How DeRetta Cole Rhodes, Ph.D. Is Making Women’s History Now

DeRetta Cole Rhodes: One Brave, R.I.C.H. Human

DeRetta Cole Rhodes, Ph.D., a longtime diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) professional — serves as executive vice president and chief people capital officer for the Atlanta Braves. Winning the 2021 World Series, the Braves defeated the Houston Astros 7-0 (box score) in Game 6 to take the series, 4-2, an unexpected win.

While she has a breadth of experience and impact within her work, Performance Paradigm highlights Rhodes as a R.I.C.H. Human for her commitment to improving human capital and equity within her spheres of influence. 

When it comes to DEI, Rhodes is a vocal advocate, often using her social media platforms to share thoughtful insights. In a recent social media video post, she emphasized how people are becoming more aware of the word equity and its importance in leveling the playing field around how opportunities are created.

“The word that I love we’re using now that we weren’t using two years ago, or even 18 months ago, is equity.” 

What Is Equity?

Equity is defined as the quality of being fair and impartial, and this principle has become a business priority across organizations. While more organizations have redoubled their efforts on diversity through hiring and retention over the last year many organizations are expanding focus to include equity as a foundation. . Equity recognizes that each person has different circumstances, then allocates the resources and opportunities needed to reach an equitable outcome. 

In 2018 Rhodes returned to the University of Georgia to present her alma mater with her heartfelt TEDx Talks experience, “From Survive to Thrive: Women of Color in Corporate Leadership.” She shared a startling statistic that women of color hold only 4% of top corporate jobs in America. Through hard work, perseverance, and dedication, Rhodes is one of the few who holds a corporate leadership position.

As a strong believer in education and its importance in advancing to new levels of success, Rhodes chose to continue her pursuit of higher learning when she earned her master’s degree in marketing and organizational behavior from Clark Atlanta University.  

Rhodes received a doctorate degree in adult education from the University of Georgia. “Those who I thought would support me and help me in that journey told me that I either wouldn't graduate or that I wasn’t committed to the program. At the time, I was a single Black mother with two sons. So guess what? I didn’t have a choice. I had to persevere. I had to show up every single day, and show that, yes, this matters.”

In 2018 Rhodes returned to the University of Georgia to present her alma mater with her heartfelt TEDx Talks experience, “From Survive to Thrive: Women of Color in Corporate Leadership.” She shared a startling statistic that women of color hold only 4% of top corporate jobs in America. Through hard work, perseverance, and dedication, Rhodes is one of the few who holds a corporate leadership position.

Rhodes’ guiding principle is grounded in the importance of showing up. She is committed to showing up with excellence, fairness, equity, unwavering standards, and compassion. These principles have helped her make some tough decisions throughout her career.

“What I have found in 2020 is that there's a larger awareness for everyone to understand what it looks like in terms of having women in the workplace, in terms of understanding the importance of diversity and inclusion,” Rhodes said. “The word that I love we're using now that we weren't using two years ago — or maybe not even 18 months ago — is equity. Talking about equity changes the dynamics completely, because equity means that regardless of your outside appearance, you should have equitable opportunities. And that speaks to training, development, learning, and promotions.”

Perseverance is a way of life for Rhodes. She is living proof that challenges and adversity will only make us stronger. She’s well aware that there is still a lot of work to be done to create belonging in corporate cultures, but she’s committed to making daily progress, one person and one situation at a time. 

Rhodes and Vice President Kamala Harris can be seen with several of their fellow proud sisters of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. in the new documentary film Twenty Pearls: The Story of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated®, on Comcast's newly launched channel Black Experience on Xfinity.

Published works include:

Cole, D. (2010). Courage Under Fire: How Black Women Have Learned to Survive in Corporate America (Doctoral Dissertation). University of Georgia, Athens, GA.

Cole, D. (October 2012). The Storm Is Still Brewing; Leadership Challenges for Women Leaders and Their Corporations: A Call for Change in Leadership. Presented at the conference of International Leadership Association (ILA), Denver, CO.

Cole, D.; Munley, A.; Santana, L. (October 2013). Realities, Challenges and Leadership Resilience for the Female Executive: Practices Revealed from Across the Globe. Presented at the conference of International Leadership Association (ILA), Montreal, Canada.

DeRetta Cole Rhodes has been a speaker and has served as a panelist at several events such as Argyle (Atlanta, Dallas), Marcus Evans, HR Strategy & Innovation Summit, Connect HR Leadership, and TedxUGA (March 22, 2018), to name a few.

Watch her video for Atlanta Business League: DeRetta Cole Rhodes, Ph.D. “100 Women of Influence”