Member Spotlight: Audrey Cormier
What is your industry or area of expertise?
I worked for Chevron Corporation for 39 years and retired 7 years ago. When I retired, I was the diversity and inclusion manager.
I am trained as a scientist. I have a BS and Masters in Science from Auburn University. Mid-career, I pivoted and got an MBA in Procurement and Supply Chain Management, which was a pilot program that Chevron launched. They chose 30 people to send to Arizona State University, and I used that MBA to support my efforts in diversity and inclusion.
Why do you believe in the mission of BlackFemaleProject?
I believe in the mission because of the part that talks about your ability to self-define success. Black women in corporate America have achieved some successes, but clearly there are many more things companies can do to create opportunities for Black women and women of color. If there is an organization that they can partner with to create a more welcoming space that would allow that self definition of success to occur within the constraints of what success means for that company, that’s a good partnership. It’s a good tool for any diversity and inclusion manager who is looking to make the workforce better for all employees, in particular black women. BlackFemaleProject and programs like it can be a really good resource to help them achieve the goals they are trying to achieve.
What brought you to BlackFemaleProject?
I’ve known and heard about it since its infancy. I am personal friends with Precious Stroud. I met her through a common friend, and I learned about her desire to start this organization and have had the pleasure of watching it grow. What inspires me is that this really powerful woman had a vision to create something that is so needed in corporate America, needed in our community, and needed for Black women. It's the right project for the right time.
How has BlackFemaleProject impacted you personally?
What it has done for me is kept me connected to a community of Black women who are speaking about things that are important to us as a community. It’s allowed me to be a part of a conversation that is relevant. When you retire, some people might want to relax, sit, or travel. But I still like to be a part of relevant conversations related to what women, people of color, and diverse populations need. And it fulfills that need for me.
What BlackFemaleProject content or offering have you found most resonant?
I participated in 8 Weeks of Self-Discovery during the pandemic—it was a program that allowed us to think about how we would best use our time as busy people. It was a virtual seminar where we were all talking about what we were using this down time to do and how we were using it to develop and refresh ourselves. And I can remember saying that I hoped that when things opened up again that we wouldn’t revert back to our crazy busy selves. That we would bring some of the learnings from this conversation about being focused, intentional, and thoughtful about who we were because the time and the environment has allowed us to do that. That to me was a resonant time. It was comfortable, it was helpful, it was insightful, and it struck a nerve with me and other Black women because we try to be everything to everybody. We nurture the kids and the husbands; we try to fix the world and solve it all. And this was a conversation that allowed us not to do that.
Bio:
Audrey Goins Cormier is the retired Manager of Diversity and Inclusion for Chevron Corporation. In this role, she was responsible for workplace inclusion strategies, mentoring programs, and external relationships with global diversity organizations. She also coordinated Chevron’s global procurement activities with diverse (small, minority, women-owned, and locally owned) businesses.
Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Audrey attended Auburn University on the William Crawford Gorgas Scholarship for outstanding science students in Alabama graduating with BS and MS degrees in biological sciences. She currently serves on the Dean’s Leadership Council for the College of Sciences and Math (COSAM) and serves on COSAM’s Diversity Advisory Board. She has endowed the Audrey Elizabeth Goins Scholarship in COSAM at Auburn. She is also a graduate of the WP Carey School of Business at Arizona State University with a master’s in business administration in Supply Chain Management.
Ms. Cormier has served on the Board of Directors for the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) and on the Board of Directors for Inner City Advisors, the Bay area-based affiliate of the Harvard Business School’s Initiative for A Competitive Inner City, and currently serves on the Development Committee for ICA Fund. She was one of the founding Executive Committee members of the Northern California chapter of the Network of Executive Women (now Next UP).
Audrey is an avid golfer and is a published author of a book titled, Let’s Chat About Golf. She is married to Floyd Cormier and resides in Richmond, CA.
CONNECT WITH AUDREY:
