As Sean Woodroffe oversees human resources strategy and execution for TIAA, he calls upon lessons learned as an undergraduate at Shaw University, the historically Black university located in North Carolina.
With over 25 years of experience, Woodroffe, the senior executive vice president and chief Human Resources officer at TIAA (Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America-College Retirement Equities Fund) is a leading human resources executive in the financial services industry. He sees TIAA, which he joined two years ago, as a mission-based organization dedicated throughout its history to serving those that serve others.
“Having an opportunity to apply my trade to the development of colleagues and employees to help us deliver the promises that we’ve made to our clients was for me just the perfect match,” he says. “Values, for me, mean everything.”
Woodroffe has been a champion of diversity and inclusion throughout his career. Working for TIAA, which in his opinion lives those values, enables him to perform to the fullest.
“As we think about how we recruit talent and how that talent is curated and developed, our focus and the underlying principle is around diversity and inclusion,” says Woodroffe, who oversees a team of approximately 400 people.
The responsibility for human resources strategy and execution for TIAA’s global workforce, including talent acquisition and organizational design, requires a global perspective. His international experience comes into play. Over the course of his career, Woodroffe has had several international assignments, including working in Tokyo, London and Lagos, Nigeria. He also had the opportunity to work in a variety of financial services — banking, asset management and life insurance.
“The combination of those life experiences prepared me very well for the role I currently have,” he says.
