The SanMar IDEA Council
The SanMar IDEA Council was created in 2020 with a clear mission:
To advise and guide company-wide diversity efforts and advocate for the value of inclusion as a pathway to employee well-being and business success.
The members of the IDEA Council are chosen from across the company. They each bring their personal experience to the conversation and ensure that employee concerns are represented in our decisions.
Natalie Tenner
Chairperson
Rob Crowley
Vice Chairperson
Alejandra Aguilar
McKenna Cerbana
Emily Gigot
Adam Gould
Kara Johnson
Adrian Price
Kate Shaw-Nappi
Boubacar Sissokho
Rosie Sulaimane
Christine Wingate
The Council’s initiatives are currently focused on several important themes:
Employee Feedback
In 2022, the IDEA Council conducted a survey of SanMar employees to better understand what SanMar is doing well and where we have opportunity to improve. The valuable feedback received will inform future initiatives and future surveys will be conducted periodically to assess progress.
Employee Training
Training employees is vital to the important work of promoting diversity, inclusion and belonging at SanMar. The IDEA Council works with our Training and Development team to create a curated series of videos and interactive workshops to support this goal.
Representation in Imagery
Working with the SanMar Marketing team since 2020, the IDEA Council has helped to improve the representation of people of color, persons with disabilities and inclusive sizing in the images and video SanMar uses in its printed product catalogs and online.
Raising Awareness
We celebrate unique traditions and identities through educational presentations which promote the importance of a diverse workplace, including Hispanic Heritage Month, Black History Month and Pride.
Employees are also invited to hear from outside experts in our Insights series, which hosted a conversation about health, fitness and overcoming adversity with six-time USA National Champion Paralympian Lacey Henderson in October 2022.
