Shaquan Grove, PRT, Executive Director

Best known as Coach Shaquan, she studies how people communicate, connect, and show up in personal and professional relationships. Partnering with her witty wisdom, relatable approach, and pure brilliance, she created a transformational coaching process called Check Your BS® designed to target your unhealthy thought-action patterns. Coach can be described as a memorable experience while coaching and teaching clients how to reduce fears and create the life and relationships they believe they can have.

Before accepting her life-purpose work, she obtained her B.A. from the University of Missouri- Columbia and was a 13-year employee for a technology services provider headquartered in St. Louis.

Coach Shaquan is a high-energy and well-respected thought-leader, and cohort of St. Louis Business Diversity Initiative Fellows Program. She loves storytelling, laughter, and quality time with her husband, two sons, and Goldendoodle. And when in doubt, she can easily be bribed with Skittles or red wine!

Dawn Gipson, Centene, Director of Diversity and Inclusion

Dawn Gipson is a Director of Policy and Programming at Centene in the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Office. There, she advocates for policy change to strengthen the company’s equitable environment and develops educational programming to drive awareness of inclusive behaviors and company policies.

Dawn has experience leading communications, program planning, events management, and DE&I strategic development. During her 19-year tenure at FleishmanHillard (FH), she helped Fortune 500 clients solve their most challenging puzzles around brand reputation, internal communications, and events production. 

With nearly two decades at FH, Dawn had a chance to wear several hats. One of them was Diversity & Inclusion Champion for the company’s Global Headquarters. She collaborated with an international team to develop the vision, goals, and strategy for the company’s initiatives while leading a 25-person team to implement programs at the local level. Some of the initiatives launched included a focus on inclusive policies to drive results in talent and employee engagement, and the launch of a LGBTQ employee resource group. Through smart communications strategy and executional excellence, the team achieved results that bolstered the company’s reputation, earning Dawn the St. Louis Business Journal’s 2018 Diverse Business Leaders Award. 

Dawn is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, and The Links, Incorporated. Locally, she is a board member of the St. Louis Forum and Vice Chair of the St. Louis Delta Foundation. She lives in Florissant, Missouri, with her husband and two daughters.

Sharon Winfield, YWCA, Chief Human Resources Officer

Sharon Winfield, Chief Human Resources Officer for YWCA Metro St. Louis and recipient of the 2022 St. Louis Business Journal HR Professional Award directs HR strategy for the top 25 non-profits ($33 million budget) with 300-plus employees. She has 25 years of experience in human resources (for-profit and non-profit) and holds a degree from Lindenwood University with an emphasis in Human Resources Management. She is a member of the St. Louis Forum and the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM). She serves on numerous boards, is currently Human Resources Advisor to Jazz St. Louis, and speaks often at regional and national forums and events. Outside of work, Sharon mentors young professionals looking to advance their careers. She loves to give back by volunteering her time at several non-profit organizations. 

Damion Jones, Bayer, Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion

Damion Jones is the Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion for Bayer Company within their HR Integrated Talent Experience department.  In his current role, Damion is responsible for outlining the company’s inclusion strategy & partnering with business unit leaders in regions across the company’s global footprint.  This includes partnering to implement cultural infrastructure and recommending actions in support the functional & regional oversight of our company culture and operations. Currently, he is working to implement a global I&D strategy across multiple functions and geographies. Prior to his current role, Damion project managed Monsanto Company’s Executive Team talent review & succession planning process and was intimately involved in their corporate governance aiding updates to the Board of Directors concerning CEO/ET succession as well as global diversity.

Damion received his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Morris Brown College (HBCU) and both his masters (M.S.) and doctorate (Ph.D.) from Saint Louis University specializing in the areas of both social and organizational psychology.

Outside his day job Damion is frequently asked to guest lecture and lead webinars on topics of inclusion, psychology and leadership within various corporate, educational and civic settings.  He’s also a founding Board member of the Heartland St. Louis Black Chamber of Commerce and sits on the board of The Biome, a STEAM charter school within St. Louis City that utilizes Carol Dweck’s work on “growth mindset” to instruct students in underserved communities.