New York, NY, October 14, 2022 - Scale Facilitation® names Damon Williams as Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer (CD&IO).
Scale Facilitation® has gone through a period of growth and is embarking on a process of external recruitment and internal elevation across several executive and key management roles. Damon’s elevation to CD&IO makes him only the second direct report of the CEO with a ‘Chief’ title at Scale Facilitation®, a purposeful strategy by Founder & CEO David A. Collard, as Scale Facilitation® has grown.
“Giving the ‘Chief’ title to an individual isn’t something I take lightly, in a firm where you have so many leaders already, removing the ‘Chief’ title from a team member can have a significant negative impact on both the individual and those who look up to them,” says David.
“With that in mind, I purposefully did not give the ‘Chief’ title to any of my exceptional key management team members, other than my Chief of Staff, James R. Fatone. James is accomplished in his own right and importantly a childhood friend, so he is someone I trust implicitly, which made it clear I wouldn’t have to take that title away.”
In this new role, Damon will work closely with Founder & CEO, David A. Collard, and other members of the leadership team to make sure the global operations of Scale Facilitation® and the companies it creates, adhere to the approved Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) plan and vision. Damon will play a major role in assuring hiring practices at all corporate levels are driven by DEI goals and standards. Damon will also report to the CEO on all matters related to DEI initiatives and policies.
“Since Damon joined the firm, I have seen his integrity, his belief in our mission and importantly the way he interacts will our key management team and external stakeholders, something critical to his new role as CD&IO. It would have been easy for me to delegate the recruitment of this important role to one of my key management team or a third-party recruitment firm, but frankly, it was an even easier decision to elevate Damon directly given his character, as well as his experience, and the professional poise he has demonstrated since he joined Scale Facilitation®,” says David.
Damon’s responsibilities will also include engaging diverse business partners and monitoring minority and/or women-owned business enterprise (MWBE) and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business (SDVOB) compliance on contracting goals. Damon will also make sure policies and standards of DEI plan integrate cohesively into an overall Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) strategy. In collaboration with the People department, Damon will also provide support and advice to employees regarding mediation and personnel complaints. And he will oversee, once they are established, Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) and any other equity and/or inclusion initiatives.
“It’s truly an honor to take on this leadership role at Scale Facilitation®. I am grateful to David A. Collard for giving such priority to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) within the company. He values DE&I as a core success component for Scale Facilitation® and genuinely believes in its positive, transformative force in business at every level. In my time working at Scale Facilitation®, I have already seen that DE&I is a deep, cherished, and embraced value that informs our leadership vision,” says Damon.
“Since first joining this team, I have been impressed by the calibre of diverse individuals collaborating to achieve our goals. Our team has remained dedicated to DE&I worldwide. I have the utmost faith that the global Scale Facilitation® team are committed to this mission, and that we will positively impact how our society conducts business,” says Damon.
“We are in the process of hiring or elevating candidates for c-suite roles both at the portfolio company level and at our group level, and I saw it was essential that the CD&IO role be one of the first to be filled so that we make sure the rest of these c-suite and key leadership appointments are all carefully aligned with our DEI values and principles. Damon is a perfect fit for this role,” says David.
During his time at Scale Facilitation® as Manager of Prime Contracting and Corporate DEI Policies, Damon exemplified his skilled and honed focus on increasing minority and/or women-owned business enterprise (MWBE) utilization and inclusion. He expanded MWBE engagement and utilization, and developed corporate DE&I policy and plans to achieve social justice goals as part of company business practices.
Prior to working at Scale Facilitation®, Damon worked in government organizations as well as private companies. Damon has worked in supplier diversity in the Nassau University Medical Centre and New York Power Authority.
He has a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Communications, graduating from Temple University in 2011. Upon receiving his degree, Damon worked with Empire State Development’s Division of Minority and Women Business Development.