William Chichester - Nominee for Exceptional Leader Award

William Chichester, III is an industry-recognized talent acquisition leader with nearly 20 years of experience. His expertise is diversifying and modernizing recruiting strategies for iconic brands across tech, banking, fitness, and retail. Throughout his career, William has successfully led and scaled large teams in university and experienced talent acquisition. He spearheaded initiatives to create more inclusive pipelines at Capital One, Microsoft, and most recently, Peloton. As an approachable servant leader, William prioritizes the growth and development of his teams, democratizing opportunities for impact. His customer-backed, data-driven, and collaborative approach elevates companies’ talent brands, positioning them as employers of choice. Currently, William serves as the Director of Enterprise Campus Talent Acquisition at Target Corporation, one of America’s leading retailers. In this role, he oversees end-to-end hiring for exceptional college students and manages firmwide early career talent programs. Beyond his professional endeavors, William actively contributes to the community. He sits on the advisory board of the Darden School of Business and several non-profit and university boards dedicated to college and career readiness, financial literacy, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. As the author of “Career Cheat Codes,” a monthly LinkedIn newsletter, William provides valuable career advice to college students and early career professionals seeking to advance faster and avoid missteps. William’s journey began as a proud first-generation college graduate from rural Virginia. He holds a BA in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia, where he earned over $100,000 in scholarships, and even secured residency on The Lawn, the university’s highest student honor. Additionally, William boasts human resources certifications, including his PHR & CDR. Currently residing in Richmond, VA, William shares his life with his wife and college sweetheart, Ivy, and their sons, Cade and John.

Career Highlight

"I'm incredibly proud to lead the Campus team here at Target! Since joining in 2022, we've built our first-ever enterprise-wide campus strategy, delivered 2,500+ campus hires, and exceeded our DEI goals! Our team has also enjoyed budget favorability while still investing in high-priority areas for the organization. We celebrated 5x promotions across the Enterprise Campus team into management and higher-level IC positions. Plus, we've won several external awards for campus recruitment for the first time in Target's campus recruiting history, and a few of our MBA Supply Chain interns just won first place for Tauber Institute for Global Operations at the University of Michigan's Annual Spotlight event."

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