Saint-Gobain is an all-inclusive organization focused on developing an open and engaging culture for employees of all ethnic backgrounds. To better encourage diversity of thought, Saint-Gobain established LEAD (Leading Efforts for Ancestral Diversity), a multicultural Employee Resource Group (ERG) that supports cultural awareness for minority ethnicities. LEAD’s efforts will help advance the company’s social sustainability goals for recruitment and retention of ethnically diverse talent. Additionally, LEAD will continue to position Saint-Gobain as a top workplace by providing business networking opportunities to attract ethnically diverse talent and further engage professionals at all levels of the organization.

Chardae Harris, Procurement Demand Manager for CertainTeed Insulation and co-founder of LEAD says, “At its core, LEAD is focused on catering to the demographics that make up Saint-Gobain by embracing the importance of how diverse perspectives help drive innovation. The name LEAD is not coincidental. We are truly leading efforts to improve cultural awareness and support all ethnic groups in order to create a workplace culture that attracts diverse talent.”

Along with training and educational resources, LEAD also provides cultural celebrations, on-campus recruitment events as well as networking and development opportunities.

“LEAD embodies what Saint-Gobain stands for by encouraging employees to bring their unique selves to work each day,” said Rochelle Samuel, Process Sustainability Engineer for Saint-Gobain and co-founder of LEAD.  “When it comes to sustainability, these challenges extend to providing a welcoming and engaging environment for employees. We believe LEAD is reflective of Saint-Gobain’s demographics and will create improved cultural awareness as well as impact the company’s growth and development.”

LEAD strives to achieve a specific set of goals, including:

• Strengthen Saint-Gobain attitudes by creating an environment that is open and inclusive of cultural differences
• Sponsor events and activities to create familiarity around employees’ diverse cultures
• Advance efforts for recruitment and retention of people of diverse ethnicities at all levels of the organization
• Improve members’ individual and collective growth
• Provide business resources to enhance employees’ professional skillsets  
• Represent Saint-Gobain in industry diversity and inclusion benchmarking activities with a focus on the CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion pledge

For more information on open positions within Saint-Gobain please visit our Careers page, here. For more information on other Saint-Gobain ERGs please visit our Employee Resource Group site here.