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Are you a new Chief Diversity Officer?

Does your DEI strategy need a reboot?

Perfect. This course is for you.

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Partnering to

craft solutions

to your diversity challenges.

Imagine a workplace where…

  • Leadership is equipped to inspire
  • Your workforce is empowered
  • Innovation is more than an aspiration
  • Tension becomes a creative catalyst

We work with you

to power your vision into reality.

We look at the stuff that’s between you and realizing your vision. Because in our modern, fast-paced world, we’re constantly bumping up against stuff: People. Places. Things. You know, stuff. Collectively, that stuff is called diversity. And here’s the good news:
It can be managed.
Not “fixed”. Not avoided.

MANAGED.

Why SDMS 360?

SDMS 360 works with you. We don’t just give you the answers. We partner with you to craft solutions to diversity issues that are unique to your organization. And we create those solutions from every angle that matters to you.
We offer:
  • A series of strategically crafted questions
  • Methods that allow you to create solutions specific to your challenge
  • Coaching tools
We leave you with:
  • Internal expertise
  • Tools to find solutions in real-time
  • A body of knowledge and skills to address day-to-day issues with confidence

Products and Services

Our trademark services, products and training are based on tested principles of diversity management and organizational culture development. We start where you are and guide you through to the fulfillment of your strategic goals.
For a deeper dive contact us to learn more.
Executive

Our offerings help position Executives to own the process.

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Consulting

Develop a comprehensive diversity management strategy with our tailored consulting services.

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Training

Address your real-time issues with our highly interactive training and education sessions.

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Online

Learn and practice your diversity management skills with practical, scenario-based online modules.

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Books

Broaden your understanding of, and ability to see, diversity management as a tool to address any diversity challenge.

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Our Core Team

At SDMS 360, our mission is to solve global complexities one challenge at a time. Our framework has transformed hundreds of nonprofits, colleges, Fortune 500s and governmental agencies over the past 30 years. We can do the same for you!

Contact Us

April Thomas

Chief Solutions Officer

As a music composer, performer and conductor, April brings a unique approach to diversity management, by merging the technical and creative concepts found in high-performance orchestras with the award-winning methodology of her father, the late Dr. R. Roosevelt Thomas, Jr., who was hailed globally as the Father of Diversity.

Dr. M. Elizabeth Holmes

Solutions Designer

Dr. Holmes has more than 38 years of experience in human resource management, having provided training and organizational development services to leaders, both in the U.S. and abroad. Her focus has been the design and development of programs and services to support organizations in their efforts to create and sustain long-term culture change.

David Rupp

Solutions Generator

David has served clients for 20 years in a broad range of activities. Among these are strategic diversity planning, training planning, implementation and facilitation. His focus is on creating client-based solutions within diversity frameworks that meet the client's current and future needs.

Darrell Butler

Solutions Generator

Darrell specializes in work environment productivity through personal empowerment and inclusion. For over 16 years he has assisted major companies, non-profit organizations, and government and academic institutions with innovative strategies to transform relationships to high performance results.

Melanie Miller

Solutions Generator

For more than 17 years, Melanie has achieved great success in linking persuasive human relations skills with sound business practices for leading companies in varied industries. Her focus is optimizing organizational effectiveness and cross-cultural understanding.

Timberley Russell

Solutions Coordinator

Timberley has devoted over 10 years to perfecting an array of administrative services in several different industries. Her focus is to cultivate the best practices and processes in the administration sector of a company to produce the most productive results.

Testimonials

“A colleague once challenged me that there is no such thing as a ‘universal approach’ for managing diversity. After explaining the Strategic Diversity Management Process™ to her, she immediately retracted that statement!”

David CaseyFortune 10 Chief Diversity Officer

“I thought I knew all there was to know about diversity. But I was wrong in my assumptions! I learned a lot, and I’m excited to put into action the things I’ve learned. I believe it will make my work environment more productive.”

AssociateNational Hotel Chain

“I've already seen a huge leap forward with the faculty. They were very open-minded through the entire search process and focused on the requirements rather than the preferences, traditions, and conveniences of the position. This session was exactly what the doctor ordered.”

Alison PlanteFilm Scoring Department Chair, Berklee College of Music

“Wow, [My Diversity Manager™] is just a great decision making tool. You can take the word 'diversity’ out of the title!”

ManagerNational Retail Pharmacy Company

“Selecting award nominees blindly brings us closer towards increased inclusivity and 'building a house for both giraffes and elephants.' The nominees include both award-winning students and those who haven't yet been recognized by the department, which is a good thing!”

Alison PlanteFilm Scoring Department Chair, Berklee College of Music

A Time Honored History

Diversity Management was originated and developed by the late Dr. R. Roosevelt Thomas, Jr., “The Father of Diversity Management.” Dr. Thomas defined diversity as “any collective mixture characterized by differences, similarities, and their related tensions and complexities.”

He believed managing diversity should not only be strategic, but approached like a craft, whose components include key concepts, principles, skills, practice and mastery.

Those who practice the craft of Diversity Management are able to make quality decisions in the midst of unpredictable dynamics.

Dr. Thomas also saw Diversity Management as a business practice; not a special program only to be used in crisis or as an item to check off a to-do list.

Today, Diversity Management is literally in the DNA of SDMS 360. Dr. Thomas’ vision continues to thrive under the direction of April Thomas, Dr. Thomas’ daughter and our Founder/CEO.

SDMS 360 propels the strategic intent of Dr. Thomas’ framework forward, using creative means to maintain its enduring appeal and demonstrate its universal relevance throughout the world.

Dr. Thomas’ classic and pioneering framework, the Strategic Diversity Management Process™ (SDMP), continues to impact thousands through skills-based training, professional consulting, eLearning, and measurement tools.

Diversity: Managing DifferencesDiversity: Managing RepresentationLegacy of DiversityAre Twenty-Five Years Long Enough?
June 30, 2023

Are Twenty-Five Years Long Enough?

PREFACE Personally, I am pro-Affirmative Action; however, I also know that Affirmative Action has a limited life expectancy. I believe that an orderly transition is preferable to one characterized by divisiveness and turmoil. Toward that end, I have sought in this statement to stimulate thought and dialogue that can facilitate development of effective transition strategies for our country and its…
Dr. R. Roosevelt Thomas, Jr.
Diversity: Managing DifferencesDiversity: Managing Workplace CultureRequirements: A “Quiet Quitting” Antidote?
September 4, 2022

Requirements: A “Quiet Quitting” Antidote?

I caught up on some overdue reading over the holiday weekend and decided to wear my “Content Curator” hat today.  Everyone is talking about “Quiet Quitting” (QQ).  Per Wikipedia: The philosophy of quiet quitting is not abruptly leaving a job but doing exactly what the job requires, no more no less. The main objective of this mindset is avoiding occupational…
April Thomas
UncategorizedBLM Actions By Paradigm
April 14, 2021

BLM Actions By Paradigm

default Greetings Deconstructing Inclusion Participants: It was a pleasure meeting and talking with you. I look forward to continuing the conversation and sharing about the actions we've each taken! Click the link below to download the chart of BLM Actions by Paradigm. BLM Actions by Paradigm   Thank you, April Thomas CSO
April Thomas

Select Case Studies

Each of these organizations faced a unique set of challenges, rooted in a unique mix of people, places and things. What they all have in common is that they recognized the value of effective diversity management in resolving those challenges. They invited us to bring our distinctive approach to those challenges, tailored and customized for their needs.

We can do the same for you!

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