Jul 12, 2017   SOURCE: BusinessWire

Dow Names Karen S. Carter as Chief Inclusion Officer

The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) today announced that Karen S. Carter has been named Chief Inclusion Officer – a new role at Dow created to strengthen the integration of diversity and inclusion with business strategy and results.

Carter will have global responsibility for enhancing the integration of diversity and inclusion across the Company as a key driver and enabler of the Company’s long-term growth strategy. She will have direct accountability to Dow President and Chief Operating Officer Jim Fitterling and Dow Chairman and CEO Andrew Liveris.

During her 20 year Dow career, Carter has served in several strategic business leadership roles across Dow’s Packaging & Specialty Plastics, Building and Construction, and Polypropylene Licensing and Catalyst businesses before assuming her most recent role leading Dow’s North America Packaging & Specialty Plastics business where she was responsible for developing and driving the business strategy as well as delivering the regional profit and loss results.

“We are proud to have someone with Karen’s strong international business background and diverse perspective in this key leadership role,” said Fitterling. “I am confident in Karen’s ability to lead and guide our efforts to move Dow significantly forward in creating a more inclusive and diverse workforce for the future. Karen has the full support of the executive leadership team.”

“Meeting the challenges of today’s business environment requires the contributions of every member of our Dow team. Through the creation of the role of Chief Inclusion Officer, coupled with Karen’s outstanding talent and leadership, we will continue to build an atmosphere where all people feel welcome and valued,” said Liveris. “We will build a culture where employees of all backgrounds can come together to fulfill their own personal and professional goals and to work together to help the company succeed.”

Fitterling further emphasizes that all Dow leaders have a role to play. “Each individual leader and manager will be expected to be accountable to create a culture which encourages and values diverse perspectives, enabling Dow to achieve all of its objectives.”

In accepting the role, Carter said, “Diversity and inclusion makes for a more innovative and engaged workplace and higher performing teams. This is about creating a culture where every employee feels fully empowered and valued and where they can contribute to their maximum potential in order to maximize business and company success. I look forward to accelerating our progress and to helping the company – and all of its employees – achieve these results.”

The appointment follows Liveris’ recent speech where he said, “Dow has survived, indeed thrived, for 120 years because as an institution we have always held true to our values. We believe in the rights of all people. We export our values wherever we go. We seek out the best people to work inside our great company, and we continually raise our standard of conduct, behavior, ethics, safety, and respect and dignity.”

He added, “We can all be proud of Dow’s tremendous reputation for constantly working to make our company – and our communities – fairer and more equal for everyone. But, there is always more that we can and must do.”

In addition to naming a Chief Inclusion Officer, Dow announced plans to strategically increase the diversity of its supplier base, and to add more diverse colleges and universities to the company’s U.S. recruiting efforts. Dow also recently joined the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion, rallying with 160 other companies to advance workplace inclusion and equality.

About Dow

Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines the power of science and technology to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company is driving innovations that extract value from material, polymer, chemical and biological science to help address many of the world's most challenging problems, such as the need for fresh food, safer and more sustainable transportation, clean water, energy efficiency, more durable infrastructure, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow's integrated, market-driven portfolio delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in 175 countries and in high-growth sectors such as packaging, infrastructure, transportation, consumer care, electronics, and agriculture. In 2016, Dow had annual sales of $48 billion and employed approximately 56,000 people worldwide. The Company's more than 7,000 product families are manufactured at 189 sites in 34 countries across the globe. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.

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