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Diversity Summit in Videos Part 4: Southwest Airlines Panel

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Explorer B

Over the past three weeks, you’ve heard from my fellow Diversity Council Members sharing the highlights from this year’s Diversity Summit from leading companies that showed that Diversity and Inclusion is a competitive advantage. Our Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion Ellen Torbert, shared the importance of feeling confident that you can be who you are and bring your whole self to work.  Former CEO of Ernst & Young, James Turley, linked Diversity and Inclusion to “Winning” in the competitive market place.  Coca-Cola’s Chief Diversity Officer Steve Bucherati, emphasized the importance of “Fairness” and how that organically spread throughout the Coca-Cola culture. The last presentation of the day was a panel of Southwest Leaders, and I was excited to hear from our Leaders and what their thoughts were on the topic of Diversity and Inclusion. Southwest’s panel discussion included:  Vice President Communication and Outreach Linda Rutherford, President Emeritus Colleen Barrett,  Senior Vice President Customers Teresa Laraba, Vice President, Diversity and Inclusion Ellen Torbert, and Executive Vice President, Chief Commercial Officer, and President of AirTran Airways Bob Jordan.  The panel discussed how we’ve reframed the dialogue the Southwest Airlines way by linking it to our core values.  The panel recognized the Diversity Council for championing diversity leadership and educating Employees through special events and ongoing communication. In this video highlight, you’ll see an example as Teresa talks about a recent Coffee and Conversation the Company hosted during Pride Month in June.  As a proud member of the LGBT community and Southwest's Diversity Council, I’m inspired by the feedback and conversations from this year’s Diversity Summit. What was your biggest takeaway from this year’s Summit?  Let us know by commenting below!   JoinTheConvo_Logo