Our Board

Eddie Pate has spent 20 years doing inclusion and diversity (I&D) work in the corporate world. As the Director of Inclusion and Diversity for the World Wide Operations (WWOPs) organization at Amazon, he was responsible for the development and implementation of Global I&D efforts in the largest organization at Amazon.

Eddie was formerly the VP of Diversity and Inclusion at Avanade (developing and implementing all diversity and inclusion efforts globally) and founder of Pate Consulting & Associates. Eddie was also Director of Diversity and Inclusion for Starbucks’ Global Diversity team and, prior to a reorganization, responsible for all of the diversity efforts for Starbucks’ US Business. Before Starbucks, Eddie was a director in Microsoft’s Global Diversity & Inclusion Team and diversity manager for Microsoft’s Enterprise and Partner Group.

He earned a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Washington, focusing on comparative race and ethnic relations/stratification and social psychology, before serving as Assistant Director of Admissions and School Relations at Humboldt State University in northern California.

Eddie had a short stint in the NFL before knee injuries cut his career short. He earned All American and All West Coast honors as a wide receiver and is in Humboldt’s Athletic Hall of Fame.