TD SYNNEX UK and Ireland has announced the winners of its 2024 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) awards, bringing to the forefront the great work done by its co-workers who have demonstrated their commitment to driving DE&I and acted as allies and mentors to fellow co-workers.
► Programme underlines the importance of providing a welcoming and inclusive environment in which co-workers can be their true selves
David Watts, senior vice president, regional managing director, UK and Ireland, TD SYNNEX said: ‘The DE&I awards recognise and celebrate the achievements of our co-workers who have demonstrated commitment to DE&I. They also highlight the importance we place on co-workers being able to come to our workplace feeling welcome and safe, and as their true selves. We are committed to diversifying our talent, developing cultural understanding, and supporting and developing allyship among our co-workers. We are just one company, but our aim is to make a difference in our community, in our industry and within our business.’
The programme was curated by the four TD SYNNEX UK&I business resource groups (BRGs). The Elevate BRG is dedicated to the empowerment of women; Spectrum provides support for LGBTQ+ co-workers; Embrace celebrates racial, cultural and religious differences; and Limitless supports co-workers with a disability, hidden disability or who are neurodivergent.
In total 144 nominations were put forward for 75 individuals, with 31 co-workers nominated more than once. The winners were:
- Elevate Inspirational Leader of the Year – Simone Devine, business improvement manager
- Embrace Rising Star – Ignacio Benito, business optimisation partner
- Limitless Advocate of the Year – Sarah Emmott, instructional designer
- Elevate Woman of the Year Unsung Hero – Miranda Laurens, field sales executive
- Embrace Positive Role Model – Alix Clements, business manager – services
- Limitless Unsung Hero of the Year – Natalie Seymour, business performance manager
- SPECTRUM LGBQT+ Manager of the Year – Sophia Haywood-Atkinson, services director
- DE&I Champion of the Year – Andy Brown, technical services director
Watts concluded the virtual presentation, which was attended by around 400 co-workers, by congratulating all the nominees and winners, by thanking everyone who attended and thanking the BRG teams and external judging panel for their efforts.
The judges for this year’s awards were:
- Manpreet Gill – CEO system integrator, Bell Integration
- Diane Hettinger – corporate disability inclusion consultant, Disability:IN
- Polly Jacob – diversity and inclusion advisor, Softcat
- Larisa Lucaciu – UK&I territory marketing lead, Lenovo
- Adam Wilcox – distribution and managed partner lead, NetApp
- Sara Yirrell – freelance journalist and consulting editor, CRN UK
