Deidra Jenkins, EL
Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer
Northern Trust
Aurora University
Deidra Jenkins is a senior vice president and chief diversity officer – Americas for Northern Trust. She is responsible for the strategic vision and implementation for Northern Trust’s Diversity & Inclusion initiatives. Deidra has more than 23 years of experience as a banking professional at Northern Trust with expertise in client servicing operations, project management, and change management. Over the past five years Deidra has successfully led and implemented various policies and practices as head of supplier diversity in procurement. She has served as Corporate Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Committee Co-Chair, National Minority Supplier Development Council outreach committee chair, Chicago Minority Supplier Development Council executive board member, United Way Campaign committee co-chair and Women’s Business Development Center certification committee member. As the director of supplier diversity in the Strategic Sourcing Group, Deidra was responsible for expanding the company’s business opportunities and strengthening corporate partnerships with minority- and women-owned business. Deidra worked to ensure that the program’s strategy created a competitive advantage that increased Northern’s value, created wealth for their investors and built the communities they serve. Deidra is a board member of The Chicago Minority Business Development Center (CMBDC), secretary of the executive committee of CMBDC, chair of the education and training committee of CMBDC, and certification committee member and corporate partner for the Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC). Deidra earned a bachelor’s degree from Aurora University in finance.
