Nzinga Shaw

Nzinga “Zing” Shaw joined The Recording Academy in 2023, serving as a member of the executive leadership team reporting to the CEO in the capacity of Chief Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) Officer. She leads the company’s DEI Center of Excellence, focused on efforts to enable a more engaged global workforce, creating enhanced platforms to recognize the diverse array of musicians, songwriters, producers, recording engineers, and support a more inclusive culture to best position the academy to drive financial growth in underserved markets.

Zing is an experienced C-suite executive with extensive hands-on experience and knowledge spanning DEI, human capital management, change and crisis management, employee relations, talent acquisition, organizational and strategic planning, branding, community engagement.

Notably, Zing was the first Chief DEI Officer at three blue chip organizations: Edelman, Starbucks, and the National Basketball Association, representing the Atlanta Hawks & State Farm Arena franchise. She has been recognized with numerous “40 Under 40” awards from the likes of Sports Business Journal, Atlanta Business Chronicle, The Network Journal, and PR Week. In addition to serving as a Global Advisor for Velocity Global, Zing is on the Board of Trustees of Fisk University, the Board of Directors of ColorComm, and the Board of Advisors of Arctos Sports Partners, she was appointed by 39th United States President Jimmy Carter to serve a six-year term on the Board of Councilors of The Carter Center.

Zing received her Master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and her Bachelor’s degree from Spelman College. She was a study abroad scholar at Oxford University in the United Kingdom.

In her free time, Zing enjoys interior design, international travel, cooking and spending time with her husband Keith and three children, Lacy, Hudson and Trey.