, equitable and inclusive culture at Chevron. He and his team were extraordinarily successful, winning multiple awards and establishing Chevron as a diversity champion with high marks for an inclusive culture in the process—no small feat, given the industry’s “Big Oil” culture and historical record of discrimination.

Under Jourdan’s watch, Chevron was the first major oil and gas company to publicly share disaggregated demographic data by employee rank and race, which spurred others in the industry to do the same. He was awarded the SASE 2020 Advocate Award, the same year he was recognized by Business Insider as one of 100 People Transforming Business in North America. The following year, The Washington Post ran a frontpage profile featuring Jourdan’s pragmatic, reasoned and data-driven approach.

Since retiring from Chevron, Jourdan has emerged as a thought leader who advises leaders on how to implement measurable diversity goals and establish impactful programs in the employee recruitment and retention process; and how to involve teams in constructive, non-polarizing conversations around privilege, diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Jourdan is a contributor to publications such as the Harvard Business Review, HR Today and leading energy industry trade publications. He serves as an independent corporate board director at technology company PROS Holdings and as a board member for the non-profit SEARCH Homeless Services in Houston and ALLY Energy. 

He is the co-author of From Shoeshine to Star Wars, a memoir about his father who rose from shining shoes during the Great Depression to become a logistician playing a critical role developing the “Star Wars “ US nuclear defense system, and his mother, a teacher and later an information technology manager who worked as a “Computer” for aeronautical manufacturers in the 1950s, a role akin to the women memorialized in the movie Hidden Figures. 

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