Macy’s Jeff Gennette on Pride, Diversity and Inclusion

Jeff Gennette is usually all business, focused on steering the $25 billion Macy’s Inc. into a fast-moving future as chairman and chief executive officer. But as the industry stops to mark Pride Month and the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, Gennette — one of the very few openly gay ceo’s of a major public company — talked to WWD about the importance of diversity and inclusion (and stepped in to correct at least one unrecognized bias along the way). Gennette also touched on, for the first time publicly, his own experience as an LGBTQ executive. WWD: What do businesses gain by having a more diverse c-suite? Jeff Gennette: I believe we understand the customer better with a diverse team. We’re a national retailer and we serve an incredibly diverse customer base and that base is only going to grow. It’s not just Macy’s, every consumer brand needs to be thinking about this. Diversity at all levels is important — from front-line colleagues to the board of directors. It keeps your customers’ voice in the room. When you don’t have diversity of perspective, there’s a bigger risk of disconnect from the customer. The Macy’s operating committee — the senior team of 35 people — is more than 25 percent

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from WWDWWD http://bit.ly/2FxH6fv