Concordance, a CARF-accredited re-entry non-profit headquartered in St. Louis, announced that Susan Stith, former Vice President, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Cigna and President of the Cigna Foundation, has joined the organization’s board of directors.
“I am thrilled that Susan has joined our board of directors,” said Danny Ludeman, Concordance Chairman & CEO. “Susan’s immense experience with diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as philanthropic and community outreach programs, will be invaluable to Concordance as we scale our services in St. Louis and expand nationally. I am humbled by Susan’s passion for our mission to create equity in our communities through breaking the cycle of reincarceration.”
Having recently retired from Cigna in March 2023, Stith’s career in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) spans many industries and dates to the early 2000s, making her a trailblazer in the field of DEI. At Express Scripts, Susan’s work to help cultivate, sustain, and grow an environment in which people of all backgrounds could flourish led her to create the Experience Diversity Summit, an annual event featuring nationally recognized thought leaders and storytellers designed to connect ideas, people, and experiences in new and unique ways. During her tenure at Cigna, Susan launched the Enterprise DEI Council, the Diversity Scorecard Report, and the Global Women’s Leadership Summit and reached #14 (2022) on DiversityInc’s Top 50 list, which recognizes the nation’s top companies in diversity and inclusion management.
“Reincarceration can have a devastating impact on individuals, families, and communities. In fact, incarceration is one of the most significant societal issues that we face today with more than 100 million people impacted by mass incarceration,” said Stith. “With a mission of reducing the rate of reincarceration through it’s holistic, integrated ‘whole person’ approach, Concordance is uniquely positioned to help end the cycle by providing participants with the tools they need to live joyful, abundant, and purposeful lives. That’s a mission that I can believe in and support in whatever way the organization needs.”
Stith has been honored by national publications and organizations such as Diversity Women Magazine’s Elite 100, Black Enterprise’s Top Executives in Corporate Diversity, Diversity Plus magazine’s Top 25 Women Impacting Diversity, and many more. Currently, she connects her passion with purpose and is a current member of several boards in the greater St. Louis region, including the Greater St. Louis United Way, the Gateway Arch Park Foundation, and The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. Stith is also an advisory member of the National Council for Washington University in St. Louis’ Brown School and Institute for Public Health. Stith earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Missouri-Columbia, and a master’s degree from the University of Phoenix.