Wise Annual Meeting
As the year comes to an end, there are many reasons to celebrate. For WISE, the year-end celebration focuses on the completion of another successful Annual Meeting and Luncheon. On November 17, WISE welcomed almost 400 private brand professionals, partner members, sponsors, students and advisors at the Hyatt Rosemont, IL, to kick off the PLMA trade show.
This year’s theme “How Diversity and Inclusion Drive Success” was perfectly introduced by the recognition of the 2019 Top Women in Storebrands recipients. Presented in conjunction with StoreBrands Magazine, these leaders in industry are nominated by their colleagues as outstanding examples of leadership, innovation, dedication and professionalism in private brands. Each recipient is congratulated with a video presentation by their colleagues stating in their own words why the recipient has impacted the industry. “I thought the awards presentation was very personal. You could feel the connectivity in the room,” noted first time attendant Cindy Hogan, Meier Own Brands Team, Director of Private Own Brands.
Keynote speaker Jonathan Mayes, Senior Vice President of External Affairs and Chief Diversity Officer for Albertson’s Companies, presented the crowd with a very inspiring and personal look at how unconscious bias can limit an organization’s opportunity for growth. While statistics show that an organization with more diverse leadership is more profitable, there are still a number of hurdles to overcome in making diversity and inclusion a corporate-wide focus. Mayes challenged the room to recognize the varying biases that exist, externally and internally, and to change old habits that influence decision making and hiring practices. “As Jonathan pointed out in his presentation, there are so many preconceived notions and biases,” said Amy Sanderson, Founder and CEO of SSP Transformative Solutions. “How as a woman can you work through that, or around that, or overcome it to achieve what you want to achieve? And, how do we as women help each other to reach our goals?”
In addition to the thought-provoking keynote speech and all-important networking opportunity, Annual Meeting attendees left the meeting with a copy of Melinda Gates’ book The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World. “What I took away [from the meeting] is that just because I practice these principles does not mean everyone does,” comments Cate Davis, Progressive Sales & Marketing, Growth Initiatives/SE Region Lead. “Moving forward, I will speak up more about how important these principles are. It’s everyone’s responsibility to change corporate culture at large.
Thank you to all of the event sponsors and volunteers who make this Annual Meeting and Luncheon possible. The WISE Board of Directors wishes you all a happy and healthy 2020!