In August, 2006, J.T. (Ted) Childs, Jr. retired from IBM after a distinguished 39 year career as a member of their corporate Human Resources team. Upon retiring, he founded Ted Childs™, LLC. The role of Ted Childs™ LLC is to serve as a global “Strategic Diversity Advisor” to Senior Management and a client’s Workforce Diversity team.
While at IBM, Ted held a variety of human resource assignments, including fifteen years of executive responsibility for global workforce diversity programs and policies. In addition, Ted served as Executive Assistant to Dr. Benjamin L. Hooks, Executive Director of the NAACP, on an IBM Social Service Leave from March 1982 to September 1983. Ted is a graduate of West Virginia State University, a member of the board of directors and a past president of the University’s Foundation, and a life member of the West Virginia State University National Alumni Association.
In December 1989, Ted was appointed by Governor Mario Cuomo to the New York State Governor’s Advisory Council on Child Care. In 1992, Ted was named co-chair of the National Council of Jewish Women’s Work Family Advisory Board, and presented with their Founder’s Award for commitment to quality of life issues for U.S. families.
In 1995, Ted was appointed as an official delegate to the 1995 White House Conference on Aging. In 1996, Ted was invited by Vice President Albert Gore to serve on the eight person planning team for the 1996 Family Reunion “V” that the Vice President and Mrs. Gore hosted in Nashville, Tn. In 1997, Ted was named by Working Mother magazine as one of the 25 Men Friends of the Family who have made it easier for working parents to raise and nurture children. Also in 1997, U.S. Treasury Secretary, Robert E. Rubin appointed Ted as an advisor to the Secretary’s Working Group on Child Care. In November 2006, the U.S. Embassy in the Hague and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund convened “Diversity Dialogue - Sharing Ideas, Building Bridges: A Dutch - US Muslim Dialogue.” Ted was the U.S. business representative / speaker at this event. In 2007, the National Council of Disability submitted to President Bush its report, “Empowerment for Americans with Disabilities: Breaking Barriers to Careers and Full Employment.” Ted chaired the Business Advisory Council component of the national team that prepared the report.
In 1998, The National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies presented Ms. Joan Lombardi, Deputy Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Senators Ted Kennedy and Orrin Hatch and Ted with its Lifetime Achievement Award. In March of 2000, Ted received the Diversity Awards 2000 for Excellence in Diversity in the Corporate Sector from Working Mother magazine. In 2003, the Human Rights Campaign presented IBM and Ted with its Corporate Leadership Award. In 2004, The Families and Work Institute presented Ted with its Work/Life Legacy Award. In 2006, Ted received the Trailblazers in Diversity Award from the Chief Diversity Officer’s Forum, sponsored by Bennett College; and, Working Mother Media announced The Ted Childs Life / Work Excellence Award to be given annually to the individual who by their distinctive performance has contributed to the field of Life / Work in the business community.
Ted is a member of the Executive Leadership Council (ELC); The Families and Work Institute Board of Directors, and was installed as a Fellow in The National Academy of Human Resources in 2001. Ted has received Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters Degrees from Pace University (2001), West Virginia State University (2003), and Our Lady of the Elms College (2005). Ted holds life memberships in the National Association of African Americans in Human Resources, The National Council of Negro Women, Inc., The National Organization of Women (NOW), Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., the NAACP, the Sierra Club, and the Bass Anglers Sportsmen Society.