21 Apr 5 Minutes with Lourdes Diaz

Intentionality Yields Results

After starting out in marketing for financial services companies, Lourdes Diaz landed a role in supplier diversity. When she saw how her work helped women- and minority-owned businesses grow, she says, “it was an epiphany for me.”

Today, Diaz is still passionate about creating diverse spaces as the vice president of diversity and inclusion for US Foods, based in Rosemont, Illinois. She has also held leadership roles at food services company Sodexo and the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, where she developed a supplier diversity certification program for LGBTQ-owned businesses.

“I’ve always chosen to have a career of purpose,” Diaz says. She spoke with Diversity Woman about how other women can do the same.

Diversity Woman: Why are diversity and inclusion important to you?

Lourdes Diaz: I’m a woman who happens to be Hispanic, who lives a very bicultural life, with Hispanic experiences and traditions as well as many other traditions. I am intentional about experiencing what you experience at a holiday, as our differences bring us closer. Then we add the layer of who we are to what we do. I think knowing who we are as individuals and bringing that authentic person to our companies is super important.

DW: US Foods made Newsweek’s list of America’s Greatest Workplaces 2023 for Diversity. Why?

LD: Three reasons.

The employee resource groups [ERGs] have evolved over the last couple of years to a point where they lead monthly webinars, which have increased awareness and commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion within the company.

We have a dashboard to track and measure minority representation, and action plans aligned to the dashboard, and we hold monthly and quarterly meetings to make sure that every line of business is working to close those gaps.

We’re providing benchmarking conversations with our customers in order to help them do better with their diversity, equity, and inclusion plans. For example, some of our ERGs are meeting with their ERGs in order to see how we could work together.

DW: Fifty-four percent of US Foods’ associates are women or people of color, up from 51 percent in 2021. Also, 39 percent of US Foods’ new or open leadership roles in 2021 were filled by women or people of color. What are the keys to helping women advance to leadership and C-suite positions?

LD: The reason the needle starts moving is that for every opportunity, the leadership is making a conscientious, intentional decision to say, “Let’s start interviewing and bringing a slate that has gender balance.” The other thing is we have become more intentional in expanding access to accelerating programs and leadership programs.

DW: What do you think will be the most pressing issues for DEI over the next five years?

LD: COVID-19 proved that women could be highly productive and effective with a remote working style. We have to find that balance to make sure we don’t lose top qualified talent because we’re not willing to be open-minded, and understand that, although we’ve been doing business a certain way for a long time, we’ve got to be willing to be flexible in our working arrangements.

DW: What lesson from your DEI career would you want to pass on to other women?

LD: Pay it forward. Everything I know, I pass forward. I’m going to mentor someone, I’m going to sponsor someone, I’m going to train someone and tell them everything I know. I’m not holding anything back. We’re all in this together, so I think we should share all we know with each other.