In 2017, MSC Industrial Supply was challenged by our Board of Directors to begin our journey toward a more diverse and inclusive workplace.

To affirm importance of diversity and inclusion as a key business strategy, a progress update became a standing agenda item for two of the four Board meetings each year.   In addition to statistical data, the Chief People Officer presents a Board pre-read with internal trends in talent acquisition, internal promotion and movement, and key initiatives underway.  During the board meeting, high impact activities are highlighted and those leading the initiatives participate.  For example, the HR leader who partnered with local organizations to employ associates on the autism spectrum in our customer fulfillment centers attended the Board meeting to present the positive impact on the business and associate engagement.  In another example, early career rotational program graduates join board meetings to present key learnings from their rotations and share their targeted next career move.  These presentations help translate the numbers to tangible results for board members and energize those driving results.

In turn, in 2019 the MSC Board also took the opportunity to add a member that brings additional diversity in gender, who now serves on the Compensation and Nominating and Governance Committees.  In addition, the Compensation Committee transferred the chairperson role to a female member as of January 2021. Our senior management team has also increased female representation by 20% and requires diverse candidate slates for any senior leadership position.  We have made progress on people of color in our senior leadership ranks and continue to work on increasing representation.

MSC is fortunate to have a board that values and supports an inclusive environment, and one that recognizes the positive impact that results for our associates and stakeholders.