Cindy-Ann L. Thomas

cathomas@littler.com
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With a keen awareness of intercultural dynamics in the workplace, Cindy-Ann Thomas adeptly navigates clients through multiple diversity and inclusion challenges and opportunities. She brings more than 20 years of experience and high-level credentials to her role as both a strategic process diversity consultant and an employment attorney. Company executives in a broad spectrum of industries, including government, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, higher education and professional services, look to her for diversity and inclusion services and counsel that emphasize talent development, engagement, productivity and retention.

Cindy-Ann’s unique qualifications as a knowledgeable employment attorney and skillful facilitator are applied in training that extends from the executive ranks to the shop floor. She engages with clients in order to understand what they need.  Specifically, and before any initiative is implemented, she gains deep insights into the client’s workplace by conducting culture assessments. These assessments may be as informal as in-depth conversations with organizational leaders or they may extend to the development and deployment of a comprehensive “culture scan” that captures the views of diversity and inclusion expressed by the client’s employees.

Licensed in Canada and the United States, Cindy-Ann possesses a multifaceted perspective on the design and implementation of meaningful diversity and inclusion initiatives that are not only legally compliant but harness the potential of both stakeholders and individual contributors. She delivers her customized training programs to organizations that range in size from Fortune 500 companies to small, local businesses. 

Among her specialized services are these:

  • Facilitate executive orientation briefings geared toward assisting an organization’s key leaders in identifying current capabilities and next steps
  • Prepare and guide dynamic group workshops that raise awareness of and increase capabilities in working through diversity dynamics, unconscious bias and cultural competence
  • Develop client-specific, turn-key educational materials that allow companies to self-drive their internal equal employment opportunity (EEO) and diversity training programs
  • Deliver comprehensive EEO “train-the-trainer” programs for in-house facilitators
  • Lead one-on-one executive workshops that increase leaders’ diversity aptitude and skill development

For her vibrant and engaging training sessions, Cindy-Ann taps the resources of Littler Learning Group and its vast video library of contemporary diversity and inclusion scenarios. The videos’ targeted vignettes depict real-life workday issues in a captivating and engaging way.

Cindy-Ann completed the requirements for designation as a Roosevelt Thomas Consulting & Training Subject Matter Expert, and she is also a Qualified Administrator for the prestigious Intercultural Development Inventory. She is co-chair of Littler’s EEO & Diversity Practice Group and regularly speaks before professional associations, human resource groups, universities and industry trade groups throughout the country. Prior to her legal career, she was a human resources executive at an international business development corporation, where she addressed many of the organizational issues facing the companies she now advises and trains.

*Not licensed to practice law in North Carolina

Credentials & Recognition

Speaking Engagements

Inclusion & Diversity

  • October 19, 2023
  • Littler 7th Annual Conference, Bogota, Colombia

Advocating for Inclusion: Insights & Strategies for the 2023 Legislative Session

  • February 22, 2023
  • Schnake Turnbo Frank Inclusion & Diversity Consortium, Keynote Speaker

Fortifying a Commitment to Inclusive Leadership During – and Beyond – Crisis

  • February 26, 2021
  • 2021 Arizona SHRM Virtual Employment Law & Legislative Conference

Diversity at Work: Fortifying Your Inclusion Efforts in the Current Climate

  • June 25, 2020
  • Association of Corporate Counsel - Charlotte Chapter, Charlotte, NC

Panelist

  • June 12, 2020
  • The Casetext Advisory Board

The #MeToo and Times Up Cultural Shift: How to Reduce Disparities in the Workplace

  • October 22, 2018
  • SHRM Diversity & Inclusion Conference and Exposition, Atlanta, GA

Speak Up or Shut Up? The Persisting Challenges of Politics and Discord in the Workplace

  • May 3, 2018
  • Littler Executive Employer, Phoenix, AZ

Diversity and Inclusion Summit 2018 - Part 2: The Training Trap: How Efforts to “Fix” Unconscious Bias Are Failing Employers

  • May 2, 2018
  • Littler Executive Employer, Phoenix, AZ

Diversity and Inclusion Summit 2018 - Part 1: Should Affinity Groups Come with an Expiry Date?

  • May 2, 2018
  • Littler Executive Employer, Phoenix, AZ

Protests, Political Speech, and Public Relations

  • June 6, 2017
  • 2017 Mid-Atlantic Employer Conference, Washington, D.C.

Women at Work: Attracting, Engaging, and Retaining a Gender-Diverse Workforce a Perspective from the Trenches

  • May 10, 2017
  • Littler, Phoenix, AZ

Women at Work: Attracting, Engaging and Retaining a Gender-Diverse Workforce

  • May 10, 2017

The Why and How of Diversity in the Legal Profession - Panel Discussion

  • May 3, 2017
  • Women in the Profession Conference

Diversity and Inclusion 2016: Spearheading a Meaningful Initiative That Won’t Drive Your General - and Outside - Counsel Crazy!

  • October 26, 2016
  • Association of Corporate Counsel – South Florida Chapter, Fort Lauderdale, FL

Where Diversity & Inclusion Meet the Law in 2016: The 6 Essential Strategies That Successful HR Professionals Need NOW!

  • September 30, 2016
  • NCSHRM State Conference, Asheville, NC

Diversity & The Bar: Is it Happy Hour Yet?

  • August 16, 2016
  • Association of Corporate Counsel – Charlotte Chapter, Charlotte, NC

Take Command: Lessons in Leadership

  • July 14, 2016
  • The Gray Classic 2016 Business Roundtable

Blame the New Workplace! Navigating HR Challenges Created by Workplace 3.0

  • September 24, 2015
  • NCSHRM State Conference, Concord, NC

Diversity & Inclusion 2015: Spearheading A Meaningful Initiative That Won’t Drive Your General – and Outside – Counsel Crazy!

  • August 18, 2015
  • Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) - Charlotte Chapter, Charlotte, NC

Where Diversity & Inclusion Meet the Law: Hot Topics in 2015 for the Healthcare Professional

  • April 10, 2015
  • Carolinas Healthcare Systems Annual Diversity Symposium 2015

Let us know how we can help you navigate your particular workplace legal issues.