Seattle residents Latasha Gillespie, Kimberly Hill and Cierra McDonald recently received national attention in two iconic Black publications – Ebony and Essence Magazines.
Latasha Gillespie, Amazon’s Head of Global Diversity and Inclusion, was recognized as one of Ebony’s 2018 Power 100 Women Up. Gillespie is responsible for building the infrastructure to promote diversity and inclusion throughout Amazon’s multiple business entities. In her role, she created the company’s first conference dealing with issues of race, Conversations on Race and Ethnicity. As a result of her vision and tenacity, Amazon is now participating in the HBCU Partnership Challenge to increase diversity in corporations.
Kimberly Hill, Marketing Manager at Amazon, and colleague Rovina Broomfield pitched an idea to bring beauty products for women of color under one digital umbrella resulting in the company launching Amazon’s Texture and Hues. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos recognized and rewarded both women with the “Just Do It” Award at a company event. This award commends ‘intrepreneurship’, a term used to describe when employees create innovative changes that benefit their corporation. Hill was featured in the February 2019 issue of Essence.
Cierra McDonald is the Senior Program Manager for Xbox’s Advanced Technology Group at Microsoft. She was featured in the 2018 November issue of Essence as one of “The Future 10: Black Women in Tech”. McDonald, who previously owned the Xbox Live Achievements technical design and business policies, is now responsible for Microsoft’s game developer education program and strategy. She is also the founder and co-lead for Blacks at Xbox, an employee community network whose mission is to connect and uplift the black community within the gaming industry.
All three women are members of the Seattle chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
