Equity Consultant, Author, Speaker, Thought-Leader

This youngest child of South Carolina sharecroppers attended 5 different elementary schools and lived in 11 homes before starting high school and eventually dropping out of college on the heals of a series of family tragedies. 

Not only did she bounce back beating the odds but she excelled by becoming a trailblazing executive with many firsts in her historic past. One of her more recent historic firsts was being at the forefront of the ESG movement creating JPMorgan Chase's ground-breaking Advancing Black Leaders strategy which increased Black leaders globally by over 50% in just over three years. 

In 2019, Valerie stepped out of corporate America to become an entrepreneur intended to scale the impact created at JPMorgan Chase opening pathways to the C-suite so others can follow in her footsteps.

Valerie Irick Rainford is the Founder and CEO of Elloree Talent Strategies, a consulting practice with expertise in advising organizations on Advancing Diverse Talent. Elloree Talent Strategies leverages Valerie’s unique blend of business strategy and a metrics-driven focus on results to increase the representation of diverse leaders in corporate America.

Professional Highlights:

Valerie is best described as an operations, process improvement, governance, operations risk expert and data geek with a passion for transparency and equity.

• A 30+ year veteran of the financial services industry.
• At 29 years old was the youngest person of any background promoted to Officer in New York Fed history.
• Advanced to become the first ever Black woman promoted to Senior Vice President at the NY Fed.
• An early leader in the ESG movement, created and led JPMorgan Chase's historic Advancing Black Leaders strategy.
• Founded a consulting firm focused on diversity, equity and moving the needle on diverse representation in corporate America.
• Trustee, Fordham University
• Director, Board Secretary and Chair of the Governance and Nominating Committee, The Executive Leadership Council

• Author, "Until the Brighter Tomorrow: One Woman's Courageous Climb from the Projects to the Podium" (a memoir) - BUY THE BOOK

• Profiled in best-selling leadership book, "Provoke: How Leaders Shape the Future By Overcoming Fatal Human Flaws" - AVAILABLE ON AMAZON