Having hosted such historic events as Live Aid, Wembley Stadium was the logical setting for the first ‘Diversity in Inclusion in Grocery’ conference on Thursday March 7th.
The vision of five founding companies, Tesco, Accenture, P&G, Mondelez and Coca Cola, in partnership with Grocery Aid, the conference attracted over 800 delegates across the sector, sharing knowledge and best practice from over 50 companies in a packed agenda ending with a speech from Baroness Karren Brady of Kensington.
Hosting the event, Tesco’s Alessandra Bellini and Mondelez’s Louise Stigant opened the proceedings, sharing their own personal D&I stories, setting the tone for the authenticity and honesty of the speakers to come.
Next up was a panel discussion with representatives from the five founding companies, Tesco’s Kari Daniels, P&G’s Ranya Shamoon, Accenture’s Jill Standish, Coca Cola’s Leendert den Hollander and Mondelez’s Mary Barnard, tackling subjects ranging from the role of men in driving gender equality to the challenges faced by smaller businesses wanting to drive diversity in their organisations.
The panel also took turns to ashare their personal D&I stories, giving accounts of events that have shaped them as leaders, what they learnt and how their experience is helping drive change in their oorganisations.
The audience then visited the speed networking booths run by the event sponsors, covering disabilities inclusion, LGBTQ+, mental health and mentoring, to name a few.
Meanwhile other delegates took the opportunity to join the learning sessions led by the main sponsors. Each session provided opportunities for selfdevelopment in areas such as building resilience, developing self-belief, creating a culture for D&I transformation, tackling unconscious bias and being at my best.
The day ended with ‘first lady of football’ Baroness Karren Brady recounting her journey as a woman in a male dominated environment, overcoming challenges to rise to the top of the sport. All proceeds from the event will be donated to Grocery Aid.
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