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Multicultural conference will get down to cases
February 1 is early-bird deadline for April event in Chicago
Network bucks bad economy in 2008 |
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| Hyatt Lodge |
“Seventy percent of all new hires into the workforce are women, immigrants and people of color,” notes session leader Trudy Bourgeois, CEO and founder of the Center Workforce for Excellence. “To succeed, organizations must build cultures where employees from all backgrounds can contribute at their highest level. That’s what this conference is all about.”
The two-and-a-half day program is designed to help HR managers, diversity/inclusion officers, executives from the CPG/retail industry and emerging leaders engage senior leaders; build inclusive organizations; assist the career development of men and women of color in their firms; and build intercultural leadership competencies for multicultural work teams.
Expert advice
The program will include three keynote addresses: Leveraging An Inclusive Team to Drive Results by John Saguto, vice president of customer development for Nestlé Purina PetCare; Taking Diversity and Inclusion Globally by Bridgette Heller, global president of Baby Care for Johnson & Johnson; and luncheon remarks by Andrés Tapia, chief diversity officer and emerging workforce solutions leader of Hewitt Associates.
The preliminary agenda includes peer learning, concurrent sessions and two panel discussions. A best practices panel on The Business Impact of Diversity will feature: Darnell Allen, vice president of diversity and inclusion for SuperValu and Tom O'Brien, vice president, global customer business development, at Procter & Gamble. A second panel -- Real Life Stories from the Global Front -- will include Melody Justice, executive vice president of Coca-Cola.
Three concurrent sessions are scheduled: Building Intercultural Competencies, featuring Alicia Petross of Target and Sherri Toney, vice president for diversity and inclusion at the Kellogg Company; White Men as Allies and Diversity Champions, featuring Bill Proudman, principal of White Men as Full Diversity Partners (facilitator); Chris Baldwin, group vice president of U.S. snacks for Kraft; and Pete Williams, senior vice president of The Kroger Co.; and Leveraging Employee Resource Groups, featuring Vicki Felker, customer team director for Nestlé Purina PetCare; Tonie Leatherberry, principal for Deloitte & Touche; and Cathy Lord, vice president of the Employee Service Center at Safeway. The program will also include A Word About Accountability by Erby Foster, director of diversity and inclusion for the Clorox Company
Early bird savings
The NEW Multicultural Workforce Conference is reserved for a limited number of Network members (memberships are available online for $200 per year). Registration is $995 for employees of NEW’s national corporate sponsor companies and $1,295 for all other NEW members. Those registering before February 1 will save $200 off either rate.
All events will be held at the Hyatt Lodge retreat on the McDonald’s Campus in Oak Brook, Illinois, 11 miles from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. A discount room rate of $159 available on a first-come, first-served basis until March 23. Call (630) 990-5800 and mention the NEW Multicultural Workforce Conference.
Register now and save $200
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Network bucks bad economy in 2008
Growth demonstrates ‘the continuing need for NEW’
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| Alison Kenney Paul |
“Make no mistake, these are uncertain times. But I do not see indications that companies in the consumer products and retail industry are slackening their commitment to diversity,” Paul said. “As tough choices are forced upon the industry, the need to maintain a diverse and motivated workforce becomes all the more important.”
Outside observers like DiversityInc. columnist Luke Visconti agree. “There’s no evidence that diversity departments are being gutted,” he writes. “Except for failures and acquisitions, we haven’t seen a single diversity executive laid off.”
“Our members and sponsors are some of the smartest people in the industry,” Paul said. “They know that recessions have winners and losers.” Paul said companies are looking to preserve and even expand their businesses during this downturn. “They need to stay connected to do that. They need to retain and even recruit new talent to do that.”
By the numbers
NEW noted that all of its income directly supports the Network’s events, education programs and career development activities. It reported that NEW national corporate sponsorship revenue rose 15 percent in 2008 to $1.187 million, a new record. Forty-two sponsors renewed, including four that upgraded their sponsorship level. Twelve new sponsors were added: Walgreens at the title level; Safeway and Colgate Palmolive at platinum; CVS Caremark, Mars Advertising, Pepsi Bottling Group and Catalina at gold; and Advantage Sales & Marketing, Chiquita Brands International, DemandTec, Family Dollar and IRI at the silver sponsorship level.
Other revenue rose across the board, Regional event revenue increased 40 percent to $666,000. Revenue from the NEW Leadership Summit increased 60 percent to $347,000. Special sponsorships at national events more than tripled to $151,000. Total revenues were $2.3 million.
