Diversity Woman Magazine

WIN 2018

Leadership and Executive Development for women of all races, cultures and backgrounds

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d i v e r s i t y w o m a n . c o m W i n t e r 2 0 1 8 D I V E R S I T Y W O M A N 17 Procter & Gamble's chief diversity officer believes that we must bring an empathy lens to both our organization and our personal life WILLIAM P. GIPSON Paying It Forward Men at Work By Julissa McClean W illiam P. Gipson lives the Procter & Gamble motto ev- ery day: he is "touching lives and improving life," through his work at P&G; and beyond. As the newly appointed president of End-to-End Packaging Trans- formation, he oversees products most of us use on a daily basis—from Crest to Bounty to Vicks, to name a few. Gipson also serves as chief diversity ofcer for P&G;, a role that affords him the oppor- tunity to create growth for the company. He previously worked for P&G; in Brazil and Venezuela. Gipson has a history of contributing to the bigger picture. He served in the US Air Force from 1976 to 1980. Today he is involved with multiple organizations, serving as a member of the board of the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, a member of the Cincin- nati Business Committee Education Task Force, and a member of the board and executive committee of the Cincinnati Scholarship Foundation. He received a bachelor's degree in chem- ical engineering from the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, in 1984, and joined P&G; the following year as an engineer. Diversity Woman: Tell us about your new role as chief diversity officer and president of End-to-End Packaging Transformation. William Gipson: e recent transition, particularly in the diversity and inclusion space, is the same as it was before, with one significant difference—I am now back in the United States. Coming back to Cincinnati enables me to touch the sig- nificant portion of our diversity program, which is US based, although we have a sure opportunity globally. Most of the work in the diversity space remains from a US-centric standpoint, with gender being one of the three areas that is more global. But it allows me to now be with a majority of our lead teams and get into engagement opportunities. e other role, with End- to-End Packaging Transformation (the practice of eliminating as many middle steps as possible to optimize performance and efciency in a process) is totally dif- ferent from what I was doing before, and that's exciting. In a 30-year career, when you get into something new and different, it just rejuvenates you, so I am looking for- ward to that piece. DW: How do your two roles intersect, and how do they complement one another? WG: About six or seven years ago, P&G; began to blend a line leader's role with the diversity area. We did that with the intention of challenging ourselves to think about diversity in a different way— diversity as a growth opportunity for the company, a lead into innovation, a lead into how the enterprise operates. We've talked for some time about diversity and inclusion and how it's sort of baked into our DNA. By combining these roles, we are not only saying that, but are actually We Mean Business >

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