Race and accountability in the boardroom

Victor Arias, Jr. is a Managing Director at Diversified Search, and leads the firm’s Dallas-Fort Worth office. He is a co-chair of the Consumer practice, as well as a member of the Board of Directors, Real Estate and Higher Education practices.

Victor joined the firm in 2019 from RSR Partners, where he had been a managing director in the board of directors practice. Prior to his time at RSR, Victor worked at Korn Ferry, where he served as senior client partner in the board of directors practice, the higher education practice and was global leader of the Diversity and Inclusion Initiative. Previously, he served as both a partner and a co-managing partner of the board practice and diversity services practice at Heidrick & Struggles from 2004 to 2007. Victor was also previously a partner at Spencer Stuart.

Victor served on the board of Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen (NASDAQ: PLKI) for 15 years, until 2016. He is past president and co-founder of the National Society of Hispanic MBAs (now Prospanica), a former member of the Notre Dame Institute of Latino Studies board, and a founding board member of the Latino Corporate Directors Association, a membership group of Hispanic corporate directors.

Victor is a trustee emeritus for the Stanford University board of trustees, the current chairman of the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative, and a prior member of the Stanford GSB Advisory Council. In addition, he serves on the Development Board of the University of Texas El Paso, and is a former White House Fellows Commissioner. He was recently elected to the Board of Directors of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Victor received a BBA from the University of Texas, El Paso and a MBA from Stanford University.

Dane. E. Holmes is the Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Eskalera, Inc., an enterprise software company that builds inclusive, productive work cultures through people empowerment and data-based insights, since 2020. Prior to Eskalera, Holmes was the global head of Human Capital Management at Goldman Sachs from 2017 to 2019 and served as a member of the firm’s Management Committee. He held many positions at Goldman Sachs from 2007 to 2017, including global head of Pine Street and global head of investor relations. During his career, he served on a variety of additional global committees, including Partnership Committee, Risk Committee, Client and Business Standards Committee, Finance Committee, and Global Diversity Committee. Holmes serves on the board of KKR & Co. Inc. Holmes also serves on several non-profit boards. He is currently the Chair of The Ron Brown Scholar Program. Holmes earned a B.A. in architecture from Columbia University.

Gwen Houston is an accomplished, forward-thinking and results-driven global business consultant. Ms. Houston is the former Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer of Microsoft Corporation, Campbell Soup Companies, Aetna and Nike. 

With 25+ years’ experience as a global business leader and strategist across multiple industries, Gwen is highly regarded as an expert in the field of global diversity, equity and inclusion. She is a frequent presenter at national and international conferences, making numerous appearances as a subject matter expert on organizational change, leadership, and diversity and inclusion. Gwen also has significant legal and public policy experience having worked for the Texas Legislature.

Ms. Houston has also been the recipient of many prestigious awards and honors, including being featured as one of Savoy’s Top Women in Corporate America and receiving one of National Multicultural Institute’s Leading Lights Diversity Award. Gwen was honored as one of Diversity Woman’s 50 Diversity Champs. She has also received Campbell Soup Company’s President Award, and Microsoft’s Distinguished Leadership Award.

Some examples of her affiliations include:

• Founding council member and former chair of The Conference Board’s Workforce Diversity Council
• Former Advisory Board member at Catalyst, Inc.
• Former Advisory Board member of the Working Mother Multicultural Women’s National Conference
• Former Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund Advisory Board
• Advisory Board member of the Task Force for Talent Innovation/CTI
• Board Member, President’s International Advisory Board; University of TX at Austin

Education: Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Louisiana. Graduate of Georgetown University’s Institute of Comparative Political and Economic Systems (ICPES) Program. Gwen earned both her law degree and master's degree in public affairs from the University of Texas.  She lives in Seattle, WA.