Dr. Shelton Goode is the president and chief executive officer of Icarus Consulting. This veteran-owned consulting firm specializes in helping organizations create inclusive cultures that leverage diversity and inclusion for a competitive advantage. Icarus Consulting accomplishes this by developing strategies that enable their clients to attract, develop, and retain highly skilled talent from an emerging diverse workforce and, at the same time, enhance the engagement, knowledge, and skill of current employees. Forbes has recognized Dr. Goode as one of the "Top 10 D&I Trailblazers" in the country.
He is a business executive with over 20 years of diversity, inclusion, HR, and higher education experience. He has held executive positions for companies ranging in size from $300M to $11B+. He has developed or implemented talent management programs, performance management systems, sales incentive plans, labor relations strategies, and large-scale culture change initiatives.
Dr. Goode was a senior D&I executive at the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Agency, Oshkosh Corporation, Pennsylvania Power & Light (PPL), Georgia Power, Southern Company, and Alabama Power. Based on the results achieved in these positions, he earned a reputation as a strategic yet results-oriented leader.
Dr. Goode is the author of Diversity Managers: Angels of Mercy or Barbarians at the Gate. He learned the value of diversity and inclusion first-hand by rolling up his sleeves and providing CEOs and senior executives with counsel, insight, resources, tools, and innovative ideas that helped advanced their companies' strategic business goals. For the last ten years, he has leverage seasoned leadership and consulting skills to help companies implement diversity management initiatives, which enhanced their talent acquisition, employee retention, and employee engagement strategies.
Because of his passion for education, Dr. Goode has used his knowledge and experience to teach and mentor others. In 1993, he was awarded the first-ever African American Doctoral Fellowship by Troy University and began teaching at the university in 1996. Since that time, he has been dedicated to helping adult learners achieve their educational goals. For example, as an Adjunct Professor at Troy University, Dr. Goode taught thousands of students in the school's master's in public administration program. His teaching excellence was recognized when he received the school's prestigious Faculty Member of the Year Award in 2005.
He leveraged his extensive teaching experience to publish his first book, So You Think You Can Teach: A Guide for the New College Professor in Teaching Adult Learners. He is also the founder and CEO of My ABD Network, an organization that helps students succeed in doctoral education programs.
Dr. Goode, a highly decorated Air Force veteran, has served the country in time of war and consistently served his community in a time of need. In July 2011, the Supreme Court of Georgia appointed him to the State Bar Ethics Investigative Panel. He was one of only three non-lawyers serving on this prestigious panel. He chaired the Conference Board Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Council and has served on the board of numerous professional organizations such as the Atlanta Compliance and Ethics Roundtable, American Association National of Blacks in Energy, Society for Human Resource Management, and the Atlanta and Diversity Management Advocacy Group.
In 2019, Forbes selected him as one of the Top 10 Diversity and Inclusion Trailblazers. The National Association of African Americans in Human Resources awarded him their HR Trailblazer Award in 2005 and 2012 -- the only person selected for the award twice. In April 2013, Georgia's Technology Association presented him with the organization's first Lifetime Diversity Achievement Award for his body of work in diversity and human resources.
He received his bachelor's degree from Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University) and his master's degree in Human Resource Management from Troy University. He obtained his Doctorate in Public Administration from the University of Alabama. Dr. Shelton Goode speaks nationally on various public administration, human resources, ethics, and diversity topics.