Tonya Horn is an accomplished professional with a strong track record of delivering service- and quality-oriented talent acquisition and diversity initiatives across various industries, including corporate, non-profit, and higher education. With her expertise in workforce development and outreach strategies, Tonya has successfully assisted numerous organizations in achieving increased retention, growth, and conversion of diverse talent through robust partnerships with universities and community organizations.
Tonya plays a crucial role in the recruiting function, collaborating closely with human resources and business leaders to design and implement effective strategies for recruiting and pipeline development of high-potential diverse talent. She leverages her knowledge of education, best practices, and trends to drive the organization’s diversity and inclusion efforts and ensure the recruitment of top diverse talent into the organization.
Below are highlights of the interview:
What industries have you worked in and how have you applied your expertise in talent acquisition and diversity initiatives to each of these industries?
My journey and career span began when DEI was not what it is today. It first began with a focus on just diversity, and over the years, inclusion was incorporated, followed by equity, not to be confused with equality, and, for some organizations, belonging. My experience is vast and started in higher education, specifically college admissions. For 11 years, at two universities, Nebraska Wesleyan University and the University of Akron, I was charged with increasing the enrollment of students from diverse demographics. That was in 1990 and 1995. This is where my interest in recruiting and helping students of color started; I focused on providing educational opportunities that were beyond some imaginations; due to cost, access, and first-generation.
My experience and love of working with students continued as I transitioned to a non-profit. In 1999, I worked for INROADS, whose mission, is to recruit, develop, coach, and place talented underserved college students in business and industry, and prepare them for corporate and community leadership. I partnered with an array of corporations and assisted with their strategies to create a more diverse workforce.
Currently, since 2011, the last 10 years of my career have taken me to corporate, working in HR Talent Acquisition, first managing the Internship/Co-op Program at FirstEnergy (Utilities). In this role, I was able to lean on my experience in non-profits, and I saw a need to diversify the talent pipeline of future early-career employees. In my second role at FE, I moved into the newly created D&I department. Here I began community outreach efforts, creating partnerships to leverage members as a way to attract diverse talent. This was a pivotal strategy to brand the company’s commitment to diverse communities. We focused on external barriers and gaps, leveraging best practices to address them. Also, in corporate, at Avery Dennison (Manufacturing), on the Talent Acquisition team, I worked on strategies to create a more diverse workforce. The efforts were focused on education, recruitment, talent sourcing, and outreach to early-career, professional, and operations talent.
How have you partnered with universities and community organizations to develop workforce development and outreach strategies?
At both corporate companies, a strategy incorporated was partnering with historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), which was a game changer for the Talent Acquisition (TA) team. Prior, the schools focused on were local and state institutions. We began to branch out, going to these schools, where talented, diverse college talent could be found. We also began to work with student organizations that served the diverse demographic we focused on. We have also worked with internal Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) to leverage their networks and referrals. These diverse groups have also been helpful in assisting with TA’s recruitment efforts.
How have you incorporated education, best practices, and trends into your recruitment strategies?
Through my learnings at conferences, memberships, and from DEI colleagues, I am able to share best practices and current trends with the Talent Acquisition team; specifically, to find diverse talent, we have to go where they are. We began to recruit at HBCUs, support, sponsor, and recruit from diverse student organizations, and attend diverse national conferences such as the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), and other diverse career and job fairs. A part of education is understanding how equity comes into play. If we want to see different results, we must understand that some people from underrepresented demographics are starting behind. It is important to address this and play a role in knocking down barriers to close the gap that has been systemically created for decades.
How have you worked with human resources and business leaders to ensure alignment between recruitment strategies and organizational goals?
I have worked with TA, HR, business partners, and business units to educate and develop strategies to diversify the company’s workforce by educating them on current recruitment trends and up-to-date practices to attract diverse talent. One of the company’s diversity pillars was talent attraction, increasing the number of women and ethnic employees at the manager level and above. My work aligned with this by educating the organization on internal recruitment barriers, policies, and practices that could prevent the organization from meeting its goals; and creating diverse partnerships to recruit members to the organization.
How have you navigated challenges related to diversity and inclusion within the workplace?
I have done DEI work in higher education, non-profit, and corporate settings. Corporate has been by far the most challenging. First and foremost, I stay in constant prayer for guidance and strength. In order to remain committed and passionate about the work I do in this space, I focus on the people that I’m making a difference for. I also lean on DEI colleagues and allies for support. DEI professionals’ challenges are sometimes synonymous, and sharing stories and being a sounding board for each other has made such a difference in navigating the many challenges.
How do you stay current with trends and best practices related to talent acquisition and diversity initiatives?
Staying current in the DEI space is so important. There is a village of DEI colleagues that I lean on. There are also many DEI member organizations that provide the opportunity to learn through virtual and in-person webinars and conferences. At many of these conferences, I have served on DEI panels, councils, and boards. Finally, a big part of my learning is done by reading relevant DEI literature.
Looking to the future, what is your vision for diversity and inclusion in the workplace, and how do you see your role as a professional in achieving that vision?
My vision for the future is for companies to really walk the talk and stay focused on the purpose, the people, going beyond checking the box and staying the course even during the hard times of economic downturns. Many organizations have started and stopped DEI efforts for decades and have made no real progress. The commitment must be there, as with any organizational initiative. The people must be at the forefront of our minds. We cannot be so focused on metrics, and goals and making top DEI lists that we lose sight of those we are creating change for. In my role, it is vital to continue to have candid conversations with leaders, continue to educate, and ensure that goals are created because, as they say, “what gets measured gets done”. Finally, it’s vital to communicate the importance of accountability and that DEI efforts belong to not just one person, or one department but the entire organization, supported by and a priority of the CEO.
