You belong here. It’s the feeling that we want Walmart and Sam’s Club associates to have when they walk through the doors of our stores, clubs, fulfillment centers and campuses around the world. Belonging is the universal outcome we seek to achieve through our diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, and we remain committed to driving progress. I recently joined Walmart as chief belonging officer, an evolution of the chief diversity officer role, and I’m excited for the path ahead.
Throughout my career I’ve been a passionate advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion because it creates a culture where people feel they belong. We should celebrate our unique qualities and differences, and we should foster an environment of psychological safety and well-being that reflects values of Respect, Integrity, Service and Excellence. I also believe that when people feel like they belong, it drives engagement and fuels a high-performing workforce.
As we embark upon our Belonging journey together, a critical part of sustaining progress will be measurement, transparency and accountability. Today we are releasing our 2023 Culture, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Annual Report. The company is seeing positive momentum. Officer representation in the U.S. for women and people of color is at the highest levels since at least 2020, and representation for international women in management is trending upward. Asian and Hispanic representation is up year to date across the board, and the makeup of our new hire population is becoming increasingly diverse. We are also seeing areas where we’ll need to lean in, and you can learn more here.
In the weeks ahead I look forward to engaging with our Associate Resource Groups, Officer Caucuses and my new Walmart and Sam’s Club family throughout the business. I know that together we will create a workplace where we all feel and know we belong.
