In Celebration of Black History Month, JetBlue Hosted a Special “Sports Talk” Panel Featuring HR and Diversity Professionals from Major Sports Industry Organizations
Panelists Discussed Efforts to Better Reflect Diversity & Inclusion in their Front Offices and Leadership Suites
February 28, 2017 /3BL Media/ - In celebration of Black History Month, JetBlue invited Human Resources and Diversity professionals from major sports industry organizations and teams to participate in the airline’s recurring speaker series: Lift Every Voice (LEV).
Both front offices and C-Suites benefit when diversity of thought, cultures, genders and perspectives have a seat at the table. Lift Every Voice is a series, designed to keep the conversation about Diversity and Inclusion ongoing and progressive, provides an opportunity for open dialogue across industries and throughout JetBlue. It is an element of the company’s overarching initiative ‘JetBlue Equals’ - the thread that ties together all of JetBlue’s initiatives related to Diversity & Inclusion.
Michael Danubio, Senior Director of Human Resources for the Boston Red Sox (MLB); Shauna Gilhooly, Vice President of Human Resources, TD Garden and Bruins (NHL); and John Quinones, Director of Talent Acquisition, National Football League (NFL) discussed their respective organization’s efforts to reflect greater diversity in their front offices and the challenges that have hindered progress.
“We took a fresh look on a familiar issue,” said Tasha Kersey Aoaeh, Manager of Diversity and Inclusion, JetBlue. “At first, our crewmembers wondered what we could learn from such a seemingly different industry. But that's exactly what diversity and inclusion is about, valuing difference while digging deeper to build on commonality.”
Shauna K. Gilhooly, Vice President, Human Resources, Boston Bruins and TD Garden, shared, “It is refreshing to see and hear the work that is being done in sports and travel, industries that touch millions of people, to better reflect the diversity that exists within the global reach of our brands. In order to move the needle, diversity and inclusion as guiding principles need to permeate an organization at every level, even a personal one. JetBlue is leading the way creating conversations inside and outside of its organization that inspire us and foster the sharing of best practices in areas that we all value.”
Michael Danubio, Senior Director of Human Resources for the Boston Red Sox, stated, “One of the Red Sox core values is having an inclusive environment that embraces diversity. We know our values are the ideal and that we still have work to do to achieve these ideals, but we try to put actions to them every day. It was great to see JetBlue’s crewmembers actively engaged on this topic and asking some well thought out and hard hitting questions to each of us on the panel.”
Lift Every Voice is an annual speaker series at JetBlue that serves as a platform to help raise awareness about diversity and inclusion issues and general topics from a diverse perspective. Speakers share their stories and viewpoints to invite crewmembers to relate, appreciate differences and show that everyone can contribute to bridging gaps of understanding by listening to every voice. JetBlue Equals is the umbrella concept for JetBlue’s initiatives related to Diversity & Inclusion.
About JetBlue
JetBlue is New York's Hometown Airline®, and a leading carrier in Boston, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood, Los Angeles (Long Beach), Orlando, and San Juan. JetBlue carries more than 38 million customers a year to 100 cities in the U.S., Caribbean, and Latin America with an average of 925 daily flights. For more information please visit www.jetblue.com.
JetBlue Corporate Communications
+1-718-709-3089
corpcomm@jetblue.com
Source: JetBlue
