Feedback: August 2021

Q: How have you gotten the word out about, or marketed, your DEI policies and achievements? 

Larry Hofer

VP of People Services
Cox Communications’ Southwest Region
Sector: Communication

At Cox, we champion inclusion, reflect our diverse communities and empower our great people to build a better future together. This is our vision for Cox’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, and it reflects the thoughtful work of employees across our company.

We weave DEI into our culture, internally and externally, through various strategies and programs. These are awareness, inclusivity and operational excellence.

Awareness involves using employee newsletters, training and videos at employee meetings to drive deeper awareness and understanding of diversity, inclusion and equity as a business imperative.

We promote inclusivity by empowering employees to recognize, value and leverage diverse perspectives while fostering innovation through Employee Resource Groups where cultures, perspectives and backgrounds are celebrated, represented and shared.

To achieve operational excellence, we partner with key stakeholders to maximize business opportunities to ensure that DEI is woven into employee interaction with our customers, communities and suppliers. This commitment continues to show up externally through our advertising and marketing touchpoints.

As vice president of people services for Cox Communications’ Southwest Region, Larry Hofer provides leadership and strategic direction for human resources and development for more than 4,800 employees in Arizona and Nevada and has helped to transform the region, resulting in Cox receiving Best Places to Work recognition. Hofer has been actively involved in several nonprofit organizations, including Habitat for Humanity, American Red Cross, YMCA, Asian Business Association and Neighborhood House.

Barbara Kennedy 

Executive VP and Chief Human Resources Officer
Western Alliance Bank
Sector: Finance

Diversity, equity and inclusion programs are more vital than ever, especially in a state as diverse as Arizona. At Western Alliance Bank, they’re a powerful tool that strengthens our team, helps us better identify and understand gaps, and allows us to be more responsive to clients’ needs. 

When it comes to communicating DEI policies and achievements, our communication strategy is two-pronged, using a mix of both internal assets and external resources. 

We believe that word of mouth is one of the strongest communication instruments in our toolbox. Through robust internal communications, transparent reporting and purposeful education programs, we continually reinforce our DEI focus and forward-moving traction to our workforce. Participating in these direct and meaningful conversations empowers our team to authentically share information about policies and achievements among peers, clients and other important groups. 

Beyond sharing our policies and progress through public reports, we have also built strong relationships with organizations that work with underrepresented groups. With achievements such as 59% of all promotions being among women and 43% among ethnically diverse teammates in 2020, we collaborate directly not just on DEI recruitment and referral programs but also learning how we can continually improve our efforts.

Barbara Kennedy is executive vice president and chief human resources officer of Western Alliance Bank. With more than two decades of experience, she oversees human resources, training and education, talent development and recruitment for Western Alliance, which has more than 1,700 employees across the country.

Brad Schenck

Senior Vice President, Southwest Division Leader
JE Dunn Construction Company
Sector: Construction

JE Dunn recognizes the value of having a diverse group of well-rounded professionals to encourage innovation and creativity and foster a culture of inclusivity by being intentional. We work with organizations, like the Associated Minority Contractors of Arizona, to help us promote diversity and inclusion. The first step is recruiting diversified talent. Our recruitment efforts are intertwined with programs that enhance our culture of inclusion, such as diversity forums for staff to share personal experiences and develop deeper relationships, along with more formalized training that focuses on how individual biases impact others.

Building a diverse and inclusive workforce means more than simply recruiting top talent; it also means mentoring the next generation by way of corporate scholarships and training programs that provide career accessibility to people of color. Last year, JE Dunn initiated a National Diversity Scholarship and internship, and this year’s recently announced recipient is currently attending the Del E. Webb School of Construction at ASU and interning at JE Dunn this summer. Maintaining a focus on workforce, workplace, and marketplace are the keys to inclusion.

Beginning his career at JE Dunn Construction more than 30 years ago, Brad Schenck has held several key leadership positions within the company, culminating in his appointment as JE Dunn’s Arizona office leader. Graduating from Iowa State University with a B.S. in Construction Engineering in 1989, Schenck has served with various organizations throughout his extensive career, including the Arizona Builders Alliance’s Legislative Committee, St. Vincent de Paul’s Advisory Board and GPEC NEXT.

Mary Vesely

Employee Engagement and Inclusion Program Manager
Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation
Sector: Real Estate

This is the year of the brand at Fairway. We made it a company-wide initiative to work on building our brand through marketing materials, commercials, partnering up with the Milwaukee Brewers, Tellurian, and St. Mary’s Food Bank (just to name a few), and building our social media presence through various platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn). One area we’re focusing on is capturing the stories that demonstrate what we do as a company, who we are and why we do it. As our CEO and founder often says, “Loans are what we do, not who we are.” We focus on being kind to others and fill the need whatever it may be. Our stories are all posted on our YouTube Channel through personal documentaries filmed by our new Chief Content Officer, Kirby Bradley. In addition, we purchased the domain home.com to make the homebuying experience easier with Fairway.

Diversity and Inclusion is not a siloed program. Rather, it is integrated and woven into our 10 core values and everything we do from community involvement, employee engagement to training and our marketing/recruitment efforts. We have a D&I committee dedicated to creating initiatives and have ambassadors across our #FairwayNation to help promote and drive them. 

I’m proud to be working at Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation for about four years. We believe in fostering growth and knowledge through a learning work environment. I like to describe that my job is to make employees feel at home at Fairway by sharing all the great resources, tools, engagement programs and opportunities we have to offer. Fairway makes it easy to fall in love with the culture of gratitude, kindness and valuing of each and every member of our Fairway Family.