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Who: Suzanne Richards
What: Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion, Freddie Mac
When: Since June 2011
In what areas do you place special emphasis on diversity and inclusion at Freddie Mac?
Richards: For the first time, each of Freddie Mac’s 14 divisions, working with our office of diversity and inclusion, created its own diversity plan tailored to meet division needs. This will ensure that all levels and areas of the company are making diversity a priority and helping Freddie Mac realize its overall diversity and business goals.
We’ve also ramped up our supplier diversity program to strengthen our business. In 2011, we increased our expenditures with diverse suppliers and vendors by more than 50 percent over the previous year.
Another area of focus for us is our employee network groups (ENGs). After an extensive review of ENG participation and efficacy, we re-launched our ENGs at the end of 2011, with a renewed focus on leadership. All of our ENG executive sponsors are members of the firm’s management committee. By engaging senior leaders to lead the ENGs, we are ensuring effective coaching, mentoring and sponsorship of ENG members, as well as providing an active forum for developing and showcasing the future leaders of Freddie Mac.
Continue reading at Diversity Executive magazine!
