The Produce Marketing Association is creating a task force on diversity and inclusion in the produce and floral industries.
The association’s board chairman, Joe Don Zetzsche, notified board members of the task force, which will advise PMA and its Center for Growing Talent on its commitment to advancing diversity and inclusion. Doug Bohr, the center’s executive director, will lead the task force; Zetzsche will be its chairman.
“As we seek to bring the produce and floral communities together to grow a healthier world, we must acknowledge the barriers our societal systems and unwritten beliefs have created and work to dismantle them,” Zetzsche said in a PMA news release. “Creating access and inclusion to people of all backgrounds and identities will make our industry stronger as we continue to welcome opportunities to increase our diversity of thought, ideas, and leadership.”
The task force was announced on July 29, a month after the PMA and Center for Growing Talent released a statement on systemic racism.
“We do not have all the answers, but we have been listening and looking for a place to start,” according to the statement. “So, effective immediately, our boards of directors are increasing the importance and urgency of diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in our strategic plans.”
PMA’s weekly Virtual Town Hall series on July 15 provided insight into the benefits of creating a more diverse and inclusive workplace, according to the release. The online discussion was moderated by Bohr featured Johnny Taylor Jr., president and CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management, Rachel Cheeks-Givan, global director of diversity and inclusion for Pfizer, and James Harris, director of diversity and inclusion at H-E-B.
“As the world has been forced to confront the impacts and scale of the global pandemic, many other inequities have been exposed,” PMA CEO Cathy Burns said in the release. “We will continue to listen, reflect and learn, but as we promised, when we respond it will be with action.”
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