Vernā Myers () is an American diversity consultant, author, lawyer, and business executive. She is also the founder and CEO of the Vernā Myers Company and was the inaugural Vice President of Inclusion at

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

from 2018 to 2023. Myers is the author of two books published by the American Bar Association: ''Moving Diversity Forward - How To Go From Well-Meaning To Well-Doing'' and ''What If I Say The Wrong Thing: 25 Habits for Culturally Effective People''.

Early life and education

Myers was raised in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. She later moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to attend

Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

's undergraduate program receiving a Bachelor of Arts,

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

. Upon graduation, she moved to

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

to attend

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

, receiving her

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree in 1985.

Career

In 1992, Myers was appointed the first executive director of the Boston Law Firm Group (now the Boston Lawyers Group), a consortium of firms and corporate legal departments. She also served as deputy chief of staff for the

Attorney General of Massachusetts The Massachusetts attorney general is an elected Constitution of Massachusetts, constitutionally defined executive officer of the Massachusetts government. The officeholder is the chief lawyer and law enforcement officer of the Massachusetts, Com ...

. Vernā practiced corporate and real estate law in

at Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault, LLP and Fitch, Wiley, Richlin & Tourse, LLP. Myers founded The Vernā Myers Company, where she serves as its CEO. In 2014, Myers spoke on the subject of "

unconscious bias An implicit bias or implicit stereotype is the pre-reflective attribution of particular qualities by an individual to a member of some social out group. Implicit stereotypes are thought to be shaped by experience and based on learned association ...

" in her

TED talk TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "Ideas Change Everything" (previously "Ideas Worth Sprea ...

, "How to Overcome Our Biases? Walk Boldly Toward Them," which she gave at a TEDx event in Boston on November 15. She has also given talks on unconscious bias and other DEI-related topics to organizations such as Cleveland Metropolitan Bar,

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

, and the Massachusetts Women's Conference. Myers has been interviewed by television news networks such as

WCVB WCVB-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by Hearst Television. The station's studios are located on TV Place (off Gould Street near the I-95/ MA 128/Highland Avenue inte ...

News, MPR News, and

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

. Myers also created the OPUS Conference, a conference centered on race and ethnicity forlarge law firms and corporations. She also authored two books, ''Moving Diversity Forward: How to Go From Well-Meaning to Well-Doing'', and ''What If I Say the Wrong Thing?: 25 Habits for Culturally Effective People''. In 2018, Vernā filled the inaugural role as VP, Inclusion Strategy at

She has developed the overall culture at Netflix, including inclusion frameworks for casting and production crew hiring on programs such as ''

Bridgerton ''Bridgerton'' is an American alternative history regency romance television series created by Chris Van Dusen for Netflix. Based on the book series Bridgerton (novel series), of the same name by Julia Quinn, it is Shondaland's first scripted ...

''. In 2021, Myers and

Arianna Huffington Arianna Stassinopoulos Huffington (; , ; born July 15, 1950) is a Greek American author, syndicated columnist and businesswoman. She is a co-founder of ''HuffPost'', the founder and CEO of Thrive Global, and the author of fifteen books. She ha ...

joined to provide a training courses on

LinkedIn Learning LinkedIn Learning is an American global massive open online course provider. It provides video courses taught by industry experts in software, creative, and business skills. It is a subsidiary of LinkedIn. All the courses on LinkedIn fall into fo ...

on the subject of confronting biases. The course was ranked the most popular course on the platform in 2021. In 2024, Vernā delivered the commencement speech at Santa Clara Law School. Her quote "Diversity is being invited to the party, Inclusion is being asked to dance" has been widely cited and referenced by individuals, the press, and various organizations such as OMD, SHRM, and the Academy of Eating Disorders. Myers hosts the podcast Sundays with Vernā. Harvard Business Publishing partnered with Myers to create an ''Introduction to Diversity'' video widely used throughout US Court systems. Myers served as a featured instructor in the ''Dynamic Teaming'' section of the

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

Online course of their Credential of Leadership, Impact, and Management in Business (CLIMB) program. Myers also teaches diversity, equity, and inclusion courses through The Vernā Myers Company.

Bibliography

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Awards and recognition

* 2009, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, Named as “Diversity Hero” * 2010, Pepper Hamilton LLP, Award for Diversity Champion * 2014, College of Law Practice Management, Elected as a Fellow * 2021, CODE Crew, Award for DEI Person of the Year * 2021, Diversity Woman, Award for Top 100 Black Women Executives * 2024, Women’s Business Collaborative, Trailblazer in Gender Equity & Diversity Award

References

{{Reflist 1966 births Living people American women lawyers 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers Barnard College alumni Harvard Law School alumni