Dr. Shelton Goode is the president and chief executive officer of Icarus Consulting, a
veteran-owned consulting firm that specializes in helping organizations create inclusive
cultures that leverage diversity and inclusion for a competitive advantage. Icarus
Consulting accomplishes this by developing strategies which 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.

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 the 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 manage 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 not only served the country in
time of war but also 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, the Technology Association of Georgia 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 a variety of public administration,
human resources, ethics, and diversity topics.