Entrepreneur Of The Year Celebrates Ambitious Entrepreneurs Who Are Building Bolder Futures
RALEIGH, May 9, 2023 – Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) today announced that Donald Thompson, CEO of The Diversity Movement, was named an Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2023 Southeast Award finalist. Now in its 37th year, Entrepreneur Of The Year is one of the preeminent competitive business awards for transformative entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies who are building a more equitable, sustainable, and prosperous world for all.
Thompson was selected by an independent panel of judges. Entrepreneurs were evaluated based on their demonstration of building long-term value through entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth, and impact, among other core contributions and attributes. He was nominated for the Entrepreneur Of The Year by Josh Haymond, Managing Partner of Vaco Raleigh and Founder and CEO of Beyond Basketball, Inc.
“As a visionary, DEI champion, and prolific writer, with high regard in the Raleigh ecosystem, Thompson was an immediate choice for nomination,” said Haymond. “With multiple successful businesses and exits under his belt, Thompson is unique in influencing strategic planning and company culture while simultaneously enabling clear returns for stakeholders. His commitment to DEI and investment in NC-based ventures has helped transform the local landscape and cemented him as a leader in workplace excellence. This is why he has been recognized by Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, and now EY’s Entrepreneur Of The Year. We’re looking forward to seeing Donald and The Diversity Movement being lauded in yet another prestigious program.”
“This award represents TDM’s commitment to changing the American workplace for the better via diversity-led initiatives that tie culture change to real-world results,” said Donald Thompson, CEO and Co-founder of The Diversity Movement. “We founded the company to authentically create culture-centric organizations and culture-centric leaders who are ready to win in the changing marketplace. What we’ve seen is that people’s lives are vastly improved when the workplace is more diverse, equitable, and inclusive.”
Thompson is a globally respected and sought-after business leader with a proven track record of success in growing firms. As a CEO, speaker, investor, advisor, entrepreneur, and executive coach, he brings a wealth of experience and expertise to any organization. Thompson is a Certified Diversity Executive (CDE) and passionate about driving cultural transformation and delivering solid returns for employees and shareholders.
Under his leadership, The Diversity Movement has earned numerous accolades, including Inc. Magazine’s 2021 Best in Business List in DE&I Advocacy and Fast Company’s 2022 “world-changing ideas.” In addition, Thompson is a three-time Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Companies winner, named to the Forbes Next 1000 List, the Business North Carolina Power 100 List, and winner of the 2023 Independent Press Distinguished Favorite Book Award in Leadership for Underestimated: A CEO’s Unlikely Path to Success.
Thompson serves on twelve boards across various industries, including marketing, health, and finance. He is an in-demand speaker and author, as well as host of the podcast “High Octane Leadership in an Empathetic World,” which delivers actionable leadership insights for creating culture-centric organizations and leaders.
Regional award winners will be announced on June 22 during a special celebration. The winners will then be considered by the National judges for the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Awards, which will be presented in November at the annual Strategic Growth Forum®, one of the nation’s most prestigious gatherings of high-growth, market-leading companies. The Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner will then move on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Award in June 2024.
The Entrepreneur Of The Year program has recognized more than 11,000 entrepreneurs throughout the US since its inception in 1986, and it has grown to recognize business leaders across 145 cities in over 60 countries around the world.
Sponsors
Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards include presenting sponsors PNC Bank, N.A.; SAP America; and the Kauffman Foundation. In the Southeast, sponsors also include regional Platinum sponsors, Cresa Global, Inc., Marsh McLennan and Vaco, LLC, regional Gold sponsor, King & Spalding LLP, and regional Silver sponsor, ADP, LLC.
About Entrepreneur Of The Year®
Entrepreneur Of The Year® is the world’s most prestigious business awards program for unstoppable entrepreneurs. These visionary leaders deliver innovation, growth and prosperity that transform our world. The program engages entrepreneurs with insights and experiences that foster growth. It connects them with their peers to strengthen entrepreneurship around the world. Entrepreneur Of The Year is the first and only truly global awards program of its kind. It celebrates entrepreneurs through regional and national awards programs in more than 145 cities in over 60 countries. National Overall Award winners go on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ title. Visit ey.com/us/eoy.
About EY Private
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About EY
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About The Diversity Movement
The Diversity Movement enables organizations to build and strengthen culture by tying real-world business outcomes to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives via a scalable subscription-based employee experience platform. TDM’s integrated approach creates inclusive culture through the application of data-informed insight, technology, and DEI expertise. The platform offers end-to-end education, from front-line employees to a leadership assessment tool that measures cultural competency in executive team building. TDM offers DEI Navigator for organizations who want to scale culture, as well as 400 original, digital learning lessons; 650+ award-winning micro-learning videos delivered in a “Netflix for DEI experience;” and analytics to track culture-building progress. “TDM Library” is a resource hub for organizations to find expert-curated multimedia content that transforms culture. TDM powers scalable and sustainable workplace excellence via a data-driven approach focused on results. For more information and resources, visit www.thediversitymovement.com.
About Vaco
Vaco delivers critical talent solutions to our clients by providing consulting, project resources, executive search, direct hire and strategic staffing solutions with expertise in accounting and finance, IT and digital, risk and compliance, and operations and administration. In addition to Vaco, our family of brands includes BUILT, a digital solutions company; Focus Search Partners, a retained executive search practice; MorganFranklin Consulting, a global business consulting firm; and Pivot Point Consulting, a Best in KLAS healthcare IT consulting leader.
Since its founding in 2002, Vaco has grown to serve more than 12,000 clients across the globe with 10,000 employees. In addition to being named to Inc. magazine’s list of the fastest-growing private companies for the past 16 years, Vaco was also named to Forbes’ 2018-2023 lists of America’s Best Recruiting Firms as well as the 2018 and 2022 lists of Largest US Staffing Firms by Staffing Industry Analysts. Vaco annually ranks as one of the Best Staffing Firms to Work For. For more information, visit vaco.com.
