Our Story
Our late Co-Founder, beloved Husband, Father, + colleague George DeCruise was the visionary behind Diversity Lists. What began as a passion project for George, became a reality with the support of the Award-Winning Diversity & Inclusion Practitioner, co-founder and wife Elise James-DeCruise.
Diversity Lists is an extension of his expertise and the dire need to provide conscious diversity and inclusion beyond the “status quo”.
ABOUT GEORGE'S LEGACY
The late DeCruise was known to create change through solid, research-based, e-learning initiatives, strategic development, oversight, and execution of effective advertising strategies and tactics within multicultural marketing teams.
As a Multicultural Marketing Manager, George thrived in the development and implementation of marketing plans with total budgets of $100k +. With a robust professional career, he served as a Former Business and Program Development Executive and Technical Support Lead with brands such as Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), GoCoach, AthletesWork, AT&T – to name a few.
During his free time, he was spending quality time with family, nerding-out on best practices in L&D (Learning & Development), immersing himself in new trends within D&I (Diversity & Inclusion), and adding to his understanding of multicultural flagging variables to enhance the multicultural marketing space.
The unexpected loss of George DeCruise, beloved husband, father, brother, uncle, and son, in August 2020, was devastating to the community. George is survived by his handsome 15-year old son, Esile, beautiful 11-year old daughter, Malia, and his loving wife, Elise.
In honor of George’s legacy, we will be establishing a Foundation and awarding an annual scholarship to a deserving student/young professional/career changer who is pursuing a career in Marketing, Advertising, or AdTech. We also look forward to partnering with companies that are committed to the advancement of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the workforce, workplace, marketplace, and community.
Elise James-DeCruise is an Award-Winning Global Learning & Development Technology Transformation Leader and Diversity & Inclusion, Practitioner. She has over 15 years of global experience in the marketing, strategy, design, and delivery of learning and technology solutions and services for clients, partners, and industry professionals within the workforce, workplace, and marketplace.
She was recognized by the Chief Learning Officer (CLO) Magazine for Strategy and Innovation for the launch of NMI (New Marketing Institute), the educational arm of MediaMath, where she led an award-winning training & certification team touching 16 countries and training more than 40,000 industry professionals, career changers and university students. Elise was also recognized in Forbes Magazine as one of the top black female leaders to watch in the technology space who is committed to innovation, education, and diversity, and inclusion.
Elise maintains an active presence on several boards, working groups, and initiatives focused on DE&I, Technology, and Education. She is a Board member for MarketingEdge, Social Impact 360, L&D and DE&I Strategic Advisor for GoCoach; Involved in the Diversity & Inclusion Council for the IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau); sits on the 2019/2020 ATD (Association for Talent Development) Conference Planning Committee, and continues to support global initiatives and programs with a focus on DEI, Talent Management, EdTech, and Workforce Development.
As a leader and practitioner in the field; she believes life-long learning and building professional communities are essential in order to stay current on industry trends, learn and share best practices, and next practices to ensure that organizations are prepared to meet the needs of the employee population. As part of her commitment to a life long learning, she recently completed a certification in Inclusive Leadership from UCLA’s School of Management as part of their inaugural cohort in March of 2020 and is looking forward to completing a Certificate in Diversity Management from Cornell University this Summer.
Elise holds a B.A., in Communications, PR/Advertising along with an M.S., in Instructional Leadership and Business Communications from Robert Morris University. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, spending time with family and friends, going to live concerts, playing and watching sports, and providing career development coaching to former and current student-athletes who are making a transition into the corporate world.
She resides in Mahwah, NJ (Bergen County) with her two children (Esile and Malia).
Fun Fact: Elise was a division-one collegiate student-athlete (basketball), was on the rowing/crew team during her freshman year, and led the nation in rebounds during her junior and senior year at Robert Morris University, Pittsburgh, PA.
Marisa Yeager is the 2020 Diversity Lists’ Intern, a Senior majoring in Communication Studies with a Concentration in Public Relations at Longwood University in Farmville, VA, and plans to graduate this upcoming May. Yeager is an aspiring Public Relations Specialist with the intent to help organize and coordinate with local community organizations to create a better workforce and society. Marisa looks forward to collaborating with you and helping as much as she can.