Racism and Discrimination Have No Place in Our Corteva Community
Jim Collins
Board Member | Investor | Retired CEO Corteva Agriscience | Experienced Corporate Executive | Global Food and Agriculture Business Leadership | M&A | Activist Defense | Delivering Strategy to Action | CEO Coach
Like you, I watched the video of this most recent tragedy in Minneapolis, as well as the subsequent protests in cities around the United States and the senseless violence in this country.
As a company, Corteva believes the basic principles of human dignity, equity, inclusion and diversity, are essential to every business, in every industry and something we work to reinforce every day. Recent events make it clear that we have much more work ahead of us to build a fairer and more just society.
Today – on our one-year anniversary – we launched our sustainability goals to reaffirm our commitment to our employees and the communities in which we live. Our sustainability goals give us a new platform to help make the world a better, safer, healthier place for every member of every community we serve, all around the world.
Let me be clear – racism and discrimination have no place within our Corteva Community, and do not reflect our purpose and values. We are building a company that looks to the future with hope and does what we can to enrich lives for generations to come.
I am committed to building an inclusive culture, but true change requires that we all make a commitment to doing what we can to affect change.
E.I.DuPont, Global Operations Director, retired
4 年Jim- I’ve known you for years, and as you know I have tremendous respect and admiration for you. So, based on your spoken desire mentioned in this article, I would ask you to do one more thing, as a woke-minded leader: assure you’ve put your words into clear actions. Look closely in your organization and promote and hire people of color to positions of high level leadership roles within Corteva. Actively add their diversity of experience to important decision-making within Corteva. Truly make sure you are opening up formerly closed doors for people of color. If you want to change the world that your grandson gets to grown up in, engage people of color at all levels within Corteva. You are one of the greatest leaders I personally knew within Dupont. Lead in this endeavor too. It has to be a conscious choice. Words are great, but in the end, they don’t matter as much as truly making a way for people of color. Don’t wait on the next leader to do what you can do right now.
retired
4 年Thanks for your leadership. True core values. Thanks for not lecturing your employees on how to peacefully protest. Thank you for your empathy. Hold your employees accountable when they demonstrate racist a/o discriminatory behaviors. Proud of you. Keep those retirement checks coming.
President Emeritus at The World Food Prize Foundation, American Ambassador to Cambodia, National Security Council Staff Alumnus, Diplomat
4 年Jim, Very powerful statement reflecting both your personal character and Corteva’s.
Vice President, Agri Innovations & One Health, Sustainability Innovation Centre (SINC), IKP Knowledge Park
4 年Very well-articulated Jim and like many others, I couldn't agree more! I am proud to have had the opportunity to work at DuPont Pioneer/Corteva Agriscience amidst such progressive mind sets and inclusive culture.
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4 年Cheers Jim - Thanks for your voice at Corteva Agriscience, and other like minded voices including Veríssimo Gibran Mendes de Sá, Gerd Dieterich, Luis C. V. da Cunha, Venkata Niranjan K Bobba, Luzia Schiavon, and thousands more scattered here and around the world. Peace - Steve