Empower announced today the appointment of diversity and inclusion (D&I) practitioner Djuana Beamon as Chief Diversity & Social Responsibility Officer. Beamon is a seasoned leader and cultural champion who has led D&I strategy for various business organizations across the country. She brings more than two decades of experience developing and executing global diversity and inclusion strategies and integrating them into the everyday culture of an organization.

“We must continue to embrace the rich thinking and perspective that people from all backgrounds and experiences can bring to the critically important work that we do together to serve others,” said Edmund F. Murphy III, Empower President and CEO. “With Djuana’s proven leadership we will build our diversity, belonging and equity and corporate social responsibility mission of creating and sustaining a more equitable workforce, which we believe delivers more diverse ideas and in turn leads to enhanced problem-solving, active engagement and ultimately better solutions for those who depend on Empower.”

Beamon has led D&I efforts for various companies, including Prudential Retirement, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Travelers Insurance, Voya Financial and Aetna, a CVS Health Company. Most recently, she served as Chief Diversity Officer for People’s United Bank, where she was tasked with developing and executing a robust D&I strategy focused on employee attraction and retention and overall business success.

Beamon’s strategies and thought leadership have been featured on podcasts, including The Inclusion Solution Live, The Power of Owning Your Career and 94.3 WYBC’s Electric Drum. She also has been featured in Savoy and Latino Leaders magazines and has been a guest on Bonnie Marcus’s Women Mean Business radio show.

She is a 2021 Moves Magazine Diversity Award Honoree, and in 2019 she was celebrated as one of 100 Women of Color making a difference in the Northeast.

Among Beamon’s responsibilities, she will lead and drive strategy for diversity, belonging and equity in addition to managing Empower’s corporate social responsibility program; expand community partnerships; and work closely with the company’s Business Resource Groups, which rally around common interests, experiences and identities and provide feedback to help develop company-wide action plans around diversity and inclusion.

Empower has been recognized by InvestmentNews as a 2020 Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Awards finalist. This year, the Human Rights Campaign 2022 Corporate Equality Index named Empower “Best Place to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality,” and Empower has been recognized among “Best Places to Work for Disability Inclusion.”

“Empower has made great strides within the company and our communities through our Diversity, Belonging and Equity strategy as well as our corporate giving program, Associates Community Together (ACT),” said Suzanne Sanchez, Chief Human Resources Officer. “Djuana brings passion and dedication to this important position, and with her leadership we will work to elevate our influence through results, accountability, thought leadership and involvement at all levels of our organization.”

Beamon holds an MBA as well as a graduate certificate in human resources management from the University of New Haven and a bachelor’s degree in business management from Albertus Magnus College. She is also a Cornell Certified Diversity Professional/Advanced Practitioner from Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations.