MEET THE SPEAKERS
A Virtual Interactive Summit 
ATTACK ON DEMOCRACY 
WEAPONIZATION OF DEI
(Diversity, Equity & Inclusion)
Friday, June 6, 2025
​FREE & OPEN TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC WORLDWIDE
​4pm GMT (1600)  •  11am EST  • 10am CST •  9am MST • 8am PST
Black History IS American History


KEYNOTE SPEAKER 
EFFENUS HENDERSON
​United States

Effenus Henderson is President and CEO of HenderWorks, Inc. (www.henderworks.com) and Co-Founder of Institute for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion (www.i4sdi.org ). He served as Chief Diversity Officer for Weyerhaeuser Company, Federal Way, Washington, until his retirement in December 2013. He is an internationally recognized diversity thought leader and has been invited by numerous companies and organizations to share his expertise.  


He has addressed members of the General Assembly of the United Nations on intercultural and interreligious diversity and addressed a high-level panel of the Alliance of Civilizations in Madrid, Spain, in 2008; Istanbul, Turkey, in 2009; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2010 and Doha, Qatar in 2011. He was a keynote speaker at the 9th and 10th Forums in Fez, Morocco (2012, 2013), and at the 2nd World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue held in Baku, Azerbaijan (2013).  He currently serves as a member of the Advisory Board of the Global Dialogue Foundation, located in Melbourne, Australia. 


He is a member of the United States Technical Committee 260 (human resource standards) for the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and served as a convener for the development of recently published global diversity and inclusion standards (ISO 30415).  


His background includes the development of diversity and inclusion change agendas, formation and oversight of employee resource groups, executive coaching, and facilitating skill-building workshops and speaking engagements in over 18 foreign countries.  He is a chapter author in two ground-breaking books, Diversity at Work – The Practice of Inclusion, and Inclusive Leadership – Transforming Diverse Lives, Workplaces, and Societies.  He is also the faculty advisor for the Diversity and Inclusion Professional ISO 30415 Certification program at the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business.   He serves as a lead diversity consultant to the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) and its President Circle Architectural clients across the country.


He was named one of the top diversity officers in corporate America by Diversity Best Practices / Working Mother Media and received its first Diversity Officer Leadership Award in 2007. He was among the finalists for the second annual global ORC Peter C. Robertson Award for Equality and Diversity Champions. Henderson was named to Savoy magazine's 2010 list of the Top 100 Most Influential Blacks in Corporate America.  He was the 2010 recipient of the National Urban League's Collins Award for distinctive service and commitment awarded at the National Urban League's Whitney M. Young, Jr. Awards Gala in Washington, DC, in July 2010.  In May 2011, he was named by Black Enterprise Magazine as one of the "Top Executives in Diversity" for his outstanding business achievements.  The World HRD Congress in Mumbai, India, honored him with the "Outstanding Leadership in Human Resource Management" award in 2014.  In June 2017, he was honored, along with Barbara Deane, with the Innovation and Inclusion Award in the Non-Profit Sector by the Society for Diversity, Inc.  


He is a graduate of North Carolina Central University and the Stanford University Executive Program.  


Civil Rights Attorney Wade Henderson is Effenus' cousin.
Effenus lives with his family outside Seattle, Washington.

KEYNOTE RESPONDER
GARTH DALLAS
US UK CO-FOUNDER
​United Kingdom

Please note that some words in this biographical profile are spelled in accordance with British language practices.

​Garth Dallas is a Jamaican born, Liverpool based UK lawyer, multi-disciplinary business consultant, DEI specialist and expert in ethical and socially responsible organizational and societal practices.


He sits on multiple Boards, including Alder Hey Children’s hospital, one of Europe’s biggest and busiest children’s hospitals, where he is the Board’s DEI Champion and provides oversight on issues like health inequities and inclusivity in shaping the hospital’s strategic direction.


Garth is also a Board member of the Belong Cohesion Network, the UK’s leading membership organisation on social cohesion, offering academic research, consultancy, training, networking, thought leadership and events for members across sectors in the UK. Belong exists to connect, support and mobilise all those working to build stronger, more resilient, connected communities.


He is a founding member of the Liverpool Commonwealth Association and co-founder of the Good Small Business Awards, the UK’s first Business Sustainability Awards exclusively for small and micro businesses, recognising excellence in small and micro business social and environmental impact and business sustainability.


Garth has been a member of the organizing committee of the US Uk Summit on Race since its formation in May 2021.

Friday, June 6, 2025
​FREE & OPEN TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC WORLDWIDE
​4pm GMT (1600)  •  11am EST  • 10am CST •  9am MST • 8am PST