Fireside Chat: The Power of Diversity Through Inclusive Leadership

  • Creating a purpose-driven strategy that makes an impact as our organization grows and nurtures a diverse workforce
  • Understanding the leader’s role as a force to shape and demonstrate corporate culture, and to serve as a catalyst for equality and inclusion
  • Sharing typical challenges faced by corporations when trying to promote diversity in the workforce
  • Offering examples of strong and effective mentorship programs in onboarding, cross-training, job shadowing, and continuing education that make the difference

Moderator:

Daniel Myers
Senior Fellow at Haslam School of Business
University of Tennessee
Former EVP Integrated Supply Chain
Mondelēz

Daniel Myers is currently a Senior Fellow at Haslam School of Business teaching as a guest lecturer for both graduate and under-graduate studies. He currently serves as a Senior Operating Executive for the Carlyle Group, one of the largest Global Private Equity firms and is on three company boards. He is the retired Executive Vice President of the Global Integrated Supply Chain of Mondelez International where he led the Procurement, Manufacturing, Engineering, and Customer Service & Logistics groups, which represent more than 70,000 of the company’s employees. Daniel held the same position at Kraft Foods Inc., the predecessor to Mondelēz International, since he joined the company in September 2011. The spin-off of the company’s North American grocery operations occurred in October of 2012. Under his leadership, Mondelez funded a major reinvention of its worldwide supply chain delivering more than $3 billion in savings over 3 years. He has extensive experience in investor management including representing Mondelez in the investor presentations at CAGNY and Barclays.

Prior to Kraft Foods, Daniel worked for Procter & Gamble for 33 years, serving in roles across all areas of the Supply Chain. Most recently, he served as Sr. Vice President, Product Supply, where he led the supply chain function for P&G’s Global Hair Care business. He was also responsible for coordinating the company’s $28 Billion Beauty & Grooming business. He had responsibility for P&G’s Customer Service and Logistics operations globally for four years and while in this role he led the integration of the operations of the Gillette company, a $56 Billion acquisition.

Daniel has strong experience launching new brands and building operations in emerging markets. He has over 25 years’ experience delivering winning innovation leading major global expansions. He has worked in 54 countries and lived outside the U.S. for more than 10 years. Daniel has mastery in the successful implementation of best practices including building High Performance Organizations and Lean Six Sigma. During his successful career, he has had responsibility for over 250 manufacturing plants and 400 warehouse and distribution centers.

Daniel received his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Tennessee and served on the Board of the Global Supply Chain Institute at the University of Tennessee for over 10 years.

Daniel and Karen, his wife of 40 years, are Christians who have led music and youth groups for 5 churches in three different countries over a period of 25 years. They have been active in mission work helping support and build schools or orphanages in Venezuela, Romania, Nigeria, Kenya, India and Myanmar.

Alicia Boler Davis
SVP, Global Customer Fulfillment
Amazon

Alicia Boler Davis is the Senior Vice President of Global Customer Fulfillment at Amazon. In this role, she has responsibility for the network of hundreds of sites around the world. In addition, she leads the worldwide network of Customer Service operations and technology, as well as the Sustainability, Product Safety and Security, Product Compliance, Robotics and Amazon Fulfillment Technologies, the technical team that builds the tools used across Worldwide Operations. Alicia started her career at General Motors where she spent nearly 25 years, most recently as Executive Vice President of Global Manufacturing and Labor Relations. She has a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Northwestern University, a Master’s in Engineering Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, an MBA from Indiana University and an honorary doctorate of engineering from Rensselaer. Alicia is also a Design Black Belt for Six Sigma. Among other awards and accolades, in 2018 Alicia was named one of The Most Powerful Female Engineers by Business Insider, Black Engineer of the Year by Career Communications Group, and in 2020 Alicia was named one of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women.

Gerald Johnson
EVP of Global Manufacturing & Sustainability
General Motors

Gerald Johnson was named executive vice president, Global Manufacturing effective April 1, 2019. In this role, he leads GM’s global manufacturing operations, and the manufacturing engineering and sustainability. He is responsible for approximately 103,000 employees, representing more than 129 sites on five continents and in 16 countries.

Previously Johnson served as GM vice president of North America Manufacturing and Labor Relations, a position he held since August 2017.

Before that, he served as vice president of Operational Excellence, where he worked to develop and execute an enterprise-wide cultural transformation with a focus on process discipline, continuous improvement and waste elimination.

Johnson started at General Motors in 1980, at the Fisher Body Plant in Euclid, Ohio. He earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial administration from Kettering University and a master’s degree in manufacturing operations from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is on the Kettering University Board of Trustees.

Throughout his career, Johnson has served as a mentor to many young professionals, as well as played an active role in community organizations. He is also a founding member of GM’s Inclusion Advisory Board, and serves on the GM PAC Board and Steering Committee.

In 2021 BEYA named Johnson Black Engineer of the Year, the organization’s top honor. It followed a Black Engineer of the Year Career Achievement Award in 2014, at the organization’s annual STEM Conference, and a BEYA Legacy Award named for him, also in 2014.

Additionally, Johnson was elected to Caterpillar Inc.’s board of directors and serves on the company’s Public Policy and Governance Committee, from March 2021.