Natural Diversity
I am very excited to present at Expo West on Saturday, March 12 with my colleagues Jeff Klineman and Tracye McQuirter. Our panel, Natural Diversity: Finding Your Company’s Future Leaders, will be a very interesting exploration of the current status of diversity in the natural products industry and what the industry feels it needs to be more diverse.
Many may ask why it’s necessary to focus on diversity at all. Because money is green! Manufacturers and retailers want as many people purchasing their products as possible. Diverse hiring helps companies understand how to communicate and sell to a wider audience.
The purpose of the session is not to give companies a list of things they can to do increase diversity. We don’t have that list! Instead, we are interested in listening to companies. We want to understand the current status of diverse hiring as well as efforts that worked and didn’t work in the past. Our goal is to create a toolkit that is specific to the industry and the barriers that have been identified. A more diverse industry will be beneficial for all involved.