Keith Black, Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Sainsbury’s, has been appointed Chair of D&I in Grocery’s Strategy Steering Group, alongside Ceysa McKechnie, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion UK Lead at Amazon, as Deputy Chair of the group.

As Chair, Keith will lead on the Strategy Steering Group agenda for the year, ensuring all workstreams are aligned to the overall strategy of the D&I in Grocery programme and building the programme evolution for 2024 and beyond.

The newly formed Steering Group will strive to innovate and challenge issues in the D&I arena, with the ambition to make this the most relevant and sought after network for over 80 partners involved. The Strategy Steering Group consists of representatives from the Headline Partners, four Major Partners and one SME Partner. Together they build the programme to support their biggest challenges in this space.

D&I in Grocery’s programme contains three workstreams (Mentoring, Shared Learning and D&I in Grocery LIVE!) , where more than 80 partners learn from each other, share best practice and accelerate their journey within the D&I space.

Keith Black said “The programme has reached a time of maturity, now being more than 80 partners strong for 2023. To help aid its next stage of the journey, we have created a newly formed Strategy Steering Group which will develop the programme and continue to innovate and challenge in this vital arena”.

“In 2023, we are introducing two fresh themes: understanding how the industry is measuring progress in this space and how the D&I in Grocery programme supports organisations’ D&I strategies, building alignment and a consistency in measurement where possible.”

Additional workstream chairs include:

• Shared Learning Chair: Lisa McCandless, Culture & Engagement Business Partner, Premier Foods
• Mentoring Chair: Gavin Lissimore, Head of Customer Marketing, Red Bull;
• D&I in Grocery LIVE! Chair: Caroline Cater, Vice president Field Sales, CCEP

For more information on D&I in Grocery, and how to get involved, visit https://diversityingrocery.co.uk/