Diversity, equity and inclusion are critical in today’s world—professionally, personally and socially.
Today, the U.S. is increasingly waking up to the need for more diversity in our classrooms, businesses and communities—not only because it’s the more socially responsible thing to do, but because we are increasingly understanding the true value of diversity. More so, collectively, we are better coming to the understanding that equity, an idea we often have as our north star, is next to impossible to achieve without first being diverse.
Studies and direction point to the disparity that exists today in many of our underserved and under-resourced communities. A team using only a portion of its talent is missing out on becoming a top performer because it’s missing out on a perspective that’s different from its own, a new idea that was bound by preconceived bias, and so much more.
Additional studies have shown a financial value to diversity as businesses with diverse cultures outperform those without by as much as 35 percent. These businesses are leaders in their industries, creators of innovation, financially stronger and adapt to change more readily.
My responsibilities at Caesars Entertainment are designed to positively impact both social and environmental results. Our team is responsible for implementing the company’s PEOPLE PLANET PLAY, which outlines our work and commitment to our communities, environmental excellence and Responsible Gaming. My day-to-day includes overseeing this corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy and finding growth opportunities in our key focus areas including environmental sustainability, employee community involvement and philanthropy through the Caesars Foundation.
We set a direction and management goals for annual and long-term CSR achievements and assess macro trends and issues such as human rights, social safeguards and equity, food scarcity, United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and climate change. This includes setting strategic goals—for instance, in 2017 we set a target for 50 percent of leadership-level employees to be women by 2025 and a goal to have individuals who are racial or ethnic minorities fill 50 percent of manager roles or higher by 2030.
We want to keep Caesars Entertainment in that portion of top-performing companies in our industry by continuing to build a diverse and inclusive team of employees, suppliers and customers.
Because of my own diverse background, I truly understand the reality and impact diverse cultures can have on creating a successful and empowered business environment that delivers sustainable results.
We are continually committed to the communities in which we live, work and play. By focusing our attention on the community, talent empowerment and expansion, developing a diverse network of suppliers and championing innovative ideas, we will build stronger and engaged communities for today and the future.
Caesars Entertainment is planning a multitude of programming related to our commitment to create a more diverse and equitable future.
Examples include the new 2019 Economic Equity Tour, which will cover six cities and provide the following sessions.
- Financial Education designed to ensure our employees and citizens are fiscally responsible.
- Workforce Development focused on recruitment and retention of a robust workforce pipeline with expanded horizons. We want people to understand the careers and opportunities available in the gaming industry.
- Small Business Development covering how to do business with Caesars Entertainment, opportunities to present new ideas, capacity-building and growth strategies and alternative methods to access capital.
- Nonprofit Development to help build better service providers educated in operations, grant writing, technology, fundraising and their true value proposition.
This is my passion: creating sustainable, diverse businesses that can hire more people in our communities and create economic stability and wealth for families, long term. It is what Caesars Entertainment’s CSR programs are about, and we see the results. We are determined to spread the message of diversity, equity and inclusion, educating every employee, supplier, guest and visitor to Caesars Entertainment to be the most that they can be and to create a better world for us all.
