Tommi Paris is a Certified Diversity Professional, certified through the Society for Diversity, and has more than 10 years of experience and increasing responsibilities in D&I, employee communications, workplace culture, and employee engagement.
She is currently the Director of Diversity and Inclusion at Southern Company Gas, which was awarded the Roosevelt Thomas Champion of Diversity Award by the American Association for Access, Equity and Diversity for fostering equal opportunity as well as exhibiting outstanding commitment to diversity. She leads a team of professionals that builds, facilitates, and executes the D&I strategy for a workforce of more than 4,300 employees across the natural gas businesses of the Southern Company. She has responsibility for the evolution of the employee resource group program, which includes 9 groups with 18 chapters in four states. Tommi also leads the development of employee engagement initiatives and strategies to build leadership capabilities to foster an inclusive work environment.
Leaders who work with Tommi can attest to her strategic approach to developing initiatives that reinforce the value of an inclusive culture in enhancing the employee experience, delighting customers, and delivering results. She humanizes workplace inclusion through storytelling experiences that honor the richness of individual and collective histories while also creating learning opportunities that teach practical skills and principles of inclusive leadership. Tommi is proud of her ability to build authentic, trusting relationships with employees at all levels of the organization, including developing and delivering executive leadership engagements.
In her spare time, Tommi referees NCAA Division I women’s college basketball, which allows her to practice conflict resolution and manage competitive tension; she considers these to be her super powers.