ABOUT
Valerie and Emily have been leaders, business colleagues, and friends for more than 30 years. Starting on the same day in the same training class at Xerox, their careers had parallel paths for many years. Valerie and Emily dialogued throughout those years about their respective commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, access, and most recently, the concept of belonging. Additionally, they have long shared the conviction that coaching, guidance, networking, sales excellence, and the development of individuals and teams lead to greater collaboration and success. The forming of this business partnership is the culmination of many hours of thoughtful conversation, planning, research, and training. They bring to this endeavor the idea that they seek to create positive growth, a mindset shift, and a sense of belonging in organizations of all types and sizes.
About Valerie
Dr. Valerie Mason Cunningham
Dr. Valerie Mason Cunningham, a Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Mason & Rice, is an accomplished strategic thinker, change champion, and business value creator who has positively impacted the business services and technology industries over her illustrious 30 plus year career. A dedicated, diplomatic, and respected business leader recognized for leading and inspiring professionals to deliver excellence, Valerie seeks to bring defined
business visions to realization by assessing and mitigating risk and propelling those visions through transformation. Valerie has extensive business development, strategic planning, and organizational development, marketing communications management, sales and operations experience. She leads by leveraging global cross functional and organizational skills fueling revenue and profit growth, along with boosting market share, thereby guiding businesses and organizations to achieve high performance outcomes that deliver exceptional results. She actively engages in the advocacy, discussions and design for a diverse workforce and work environment to embrace the power of inclusion and belonging. Her stated mission and purpose are to share her experiences, to help inspire executives and professional leaders to enhance their skills and maximize their impacts and full potential, both professionally and personally. Valerie enjoyed an extraordinarily successful career at Xerox Corporation with over 30+ years of progressive executive leadership and management experiences, while driving purposeful and consistent business results. She began her Xerox career in sales as a sales trainee in New York. Her focus on delivering business excellence included managing an $850M business unit and increasing the book of business year over year. She secured the largest cash sale of $68M and contracted the largest IT services contract of $150M in the Healthcare Industry. Prior to her departure, she ascended to the position of Vice President of North America Operations Channel Marketing Group. Among her many other leadership roles at Xerox, Valerie was the Senior Vice President of Sales and Client Services, US Operations; Vice President and Business Transformation Executive of the US Operations Group; Vice President Sales Operations and Business Development Emerging Markets Operations (China, Hong Kong, Russia, and India), Vice President, Corporate Marketing, and Vice President & General Manager, Production Business Unit in Canada Operations. Valerie also has served as a board member on the University of Connecticut, (Stamford location) Business School Advisory Board, and served on the Vendor Advisory Council for CompTIA. Additionally, she served as Chair of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee Chair for Volunteer New York! for three years during a major transition of leadership and through the pandemic leaving the organization in sound business standings with growth in business, resources, and revenue. Prior to Board Chair at Volunteer New York!, Valerie served as the board secretary, governance committee member, strategic planning committee member, and a graduate of the Leadership Westchester (LW)-class of 2018 and a member of the LW Alumni Association. Currently she serves as a member of the Board of Trustees, Development Committee member, and Strategic Executive Search Committee Member at Mercy College and is a member of the “Friends of "URI '' (Urban Resource Institute) focused on Domestic Violence. She is the managing principal of PRIDE Matters, LLC. Valerie earned her Bachelor of Science degree in business management and marketing communications, with a concentration in computer science from the State University of New York Old Westbury. She began her undergraduate education at Spelman College where she studied computer science. Valerie received an Honorary Doctorate of Commercial Science degree from Mercy College. She has received several business and community awards including the Women’s Executive Achievement and Community Service Award from the YWCA Greenwich CT and was featured on the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour highlighting Xerox: Strength in Diversity. Valerie is a certified executive leadership and life coach, certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, and an exceptional speaker. In March 2022, she delivered a TEDx talk entitled, "You Have to Go Through Something to Get to Something.” Currently, Valerie resides in New York, with her husband and is a dedicated mother to her son who resides in Georgia. She believes that experience matters, everyone's journey has a purpose in life, and the greatest freedom is the freedom of choice.
About Emily
Emily Rice Reynolds
Emily Rice Reynolds, a Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Mason & Rice, has more than 30 years in leadership positions of organizations large and small.
Her expertise includes operations, sales, marketing, general management, and turnaround challenges. With each endeavor and position held, Emily focused on coaching and mentoring individuals, developing diverse, world class leadership teams and enhancing the career trajectories of many. From the development of new leaders to the sponsorship and guidance of teams of all sizes, Emily’s commitment is to the idea that organizations with people of diverse backgrounds, experiences,
and expertise deliver outstanding results, when belonging is a key component of the mission. In addition to being a Co-Founder of Mason & Rice, Emily spent the majority of her career in various large leadership roles at two outstanding technology solutions and services firms, Xerox and Canon. While at Xerox, Emily was Senior Vice President, Global Account Strategy and Strategic Deal Capture and a trusted advisor to C-Suite executives in Fortune 100 companies. Previously, as Senior Vice President of the Xerox Select division, she managed operations and sales for the company’s 75 largest clients, creating and executing the initiatives that delivered double-digit revenue growth, improved account relationships, and enabled operational excellence in a $500M enterprise. During her tenure at Canon, Emily was the President of Canon Business Solutions, a subsidiary of Canon, USA, in the Chicago area. Together with a diverse leadership team, Emily grew the business from $36M to a profitable and award-wining $160M enterprise, opening 7 satellite offices along the way. Her previous leadership roles at Canon include Vice President and General Manager of Corporate Communications, Canon USA, Inc.; Corporate VP, Service and Operations, and VP, Service and Sales Planning, Canon USA Inc. Most recently, Emily was Managing Director, Career Transition Services, at Bravanti, where she was a member of the executive leadership team. In this capacity, she provided oversight to the operations and growth of the firm’s worldwide Outplacement practice, including Executive Advisory Services, with consultants in more than 30 countries. Emily is currently a member of The Economic Club of Chicago and The Wings Club of New York (an organization of aviation leaders and enthusiasts), and on the Executive Committee and Board of Directors of the International Women’s Forum, Chicago. Formerly, she was a member of the Board of Directors, Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago; Board of Directors, Japan America Society; Board of Directors, Parker Playhouse; and Board of Directors, Yellowstone National Park, representing Canon USA. Emily earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in American Studies from Mount Holyoke College, MA, graduating cum laude. She currently resides in the Chicago area and is “Mom” to a daughter living and working in the Los Angeles area.