Wade A. Hinton is an attorney, entrepreneur, and nationally-regarded expert on improving diversity and inclusion outcomes in the workplace.

Wade’s two decades of experience in the private and public sectors include service as the inaugural Vice-President of Inclusion and Diversity for the Unum Group, City Attorney for the City of Chattanooga, and Deputy General Counsel for Volkswagen Group of America Chattanooga Operations. Wade is the founder of Board Connector and co-founder of
Designation One – platforms connecting historically underrepresented talent to inclusive nonprofit boards.

Recently, Wade founded Hinton & Company, a business services firm with a focus on inclusion, diversity, and equity. Hinton & Company provides fractional Chief Diversity Officer services as well as bespoke leadership offerings to meet organizations where they are on their inclusion journey.

Civically, Wade serves as a board member for The Company Lab (CO.Lab) and the Chattanooga State Community College Foundation. He is a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. and the Rotary Club of Chattanooga. Previous board service includes Benwood Foundation (Chair), University of Chattanooga Foundation, UTC Chancellor’s Roundtable (Chair), Friends of the Festival, and many more.

Wade has been named a 2021 Top 100 Diversity Officer by DiversityFirst, one of 40 best advocates and business leaders under the age of 40 by both the National Bar Association and the Network Journal, respectively, and a Tennessee Bar Foundation Fellow. He has been awarded the Diversity Community Champion for Justice Award, the Urban League of Greater Chattanooga Whitney M. Young Award, the Chattanooga NAACP Thurgood Marshall Award, and the Tennessee NAACP 45 Under 45 Award and selected for programs such as Presidential Leadership Scholars, Leadership Tennessee, and Leadership Chattanooga. Wade was also a member of Harvard’s inaugural Young American Leaders Program. His interest in foreign policy led him to be selected as a Marshall Memorial Fellow by the German Marshall Fund and was one of six Americans named to GMF Future of U.S. German-Relations Task Force.

Wade is a native of Chattanooga, Tennessee, a graduate of Emory University, The University of Memphis School of Law, and studied at Central European University in Budapest, Hungary. His most important role is being a father. He and his long-time partner Jana have one adorable daughter – Genevieve Silvia Eichel-Hinton. He also loves to travel, read, work out, and play golf when possible.