Herb Johnson
Executive Consultant & Facilitator
Herb joined the InclusionINC team as an executive consultant after having been one of its clients at Michelin North America. Johnson is a valued asset to the team not only for his expertise in the Inclusion & Diversity space, but also for his perspective on how DEI drive business results. His career path at Michelin makes him a valued business centric executive consultant.
Herb Johnson served as Michelin’s Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer for North America. He was a member of the company’s international diversity council. His diverse and robust career in the business as well as his understanding of the company’s French culture made him the perfect person for this role. He selected InclusionINC to partner with him to develop specific DEI strategies for the US, Canada and Mexico. He has a broad understanding of the global landscape and how DEI shows up differently and uniquely from one country to another. Under his leadership, the US business grew its Business Resource Groups (BRGs) from 4 to 10, going beyond race, gender and sexual identity to include disabilities and religion. Herb has been a subject matter expert and panelist on DEI across the US.
Before dedicating his professional career in DEI, Johnson navigated a career in Research & Development at BFGoodrich and later moved into Marketing where he managed various motorsports sponsorships and led the company’s retail promotions department. Johnson was quickly promoted to the North American headquarters in Greenville, SC, to manage both Michelin and BFGoodrich North American motorsports programs, followed by assignments in sales as a General Business Director, corporate Public Relations Manager and North American Director of Community Relations.
Johnson earned his Bachelor of Science from Ohio State University and was a Riley Institute Diversity Fellow at Furman University.
Herb has served on several state and local boards including the United Way, Greenville Chamber of Commerce, American Heart Association, SC Educational Television, Greenville Free Medical Clinic, Urban League, United Ministries and A Child’s Haven.
Today, Johnson is committed to bringing his knowledge and experience to organizations on how to build a DEI program from the ground up and why starting from the top down is crucial for its success. As an African American male who has lived decades as being the only African American in many professional situations, and to being the recipient of unconscious bias, he uniquely understands that an investment in DEI is the right thing for companies to do. Additionally, as an executive who has had a successful career, he is passionate about helping organizations understand that DEI is also a smart business strategy that provides great returns on investments.