Essie Calhoun

Essie L. Calhoun
Chief Diversity Officer and Director, Community Affairs, Vice President,
Eastman Kodak Company

Ms. Calhoun was appointed Chief Diversity Officer and Director of Community Affairs in September 2003. She began her Eastman Kodak Company career as a sales representative in 1982 and has held positions in marketing, sales and public affairs. She was appointed a vice president in 1999 and elected a corporate vice president by the Kodak Board of Directors in July 2000.

As Chief Diversity Officer, Ms. Calhoun is dedicated to strengthening the company’s diversity and inclusion initiatives among employees, customers, and suppliers. Her responsibilities include working with the Global Diversity and Inclusion Council to craft and implement strategies designed to maintain an environment that fosters inclusion and understanding wherever Kodak does business. She also serves on the Senior Executive Diversity and Inclusion Council and works with the company’s senior leadership as champions of a Winning and Inclusive Culture at Kodak that will enable all constituents to fully participate. As Director of Community Affairs and President of the Eastman Kodak Charitable Trust, Ms. Calhoun oversees Kodak’s corporate philanthropy and community involvement worldwide. Ms. Calhoun uses her energy and her propensity for establishing processes that make a difference to promote Kodak’s good corporate citizenship.

A graduate of Leadership America, she is the founder of several organizations focused on leadership development, including the United Way of Rochester’s African American Leadership Development Program and the Kodak Youth Leadership Academy. Her current board affiliations are Rochester Institute of Technology, the Greater Rochester Health Foundation (vice chair), Urban League of Rochester, Greater Rochester Enterprise, and University of Toledo Foundation. Committed to making a difference for others, Ms. Calhoun is a frequent speaker at diversity and community events and conferences.

Ms. Calhoun served as the 2001-2002 distinguished Minett Professor at Rochester Institute of Technology. Other honors include: the National Urban League Northeast Region Volunteer of the Year Award, Women’s History Month Award, Network North Star’s Annual Leadership Award, the NAACP Outstanding Leader Award, and About Time Magazine’s Exemplar Award. She also received the Martin Luther King Commission’s Individual Award “in recognition of her lifelong personal and professional dedication, commitment and strength to help create a better community for all people.”

She received a B.Ed. degree in Social Science from the University of Toledo, a M.S. in Administration and Supervision from Bowie State University and an Honorary Doctorate from Roberts Wesleyan College.