The Emerging Leadership Council (ELC) continues to focus on supporting Flexible Packaging Association (FPA) member companies and the flexible packaging industry. We are thrilled to announce the formation of a Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Committee (DE&I). DE&I will help to foster, promote, and engage in a culture of diversity and inclusion within the industry.
This new focus will shine a spotlight on the progress made and encourage member companies to share stories, learnings, and challenges in their DE&I initiatives.
The goal of DE&I is to meet member companies where they are in their journey and offer support and resources to drive change. We will develop a toolkit of resources and training through online and in-person opportunities.
We’ll aim to showcase efforts that can be implemented across each organization, from recruitment to employee engagement and leadership development. The committee hopes to contribute best practices, training resources, employee and leadership development strategies, and community engagement solutions.
In July, member companies participated in the DE&I survey and shared the status of their corporate initiatives. The results provided a baseline for where we are as an association in this space. Key highlights are as follows:
- More than 80% of respondents confirmed their business has diversity initiatives in place.
- More than 35% have made DE&I a priority for more than five years. An additional 30% are within the first two years of their journey.
The most consistent feedback we received was that having business leaders endorse and openly support DE&I as a critical goal helps deliver tremendous success.
Initiatives at member companies include enhanced training, employee resource groups, mentorship programs, and diversity councils. These organizations reported improved performance, morale, and employee satisfaction as directly related to positive impacts from their investments in DE&I practices.
We look forward to collaborating with member companies to help our industry become a leader in inclusivity and diversity.
We’d love to hear your ideas, too. Do you have a story to share, a specific support request, or a DE&I stakeholder that would like to get involved in the conversation?
Reach out to Alexis Swanson, Liquibox global sustainability and product marketing manager, at Aswanson@liquibox.com or Chelsey Quick, vice president of client success at Industry Intelligence Inc., at Chelsey.Quick@industryintel.com.
The committee members who are sharing their time to help benefit the ELC and FPA member companies are Swanson; Quick; Javeed Buch, senior vice president at Windmoeller & Hoelscher Corporation; Alana Carr, inside sales and marketing manager at Hosokawa Alpine American, Inc.; Roger Cortez, sales manager for Reifenhauser Inc.; Debbie Curry, director of accounting and administrative operations for FPA; Jonathan Quinn, director of market development and sustainability at Pregis; and Adrianne Tipton, chief technology officer at Novolex. Quinn and Tipton also are ELC co-chairs.
Chelsey Quick is vice president of client success at Industry Intelligence Inc. Reach her at Chelsey.Quick@industryintel.com.