SHRM Acquires Leadership Firm, Linkage Inc.



ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Today, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) announced the acquisition of Linkage, Inc., a premier leadership development firm in the United States committed to advancing women and accelerating inclusion in leaders and organizations. Together, SHRM and Linkage will ensure that HR professionals, business executives and policymakers are better positioned to excel in the workplace with exclusive access to more data insights, business tools, and top-notch leadership development programming.

Linkage, Inc. is trusted by more than 250 clients across industries. For more than 30 years, Linkage has been changing the face of leadership by impacting organizational effectiveness and equity. Through their work with more than one million leaders, Linkage continues to evolve their unique datasets, insights, and innovative products to create comprehensive solutions—empowering top organizations to solve their most pressing talent challenges.

"We are thrilled to welcome Linkage, Inc., as a part of SHRM," said Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, SHRM president and chief executive officer. "This acquisition strengthens SHRM's position as the go-to global organization for all things work, workers, and the workplace and will provide HR professionals with world-class leadership development, as well as critical resources to help navigate workplace challenges. Linkage brings with them best-in-class learning experiences from facilitators, coaches, and consultants, along with tools for immediate application, resulting in measurable impact on their leaders and businesses."

The acquisition of Linkage, Inc. is part of SHRM's strategy to provide members and customers with the most comprehensive solution for meeting their business needs as HR professionals, policymakers, and business leaders. The integration of Linkage's services expands SHRM's capabilities to provide members and customers with additional products and services to support the advancement of women leaders and acceleration of inclusive cultures.

"Linkage is excited to start a new chapter in our evolution as we join forces with a leading organization that has a legacy of empowering people and workplaces," said Jennifer McCollum, chief executive officer Linkage, Inc. "Linkage brings our 34 years of data, insights and experience on leadership and specifically advancing women and inclusion to the SHRM global community of 300,000 + HR professionals and business executives. Together, we have enormous potential to expand our impact at a time when our organizations and our world need inclusive, purposeful leaders."

SHRM members will gain access to a highly credible leadership development partner with research-based leadership development programming designed to solve their organization's talent challenges, including retention and advancement of women leaders and accelerating purposeful, inclusive leaders and cultures. They will have access to new tools and resources to build an actionable leadership development strategy to help drive talent goals and better business outcomes.

Holland & Knight LLP acted as legal advisor to SHRM. Tyton Partners served as financial advisor, and DLA Piper acted as legal advisor to Linkage.

About SHRM

SHRM, the Society for Human Resource Management, creates better workplaces where employers and employees thrive together. As the voice of all things work, workers and the workplace, SHRM is the foremost expert, convener and thought leader on issues impacting today's evolving workplaces. More than 95% of Fortune 500 companies rely on SHRM to be their go-to resource for all things work and their business partner in creating next-generation workplaces. With 300,000+ HR and business executive members in 165 countries, SHRM impacts the lives of more than 115 million workers and families globally. Learn more at SHRM.org and on Twitter @SHRM.

About Linkage, Inc.

Linkage is a global leadership development firm committed to advancing women and accelerating inclusion in leaders and organizations, trusted by more than 250 clients across industries. For more than 30 years, Linkage has been changing the face of leadership by impacting organizational effectiveness and equity. Through their work with more than one million leaders, Linkage continues to evolve their unique datasets, insights, and innovative products to create comprehensive solutions—empowering top organizations to solve their most pressing talent challenges.