Serving as senior VP of DE&I is life-changing for Don Harvey. Over his 17 years with Kforce, Harvey has served as a leader in various business development roles and earned a reputation as a trusted and respected leader. Hence, after the civil unrest, a changing political climate and Covid-19 lockdowns of the summer of 2020, Kforce’s chief operations officer asked Harvey to participate with her in a series of town halls, “to gut-check the emotional impact that these times were having on our teams,” he says.
“The response was amazing,” Harvey says. “We had a couple hundred people on each call from every region in the firm. Our folks brought up personal stories of struggle, challenges, fears and confusion. Basically, they laid it all out. I was very proud to be part of these discussions.”
The town halls ignited a fervent desire within Harvey to get more involved in the firm’s DE&I efforts, resulting in his current leadership position. “I passionately accepted the role. I have long-standing relationships with members of the firm. Culturally, I felt that I could play a strong role in moving us forward as a family, toward a more perfect union.”
Under Harvey’s leadership, five workstream programs began. They tackled initiatives such as optional emotional intelligence and unconscious bias training — which boasted a 93% employee participation rate. “Our workstream partners did an unbelievable job!” he says. While the workstream teams have been retired, a DE&I council, a volunteer-driven group which Harvey leads, continues to advance the work.
It’s an exciting time with a lot left to be accomplished, Harvey shares. “DE&I is about humanity. From my perspective, inclusion is the biggest challenge across the DE&I landscape. If we can impact the folks at Kforce, our people will take these concepts home and have kitchen table conversations.”
Now that the threat of Covid has reduced and people can travel again, Harvey is looking forward to what he can accomplish this year and beyond: “We have many goals for this year. That said, the most important one is for our employees to be happy and motivated at work so they can bring their full energy and creativity to the table.”
2023 DE&I Influencers List