Land O'Lakes Recognized as a Best Place to work for Disability Inclusion

For the third consecutive year, Land O’Lakes has been recognized as one of the “Best Places to Work for Disability Inclusion” by earning a top score of 100 on the Disability Equality Index (DEI), a joint initiative of Disability: IN and the American Association of People with Disabilities.

We know Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is a key driver for the growth of our people, our company and our world.

To learn more about why this recognition is so important to us as an organization, we spoke with Thea Keamy, senior vice president, corporate strategy and business development, and executive sponsor of the Land O’Lakes disAbility Awareness Employee Resource Group (ERG) and Jodi West, business analyst, Global Dairy Ingredients, and co-founder of the Land O’Lakes disAbility Awareness ERG.

What does this award mean for Land O’Lakes?

Thea: This recognition demonstrates the organization’s commitment to prioritizing inclusiveness for people living with disabilities. It speaks to the support of that community, not only for people with disabilities themselves, but employees who are caregivers of individuals with disabilities and the specific challenges and efforts required. What’s most important to me is it speaks to our desire to be more inclusive and diverse in terms of our employee population.

It reinforces the importance of ensuring employees feel like they belong and can bring their true self to work – that’s really what inclusion is about.

How does the Disability Equality Index (DEI) tool help us identify the changes we need to make?

Jodi: The DEI is a benchmarking tool that helps companies build a roadmap of tangible actions to achieve disability inclusion and equality within a range of criteria including Culture & Leadership, Employment Practices, Community Engagement and Supplier Diversity.

Essentially, it helps us identify areas we can improve. In the four years since we created the disAbility Awareness ERG, we’ve made a lot of progress advocating for change and educating others throughout the organization by making sure we use inclusive language, minimize accessibility issues, and provide technology and resources to support employees living with disabilities. As an ERG, we are able to provide programming to let people know they aren’t alone and connect people to resources available through our benefits programs and LOLwell.

Learn more about inclusion at Land O'Lakes

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