Our Legal department, led by Sue-Lynn Noel, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, has been presented with the Bereskin & Parr Diversity Award from the Canadian General Counsel Awards. This award acknowledges Purolator’s team for their innovative approaches to encouraging and promoting diversity and inclusivity in the organization and across the shipping and logistics industries.
“Winning this award is a great honour for us because it highlights the importance and impact of diversity, equity and inclusion work,” said Noel. “I encourage everyone on my diverse team, and across the organization, to be their authentic self at work. From a business perspective, you need to champion inclusion to allow for new perspectives and ideas, because that is what drives innovation and growth.”
Purolator’s Legal team is made up of 20 professionals, including bilingual legal professionals and foreign-trained lawyers, with approximately 70 per cent of the lawyers representing equity seeking groups. This diverse team provides the foundation for many of Purolator’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) initiatives and is responsible for looking at the activities of the organization through an equitable lens – from recruitment to operations, to developing its workforce, to supporting the community.
Additionally, in 2020, the law team started Purolator’s Social Justice Movie Club as a forum for employees to discuss discrimination in the context of the justice system, and otherwise, faced by marginalized and underserved communities. These well attended discussions have provided a platform for real connection among employees at all levels in a safe and non-judgmental environment.
“Purolator’s Legal group has been at the forefront of our company’s journey toward becoming a more diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace,” said Amy Yamoah, Director, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Purolator. “Sue-Lynn was actively involved in launching ground-breaking DE&I initiatives, such as our Diverse Talent Matters program – a career development program providing an educational and networking opportunity for employees who identify as Black. This successful program is being expanded to include employees from other equity seeking groups. Sue-Lynn has taken a keen interest in supporting the continued growth and career advancement of program participants.”