The Network’s growth was driven in large part by its regional groups. Four new groups were launched last year in the Carolinas, Cincinnati, the Mid-Atlantic region and Southern California. The Network now has 15 regional groups with more being planned. “Regional groups are a time-efficient and cost-effective way to stay connected, increase career skills and acquire best practices for your organization,” Paul noted. “That’s especially critical today.”
Paul announced that dues and fees would not be increased this year for renewing members and sponsors. She also noted that the Network is striving to offer more programming online and at the regional level in recognition of the challenging economy. “We are all in this boat together and we want to help all our friends get to the other side.”
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Network announces a new look and new resources
New logo part of comprehensive communications upgrade
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| A new look |
The Network will launch a new website this spring with a host of social networking tools, including enhanced profiles, member messaging, blogging, regional group home pages, expanded news and calendar pages and more. The new site will also have new sections devoted to best practices and career development content.
The all-new site is being developed in conjunction with award-winning membership management solutions provider YourMembership.com, a global provider of online member communities. The development is part of a comprehensive process led last year by the Network’s information technology committee headed by past president Kimberly Betts and by an online resources committee headed by Executive Committee member Maria Edelson.
The new look of NEW
The Network’s new logo, website and back-end functions mark a new chapter in the Network’s history and signifies NEW’s commitment to diversity, according to NEW President Alison K. Paul, a principal at Deloitte.
“The Network of Executive Women has done a lot of growing since our founding in 2001,” Paul said in a letter to Network leaders. “We've grown from a small but determined band of women -- and men -- to the industry's largest diversity organization, representing nearly 2,000 members from 400 companies, 52 corporate sponsors and 15 regional chapters nationwide.”
Paul said, “The logo features a stylized set of stairs representing the individual and organizational progress that is our mission. The vibrant new colors underscore the importance of diversity to our vision and to our industry.” The logo was designed by Reuter & Associates, Baltimore, with the guidance and input of the Network’s Executive Committee.
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CVS Caremark and Family Dollar join NEW family
Network sponsors now come from every retail channel
The Network of Executive Women launched two new partnerships in November with sponsor activation meetings at CVS Caremark and Family Dollar. “This was a special month for us as we welcomed two new retail channels to our group of Network sponsors,” said Nancy Krawczyk, NEW’s director of client services. “We are very excited to now have all retail channels represented in the Network.”
Two dozen senior CVS Caremark employees participated in the kick-off meeting at their corporate headquarters in Woonsocket, R.I. on November 20. The meeting was opened by Priscilla Eskridge, the firm’s director of corporate diversity, who talked about the importance of diversity and inclusion in attracting and retaining top talent. Larry Merlo, president of CVS Caremark Pharmacy, said that diverse experiences and perspectives were necessary to fuel innovation.
NEW President Elect, Michelle Gloeckler, vice president strategic customers of the Hershey Company, explained how her company uses NEW’s resources to expand their employees’ individual training and development plans. Lisa Foster, an executive recruiter, talked about the value of NEW’s regional programs, and Helena Foulkes, senior vice president of CVS Caremark’s Health Care Services, led an action plan discussion that outlined NEW events and activities that will engage associates and support the firm’s internal woman’s group. Krawczyk said, “The participation of senior leaders like Mike Ferdinandi, senior vice president of HR and corporate communications, demonstrates the commitment of CVS Caremark to NEW and the industry.”
Family Dollar activation
Senior women leaders from Family Dollar gathered for a luncheon and corporate member activation meeting November 14 at their corporate offices in Matthews, N.C. Dorlisa Flur, executive vice president for strategy, business development and marketing, co-hosted the meeting with Janet Kessler Wilson, Family Dollar’s senior vice president of corporate human relations.
Flur began the meeting by sharing her passion for creating a diverse workforce and the firm’s business cultural change initiative, which is focused on creating a more inclusive and diverse organization at Family Dollar. Krawczyk provided an overview of the Network’s resources and tools, followed by Procter & Gamble Team Leader Monica Turner, who shared how her company uses the network’s 15 regional groups to develop talent. Family Dollar buyer Larysa Masiero talked about her experiences with the Network during her time working in the c-store industry.
Kiley Rawlins, vice president investor relations and corporate communication, and others present said the group would start an internal woman’s affinity group using some of the Network’s best practices on the subject. They agreed to create an annual calendar of activities that would leverage NEW’s regional and national events, starting with the inaugural Carolinas event January 21 in Charlotte, N.C. Kessler-Wilson closed the meeting calling on everyone to leverage NEW’s resources to build more robust development plans for their staff and themselves
“We are very excited about our partnership with NEW and plan to get our CEO Harold Levine at out next meeting to continue the momentum around this important cultural change initiative” said Kessler-Wilson.
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