Episode 79: Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion in the Natural Products Industry: an Interview with Sheryl O’Loughlin of the JEDI Collaborative

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I believe that we have a responsibility, as better-for-you brands, to speak for justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in our industry. 

Join me in conversation with Sheryl O’Loughlin of the JEDI (justice, equity, diversity and inclusion) Collaborative today, as she teaches my listeners how to begin, sustain, and regenerate a JEDI journey for your company, the food industry and the food system.

It’s an honor to have Sheryl on the show today: she’s the co-founder of the JEDI Collaborative and the Women on Boards Project, former CEO of REBBL and Clif Bar and Company, co-founder and former CEO Plum Organics.

Both non-profits that Sheryl currently leads are focused on supporting and advocating for a more inclusive industry and economy to drive innovation, growth, profitability, and justice: The JEDI Collaborative of industry peers and experts is leading a project for the natural products industry to frame the business case for embedding justice, equity, diversity and inclusion into our entire food ecosystem. The Women on Boards (WOB) Project is inspiring and supporting a game-changing movement to significantly increase diversity in boards of directors for all consumer companies. They are a nonprofit with one purpose: providing women access to seats at the board table.

I wanted to do this show, because Food & Beverage founders constantly ask me how to navigate current events, politics, and topics around systemic racism & white supremacy with their brands. Questions around knowing what to say, when to say it, and how to speak up are common, and it can be daunting to take a stand as a brand, knowing that it might alienate some customers and have a negative impact on your sales.

If you’ve struggled with how to start this important work, tune into today’s episode. 

Once you listen, you can sign the JEDI pledge and find out more about their work by clicking here. 

If you would like to donate to support the work that JEDI does, please find out more by clicking here. 

If you’d like to see the job posting for the Executive Director position that they’re hiring for, please click here (and share it widely!).

Thank you so much for your time today, Sheryl! It was a pleasure having you on the podcast.

This episode is sponsored by my Retail Roadmap! It’s more important than ever to know what it takes to get ON the retail shelf - be it a physical or digital shelf -, and have high sales once you’re there. Find my free, nine-step guide to building a brand that flies off the shelf by clicking here.