VF is a global organization with a richly diverse workforce of 69,000 associates across every continent. Our diversity – among our people, our brands, and our consumers – is a source of competitive strength and organizational pride. To nurture this diversity, we worked to create and execute localized inclusion and diversity strategies for our multicultural workplace and marketplaces.

In alignment with our CEO and Chief Human Resources Officer, VF’s Inclusion & Diversity (I&D) team established two internal councils to help lead the company’s inclusion and diversity efforts: The Executive Inclusion & Diversity Council (EIDC) and the Global Women’s Advisory Council (GWAC). The EIDC consists of 14 global brand presidents and functional leaders who are responsible for guiding our actions globally to build a highly inclusive culture and leverage diversity to drive organizational performance. The GWAC reports into the EIDC and is in direct alignment with our Paradigm for Parity pledge to achieve gender parity in leadership positions within our organization. 

The EIDC met multiple times in 2017 and discussed a range of topics, including diversity trends in the labor force, workforce, and consumer, the company’s global talent pipeline, talent management innovation, and our five-year global inclusion & diversity strategy.

During the last year, the EIDC has cultivated several customized inclusion & diversity action plans for our global regions of business that address our brands and functions. Each plan addresses components such as talent management, learning, development and training opportunities, aligning business needs with the company’s I&D efforts and employee resource groups, among others. These plans are currently being executed by our regional leaders in close coordination with the EIDC. 

Joe Bryant II