September 15 marks the beginning of National Hispanic Heritage Month. The tradition of celebrating this vibrant section of our population began with a designated week in 1968. The week has since grown to a month to try to fully encapsulate the full influence that Hispanic Americans have had on our nation’s history and our culture. 

This cross-section of consumers is so integral that many companies focus events and product offerings to reflect the Hispanic influence. One of those companies is our WISE partner member, Fresh Texas. Fresh Texas, located in the heart of South Texas, creates plant-based, fresh produce-centric products that ship throughout Texas. We asked CEO Judy Clark, how the company incorporates the Hispanic Culture and celebrates National Hispanic Culture Month.   “We find our Hispanic culture to be a great source of innovation in our category. We look to the traditions of rich ingredients and spices that combine to create flavorful dishes. The cuisine lends itself naturally to creating flavorful plant-based meal solutions. Recently, we created items such as a Zucchini Noodle Salad with black beans, fire roasted corn, chipotle vinaigrette and tortilla strips; Deconstructed Stuffed Poblano Chile; and Burrito Bowls with Fresh Pico de Gallo and Sofrito. Melding traditional produce with the Hispanic flavors and spices turn ordinary fresh produce into a fresh take on Hispanic Cuisine.   During October, we will host events for our employees celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month. At Fresh, we actually speak over a dozen languages on our campus, so we love to celebrate cultural diversity! We host food truck days that showcase the flavors of the culture we are celebrating and educational slides that play throughout our Visual Factory. We have learned, that we can turn most any food truck meal into a taco… even spaghetti can fold up nicely into bread! Our Hispanic roots run deep here in South Texas.”   Here are some links that can assist you with learning the history of National Hispanic Heritage Month and ideas for how to celebrate: Woman’s Day Article | Hispanic Heritage Foundation | Top 100 Most Influential Latinas | Hispanic Heritage Awards | Hispanic Heritage Stories – Latinx Perspectives

Ahold Delhaize Leading a Culture of Diversity & Inclusion

Think about a time when you have felt excluded.  What came to your mind?  Perhaps it was something that happened in school or at work.  What kind of emotions do you remember? Posing that question is how Sarah Chartrand has opened discussions about diversity and inclusion.  “I want to help people see that the subject of inclusion is a human issue and one that we are all connected to,” she explains.  “But, not everyone feels exclusion at the same level.  It’s not an us versus them conversation.” 

Sarah, a self-described ‘retail geek’, is SVP of Talent Leadership & Diversity for Ahold Delhaize.  She is passionate about creating diversity and inclusion initiatives that generate genuine culture shifts within organizations.  While the business case for D&I is impactful, evoking an emotional impact within leadership can truly bring about change.  “When people connect with the emotions they feel when they are excluded or included, it can bring about a big realization.  Then, when we talk about groups who are more marginalized than others, and we can think about how marginalized groups feel, people are able to place this into a whole new perspective.  It’s powerful to explore how much we can do as leaders to include everyone, to create cultures where everyone can be themselves in the workplace.”

Long before this summer’s demonstrations of unrest in the U.S. brought a cultural microscope to diversity, inclusion and equity, Sarah has been advising that leaders “do the right thing” not only for their bottom line, but also for their employees and their customers.  Sarah points to research from Harvard Business Review that showed that companies with diverse talent are 45% more likely to report growth and 70% more likely to capture a new market.  There is a definitive business case for D&I, but that’s not the only reason to focus on this.  “Companies are absolutely going to see a return on investment when they place a full customer lens on business decisions.  And this cannot be done unless your team is representative of a customer.  One person alone cannot bring the lens of all customers,” explains Sarah.  “The case for D&I goes beyond the ROI. It’s about creating a space where everyone can succeed, where there is equity for everyone.  Companies traditionally focus on placing the right people in the right roles at the right time.  This can only be done when you have a truly diverse talent pool to draw from.  Leaders need to stand up and question this – are we considering all available talent?  Is our talent pool truly representative of our customer base?  We have to be authentic, brave, and honest about that.  And if our customers aren’t represented, we should push harder to broaden the candidate pool.”

Even when an organization’s leaders fully recognize the case for implementing diversity and inclusion programs, it’s a continuous journey to take these programs from policy on paper to a true culture change.  Sarah’s work at Ahold Delhaize has been very rewarding in supporting the brands in creating strong inclusive cultures.  When Ahold and Delhaize merged in 2016, the new company leadership team focused first on culture, establishing shared values and leadership behaviors where inclusion was embedded directly.  Working with the Global D&I Network, the company established an inclusive leadership index within the annual employee survey that all leaders are measured against.  “We started and will continue with a focus on fostering an inclusive culture.  This year, we are piloting inclusive leadership training for our leaders, to support them in building and maintaining inclusive teams.”

With inclusion and equity at the top of mind for most business leaders, now is an opportune time for organizations to review current D&I policies and affect change.  Sarah agrees. “There has been an emotional impact with both the head and the heart.  The head is saying we need to do this because it provides a return to the business.  But, once you touch the heart, there’s no turning back.  You see a lot of leaders whose hearts have been touched and want to make a difference.”

Sarah is very impassioned about the how much the retail industry as a whole can do to positively impact D&I.  “We have such a connection with the people we serve.  We should not underestimate how much of an impact we can have,” she states.  “If all the retail and consumer companies banded together and committed to partnering with many diverse community organizations & universities, if we created pipeline opportunities for internships, new apprenticeship models, management trainee programs, we could truly change the world.  We can and we should!“

If you’d like to hear more from Sarah, register for our Sept. 2 WISE webinar “The Power of I: Inclusion, Innovation & Impact.”  Click here to register:  https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/3468319678455313679