Chris Simmons

Chris Simmons was the first black partner elected to the Governing Board of PwC, one of the most prestigious firms in the world. Chris’s career included a rare combination of leadership experiences, including PwC Regional Managing Partner leading 3,000+ professionals, Partner-in-Charge US Corporate Development (Mergers/Acquisitions), US Chief Diversity Officer (“CDO”), and US Partner Admissions Committee Chairman. Today, he delivers executive coaching, keynote and workshop presentations, inclusion strategy advice and dynamic panel moderation and participations.

Over the course of his career, Chris has coached minority and non-minority professionals and executives on career advancement tactics, advised organizations on diversity and inclusion strategies, authored books and delivered keynote speeches, development workshops and panel presentations. The professionals that he has coached have achieved above average rates of career advancement and success. He has advised or presented to brand-name law firms, banks, professional services firms, general corporate entities, professional associations, universities, and colleges. He is known for his detailed tactics- advice you can use immediately.

Unlike experts focused on one demographic, Chris brings cross-group expertise—having served as Advisory Board Chair and frequent speaker for ALPFA (largest Latino organization), frequent keynote speaker for Ascend (largest Pan-Asian organization), keynote speaker and recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from NABA (black accounting organization), and Membership Chair for Executive Leadership Council (premier Black executives’ organization). During Chris’s CDO leadership tenure, he led PwC to recognition as a Catalyst Award winner for Advancing Women in Leadership. He also led the first major focus on LGBQ+ advancement in the Big 4 and led PwC to its first 100-point rating from the premier LGBTQ+ organization in the US. Chris was also a pioneer in including white males in inclusion conversations, utilizing methods designed to allow them to speak freely without judgement or reprisal.

A Harvard MBA, Chris bridges the gap between organizational leaders building diverse talent pipelines and high-potential executives and professionals who need straight talk on what it really takes to win. His specific and tactical approach resonates with CEOs, CHROs, Chiefs of Diversity, ERG leaders and Talent Development leaders interested in strengthening their leadership benches and with Black, Asian, Latino, and female professionals tired of vague advice that doesn't advance them.

In his personal life, Chris has never met a stranger -which he attributes to his parents’ Mississippi upbringing. He is an avid cook of many cuisines, and an average salsa dancer. One of his favorite statements is:

“I’ve been to the “outhouse in Mississippi” with my relatives, and I’ve lived with people from the White House at Harvard, and I can’t find one bit of difference in the quality of the two groups”

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Chris delivers the secret sauce that builds careers and strengthens organizations.