The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) is thrilled to have partnered with boom! Global Network, a community of female supply chain professionals spanning 46 countries, to co-host a day of inspiring conversations about empowering women in supply chain and advancing inclusion and diversity to drive business growth. The boom! Forum, hosted at ELC’s UK & Ireland headquarters in London, convened approximately 30 supply chain professionals from across industries in the UK.

Roberto Canevari, Executive Vice President, Global Supply Chain, who serves on the executive advisory board of boom!, spoke at the event alongside Wei Chen, Vice President, Supply Chain, UK & Ireland, who co-hosted the Forum with Roberto; Claire MacIntyre, Senior Vice President, Human Resources, Global Value Chain and Global Corporate Functions; and Berenice Vettore, Senior Vice President, Global Quality.

“As a company founded by a woman, we have a long history of advancing possibilities for women in our business and around the world,” said Roberto Canevari. “We are building a global supply chain that is not only resilient, but also reflective of The Estée Lauder Companies’ commitment to conscious inclusion, diversity, and empowering women around the world.”

 Roberto Canevari, Executive Vice President, Global Supply Chain

Roberto emphasized ELC’s range of initiatives to nurture female talent within and outside the company and noted that ELC’s Global Supply Chain is made up of more than 50% women—which is nearly 15% higher than best in class for other consumer packaged goods supply chains. In the UK & Ireland, 66% of the Supply Chain team is female, and at the Whitman manufacturing facility, 52% of STEM roles are occupied by women.

Beth Morgan, Founder & CEO, boom! Global Network, moderated a panel discussion on leadership in a time of disruption with Roberto Canevari; Sandra MacQuillan, former Chief Supply Chain Officer, Mondelēz International; and Maria Pia De Caro, Chief Supply Chain Officer, Pernod Ricard. They discussed the importance of inclusion and diversity as an enduring value and driving a culture of gender equity from the top down.

“We were delighted to partner with ELC on this special forum to progress the conversation on achieving gender equity across the supply chain profession. Our mission at boom! is to help develop inclusive supply chain organisations where everyone wins,” said Beth Morgan. “This forum was a wonderful opportunity to explore and share ideas and best practices that will have a positive ripple effect across the profession in pursuit of this goal.” 

Wei Chen, Vice President, Supply Chain, UK & Ireland; Berenice Vettore, Senior Vice President, Global Quality; Claire MacIntyre, Senior Vice President, Human Resources, Global Value Chain and Global Corporate Functions

Later in the day, Wei Chen, Claire MacIntyre, and Berenice Vettore joined a panel discussion on what women in supply chain can do as peers, colleagues, managers, and leaders to empower women, as well as what ELC can do from a corporate perspective to attract, retain, and advance women. All three ELC participants discussed how ELC has a long-standing legacy of supporting and empowering women and girls. The panel also highlighted Women in Supply Chain, a special-focus employee group in the company’s Employee Resource Group (ERG) Women’s Leadership Network, and how it connects the supply chain community together and cultivates an environment of learning, leadership and coaching to foster talent development.

“We have the responsibility to create an environment where women can feel comfortable opening up and being themselves. We are committed to empowering women across our supply chain and our workplace as a whole,” said Wei Chen.

ELC intends to host similar discussions at the company’s other manufacturing, fulfillment, and corporate sites to further support and inspire more women.