The creation of a diverse, supportive, and stimulating work environment is critical for every business's success. In this episode, we discuss the topic of diversity with Beth Morgan, Founder and CEO of boom!, the global community for aspiring and experienced female supply chain professionals, Dirk Holbach, CSCO of Laundry and HomeCare at Henkel, and Allison Bales, Senior Manager Supply Chain & Strategy Development, Laundry and HomeCare, Henkel. What role do women play in driving transformation projects? How do you create a diverse environment? Progress has been made, but much still needs to be achieved. 
 
About the speakers
Allison Bales
Allison began her career with Henkel in 2010 as an intern. After graduating in 2012, Allison was hired into the purchasing division in Arizona as a purchasing manager. In 2015, she relocated to Henkel's Global Supply Chain Office in Amsterdam and took over the role of Global Category Lead for Bleach, Enzymes, and Amines. Changing positions once again, in 2018, Allison moved into the Laundry and HomeCare Supply Chain as Senior Manager of Strategy and Development, focusing on organizational effectiveness, people development/training, and project management. Allison holds an Industrial Engineering degree from Arizona State University, and she is originally from Kansas City, Missouri, USA.
 
Beth Morgan 
Beth Morgan is CEO and Founder of boom!, an online network connecting a cross-industry community of female supply chain professionals worldwide. Launching in September 2019, and with members spanning 40 countries, boom! provides inspiration, learning, and mentoring designed to help aspirational women develop their personal and professional skills and build the network they will need to become future leaders. For over two decades, Beth has worked in the supply chain sector, most recently as Research Vice President at SCM World, a Gartner community for global Chief Supply Chain Officers and their teams. 
 
Dirk Holbach
Dirk has more than 20 years of experience in supply chain, operations, organizational development, network optimization, purchasing, and sales and has held various roles on a local, regional and global level at Henkel. He is currently the Chief Supply Chain Officer and Head of World-Wide Supply Chain (manufacturing, planning, logistics, EHS, quality) for Laundry & HomeCare with net sales of 7 billion EUR. His responsibilities include overseeing 6,500 employees in 33 factories and 47 logistic centers in North/Latin America, Western/Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East Africa, Asia-Pacific. Dirk was responsible for the definition and execution of the 2017 - 2020 transformation plan for global footprint with on-going rationalization in mature markets and expansion in emerging markets, including M&A. At the forefront of Henkel's digital transformation journey from 2011-2020, Dirk has been concerned with transforming their global supply chain operations into an Industry 4.0 digital-enabled supply chain.