'The power of collecting people': How this Humana exec elevates others for the greater good

Carolyn Tandy has always been drawn to diversity, equity and inclusion work, even before she recognized or had a name for it.

Her passion to help others has taken her from working in Washington, D.C., politics, to helping a major restaurant chain meet a federal government consent decree, to changing the employee culture at Humana, one of Louisville’s largest employers.

For the last 22 years, Tandy, the senior vice president and chief inclusion and diversity officer at Humana, has used her skillset and love for uplifting others to help Louisville politicians and businesses be more intentional about the actions they take. But more than that, Tandy has been a collector of people, bringing them into her life and using her platform to give them a seat at the table, even if they can't physically be at the table.

"I see that as in some ways, kind of my superpower, the power of collecting people," Tandy said. "Each person is really precious, so being able to add voice to different experiences, is probably my greatest contribution."

Starting her path to make change

Tandy comes from humble beginnings. Raised by a single, Jamaican immigrant mother, spending some of her childhood living with her uncles and cousins in Dallas she saw first-hand what it meant to be a change-maker.

In high school, Tandy was only the second Black student to attend her school, behind her cousin.

"We were literally diversifying the school … so that's in some ways, the grounding for me," Tandy told The Courier Journal.

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As a young woman, she looked up to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and wanted to lead a life that had an impact like his.

"I idolized that man, he was everything to me, in terms … of aspirational leadership," she said.

Tandy took that admiration and followed in King's footsteps by attending college in Boston. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Gordon College and would eventually go on to earn a master’s degree from Webster University and a certificate from Cornell University.

After college, Tandy made her way to D.C. where she spent much of her early career working in politics within the Democratic Party doing civil rights work.

"I think in some ways, it's kind of like my early [diversity and inclusion] work," she said. "I didn't realize that's really what I was doing then because it wasn't called that back in the day."

Eventually, she met David Tandy, her future husband, and future Louisville Metro Council President. In 2001, they married, and she followed him back to Louisville.

Her work in Louisville

At first, Tandy struggled to find a way to transfer her D.C. political resume to a fulfilling career for herself in Louisville. For a period of time, she worked for Honeywell doing energy audits on LG&E, but admits she was easily bored. Eventually, LG&E started to let her travel to D.C. to work on energy policy issues.

By 2006, Tandy had found her way back to politics. She began helping then-future congressman John Yarmuth with his campaign. She helped set up fundraisers and rallies, at one point leading an effort to bring 5,000 people to Louisville Slugger Field. Once Yarmuth had become the candidate-elect, he asked Tandy to work for him full-time.

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Just a few weeks before this offer, Tandy had accepted an offer to be Jefferson County Technical College's first diversity director. After some contemplation, she went to work for Yarmuth, where she spent the next 11 years serving as his representative for his constituents in Louisville.

"I was responsible for being the Congressman's avatar when he was not here," she said.

In 2017, she left Yarmuth’s team and went to work for Texas Roadhouse, following its federal litigation over age discrimination. As part of the company's consent decree, it was expected to create a diversity and inclusion program, which Tandy headed.

Just over three years later, after seeing the progress Texas Roadhouse had made, Tandy was poised to take a position at Humana. After a 16-interview courtship between the healthcare giant and Tandy, she made the decision to leave Texas Roadhouse and embark on a new journey.

"I loved me some Roadhouse, and here I was now having made the decision to leave a place that I truly, truly loved, professionally, for my own growth, but also for impact," she said.

The 'Tandy Impact'

Tandy claims to have never met a stranger, and this attitude was apparent at an International Women's Day event Humana hosted in early March. Whenever Tandy entered a room, crowds of people flocked to her, some just to say hello, some to ask for advice, and some to compliment her newest ideas implemented at the company.

"I love being kingmaker," she said. "I like to be behind the scenes playing chess. I think more generally, the people behind the scenes get to influence what is done and the actions that are taken."

Tandy carries a lot of pride for her role at Humana, where she has been for a little over 18 months.

"Here is this opportunity to represent Humana, our number one employer, in all the rooms I'm doing (D&I) work," she said.

Despite the work she has done to aid politicians and major corporations, Tandy knows there is still much to be done.

"The fact is, no matter how big or small, we always have more work to do," Tandy said.

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Most recently, Tandy won a Muhammad Ali Center Daughters of Greatness Award for, "infusing cultural competency across all corners of [Humana] and in the communities where we live and work."

So, what's next for Tandy?

Deciding what's for dinner and getting her three kids where they need to be. When she isn't chasing her family around, she is considering how she talks to others about entering politics.

"I don't like the hypocrisy of asking and challenging, particularly more women or women of color, to step up and run and not be willing to say why I wouldn't do so myself," she said.

Contact reporter Olivia Evans at oevans@courier-journal.com or on Twitter at @oliviamevans.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Humana executive Carolyn Tandy puts people first furthering diversity