Erin Thomas

Partner, Paradigm

Chicago

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Erin L. Thomas, PhD, is an award-winning diversity researcher and practitioner. She is a Partner at Paradigm, a strategy firm that partners with innovative companies to build stronger, more inclusive organizations, and leads Paradigm's Chicago office, where she is responsible for expanding impact in the Midwest and among Fortune 500 clients. Erin brings a distinct mix of research expertise and applied diversity and inclusion (D&I) practitioner experience to Paradigm. Before joining Paradigm, Erin led D&I at Grant Thornton LLP and the US Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory. In these capacities, she designed and executed transformational D&I strategies, introduced and enhanced work-life policies and benefits, and established and managed business resource groups. Her work has resulted in employer recognition from Forbes, The New York Times, Human Rights Campaign, Society of Women Engineers, vault.com, Working Mother, National Association for Female Executives, The Parkinson Council, and Equal Opportunity Magazine. Her research on intersectionality and social invisibility has received recognition and funding from organizations including the National Science Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the American Psychological Association. In 2014, she was honored by the Association for Women in Science-Chicago for her D&I advocacy. Erin volunteers at several nonprofit boards and committees, including the Chicagoland Business Leadership Network, an organization focused on the inclusion of people with disabilities, and Society for Human Resource Management-Chicago’s Diversity Committee. She holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Social Psychology and a B.A. in Psychology and International Studies, all from Yale University.