Dr. Deborah Ashton, President of Planet Perspective, is a human resources and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) executive, academician, and executive coach with 30+ years of cross-industry experience with global and Fortune 500 matrix organizations. 

Dr. Ashton led DEI at Medtronic, Darden Restaurants, Harley-Davidson, Argonne National Laboratory and Novant Health and is the former Chief of Test Development and Validation for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Under her leadership, DiversityInc, Diversity MBA, The Executive Leadership Council, the Multicultural Foodservice and Hospitality Alliance, the Human Rights Campaign and Fortune Magazine recognized the corporations for their DEI achievements.

She received her PhD in clinical psychology and public practice from Harvard University and a postdoctoral clinical fellowship at Harvard Medical School. 

Dr. Ashton created the Inclusive Culture Profile® and 360o Inclusion Leadership Profile TM strategic leadership frameworks to assess organizational and individual strengths and developmental needs to lead an inclusive and multicultural workforce. She co-developed the Seven Stages of Inclusion Maturity Model TM to provide information about the current stage and distance to an integrated, inclusive culture. The Harvard Business Review, Diversity MBA, and other publications have published and cited her work addressing unconscious bias, pay equity and systemic ‘isms’ in the workplace.