Angela Vallot

Angela Vallot is a nationally recognized consultant, lawyer, and thought leader who serves as a trusted adviser to boards and C-suite executives on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) issues. She has been a leading DEI advisor for more than 30 years, serving first as Chief Diversity Officer for two major corporations, Texaco, and Colgate Palmolive, and then as co-founder of VallotKarp Consulting.

Angela was recruited by the CEO of Texaco in 1997 to become the firm’s first Chief Diversity Officer. While there she led the company’s diversity efforts following the settlement of a landmark $176 million racial discrimination lawsuit. Under her leadership and working in close collaboration with the CEO and the board, Texaco became known as a model for corporate diversity.

She was recruited by the CEO of Colgate Palmolive in 2001 to serve as that company’s first Global Chief Diversity Officer and Head of Business Continuity Planning. She was tasked with leading multiple corporate initiatives including the development of a massive business disruption contingency plan and a global DEI strategic plan to guide the work of the company’s global affiliates.

She spent the first 17 years of her career practicing law at Jones Day and Arent Fox where she represented Fortune 500 corporations, municipalities and financial institutions on a range of legal issues, from government relations to real estate and international business transactions.

She also has a long history of board service. Angela currently serves as co-chair of the Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF), where she has been a board member for 13 years. She serves on the board of Xavier University of Louisiana, chairing its Academic and Faculty Affairs Committee and serving on its Executive and Compensation Committees. She is on the board of Suited, a recruitment startup whose game-changing AI-powered platform provides a more equitable and predictive way for investment banks and law firms to identify and retain top talent. She is also on the board of The Public Theater.

Angela graduated from Mills College and holds a J.D. from Georgetown University Law School