Updated on April 08, 2025
We sat down with Carla Dawson, chief human resources officer at financial technology company OCC, and Pat Vihtelic, founder and CEO at meal kit and delivery service Home Chef to learn a little bit about how they knew it was time to hire a dedicated, full-time DEI leader. Dawson and Vihtelic share how their respective DEI leader’s positions came about, the qualities they looked for when interviewing potential candidates and the role executive leadership played throughout the process.