So how did you become the diversity and inclusion leader for EMENA?
I’ve worked for Avery Dennison for 27 years. Right after university, I started in a finance position and I worked in different roles, countries, regions and divisions for about 12 years. Then I moved to indirect procurement, which ranges from cars to travel and utilities, and I also dealt with renewables, like wind turbines and parabolic solar panels.
Now, I'm the diversity and inclusion leader, which is basically my third career within Avery Dennison and it's close to my heart. I'm gay and just got married last year. And when you come out as a gay man, or as anyone from the LGBTIQ community, it's not that you come out just one time – you come out every time that you meet new people, move houses, move departments, move divisions or change your work.
Last year, we started an employee resource group for the LGBTIQ community in EMENA and I've been co-chairing that with one of my colleagues in Oegstgeest, the Netherlands. I got a very positive vibe about it and I thought that if Avery Dennison would create a diversity and inclusion position, I would have to jump at it because it motivates me, gives me energy and would let me do something good for the company.
And since I was a child, I’ve been triggered by social injustice related to my Jewish background and having a mother who survived the Holocaust. I know what it means when people are ostracized, and when they are treated based on what they are, versus what they have been doing. When you feel better in your own body and mind, you will flourish in the workplace and in your life. I'm grateful that Avery Dennison is giving me this opportunity to help out and to lead us on this path.