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DCU hosts Ireland's first National Diversity and Inclusion Conference for Irish businesses
DCU hosts Ireland's first National Diversity and Inclusion Conference for Irish businesses

DCU hosts Ireland's first National Diversity and Inclusion Conference for Irish businesses

Ireland’s first National Diversity and Inclusion Conference gets underway at Dublin City University on Wednesday, September 4th.

This pioneering one-day event is the country’s first and only event of its kind for thought leaders, practitioners and professionals, and has been organised by DCU’s Centre of Excellence for Diversity and Inclusion, and Investors In Diversity Ireland.

The conference will be opened by the President of DCU, Professor Brian MacCraith, and will be taking place in the new state-of-the-art U Building in the University’s Glasnevin campus.

The conference will be hosted by Donna DeBerry, a global diversity and inclusion specialist who led change for brands from Starbucks to Indeed.com. She is travelling from the US to lead this inaugural event, and help inspire change across Irish businesses.

A number of key business leaders with national and international diversity expertise will be addressing the conference.

They include Mickael Melaye, the Managing Director of Airbus HIS, Rosarii Mannion, the National HR Director of the HSE, Margot Slattery, Country President Sodexo Ireland and Northern Ireland, Manisha Mehrotra, Head of Diversity and Inclusion EMEA Bloomberg LLP, Kara McCann, Senior Labour Market Policy Executive with Ibec, and Andrea Dermody, Global Inclusion and Diversity Lead EMEA State Street.

“A diverse and inclusive workforce is crucial for organisations that want to attract and retain talent,” the HSE’s Rosarii Mannion said.

“People are at the heart of every organisation and workplaces are stronger through diversity of thought for innovation. At the end of the day, having a diverse workplace is good for the bottom line.”

Talent has overtaken capital in the economy at a time when many millennial job seekers are researching individual company culture around diversity and inclusion.

Attracting and retaining talent has become of paramount importance and this is particularly relevant as a diverse and inclusive culture is increasingly becoming a deciding factor in the decision to accept or reject a job offer.

The conference, for which the theme is ‘Inclusion Works’, promises to explore trusted and proven approaches that can secure the best talent globally. It will also examine how attracting and retaining talent, brand reputation and mitigating risk are the key drivers of delivery and implementation in diversity and inclusion interventions.

Sandra Healy, Director of the DCU Centre of Excellence for Diversity and Inclusion said:  “Diversity and Inclusion is an increasing priority for most organisations today. Hearing and engaging with academic experts and global leaders in this space will help shift the dial and take diversity and inclusion interventions to the next level. Building inclusive workplaces enables organisations to attract and retain top talent, foster creativity and innovation and increase employee productivity.”

For more information about the event, click here: https://inclusionworks.ie/