Faye Richardson-Green, a long-time diversity and inclusion leader and Steelcase Inc. Director of Learning & Development, has been named as the 2013 Diversity Visionary Award recipient.
Created by the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce in 2003, the Diversity Visionary Award recognizes an individual or organization for their exemplary efforts, advancements and contributions to ensure diversity, inclusion and equity within their own institution or community.
With over 25 years of broad community leadership experience, Richardson-Green has been instrumental in a wide range of programs, events, and strategies—influencing the strategic direction of numerous organizations in roles as diverse as co-founder, committee chair, facilitator and board trustee. These organizations include public and parochial school systems, healthcare systems, leadership institutions, foundations and non-profit human services.
Within Steelcase, Richardson-Green has worked tirelessly to create an organizational culture that is equitable, diverse, and inclusive—guiding the research, development and engagement of diversity efforts and strategies since 1992 and leading the company’s diversity redesign efforts in 2009-2010. She is also the co-founder and a board chair for Partners for a Racism-Free Community (PRFC), which envisions and works towards a community of compassion and justice that promotes racial harmony. She remains an active founding member of the Summit on Racism, and she is the co-designer of the Institute for Healing Racism's Facing Racism curriculum.
Richardson-Green will accept the 2013 Diversity Visionary Award during the Chamber’s annual Diversity Visionary Award Celebration.
The event will also feature a keynote from Dr. Chris Benner, professor, researcher and co-author of Just Growth: Inclusion and Prosperity in America’s Metropolitan Regions. Benner’s ground-breaking research and analysis in this book uncovers subtle and detailed processes, policies, and institutional arrangements that point to the ways certain regions around the country have been able to consistently link prosperity with inclusion. Read more about why Dr. Benner's work is so important to Grand Rapids with the feature article in the Rapid Growth's Legacy Edition.
Join us at the Diversity Visionary Award Celebration!