Dairy Processing - March/April 2024 - 20

Women in the
dairy industry
report feeling
less respected,
facing pay
disparities,
desiring
increased
mentorship
and
encountering
barriers to
advancement
due to gender
biases. "
Becky Rasdall,
International Dairy
Foods Association
" For leaders, I would just say it is really
focusing on the things that only we can do in our
positions, " he said. " We're probably one of the
few people who can make that decision (to do a
pay equity analysis) and call for that to happen.
We need to do what we can do. We can't do
everything. We can't solve all the problems. We're
not going to make all the cultural shifts. But we
can do those things and we can take that step.
We can role model, we can lead the culture in a
certain direction in a certain way. "
When talking about opportunities for
empowerment, Waring recalled an instance
when IDFA president and chief executive officer
Michael Dykes went out of his way to ensure
she had a place of visibility in a meeting with a
US lawmaker, and how that impacted her.
" I was with IDFA on a fly-in, and there was
a US senator that was shaking everyone's hand
and I stuck out my hand and he just skipped
right over me, and I was so embarrassed, "
Waring said. " But then we walked into the room
with his office and Michael Dykes came up to
me and said, 'No, you have to sit at the table.
You have to speak up. You need to tell his office
who you are. You deserve to be here.' And so,
from a cultural standpoint, if this community
can keep telling women that they belong at
the table, then you're right, we won't need the
policies, but we should have them in place
anyway and just keep telling everyone to show
up to take their seat at the table. "
TAKING ACTION
Several dairy companies are actively working to
address gender parity and the advancement of
women in their respective workplaces.
Schreiber Foods, Green Bay, Wis., was the
20 MAR-APR 2024 | DAIRYPROCESSING.COM
inaugural winner of the IDFA Workplace of the
Year award in January. The award recognizes a
company that has created policies to promote a
positive workplace experience, including efforts
to support women and minorities.
When it comes to empowering women,
Schreiber offers Global Women's Development
Circles, which are designed to give women a safe
place to have conversations about life and career.
They are led by CEO Ron Dunford and includes
women from various levels in the organization
across the globe. Schreiber also offers Network
of Women Business Leaders (NOWBL) as part of
its Business Resource Groups.
In 2023, Aurora Organic Dairy, Boulder,
Colo., introduced the Aurora Women's Network,
an employee resource group to support women
in their careers and family life. In its first
year, the group held a series of women's golf
lessons to increase connections across different
locations and departments.
Leprino Foods, Denver, works with a
third-party to conduct pay equity analysis. The
company has conducted four surveys (two
internal surveys and two external surveys)
to date. Each survey year, results have
demonstrated equity in pay within the company
and the latest external survey (2022) results
showed that Leprino pays dollar for dollar when
comparing women and men.
WOMEN'S SUMMIT
On March 18, 50 women in the dairy industry
descended upon Washington, DC, to attend the
inaugural IDFA Women's Summit.
IDFA developed the summit as a way to
bring together rising and established leaders
to advance gender equality and offer practical
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Dairy Processing - March/April 2024

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