Kent State University has been named a member of the Commission 50 by the Commission on Economic Inclusion for its significant efforts in diversity and inclusion. Members of the Commission 50 are recognized annually for progress in creating, enhancing and sustaining their diversity and inclusion strategies.

Member organizations are selected after responding to the commission’s annual Employers Survey on Diversity™. The organizations are then ranked based on four metrics: board diversity, senior management diversity, workforce diversity and supplier diversity, to arrive at the top 25 for profit and top 25 nonprofit organizations.

“Once again Kent State’s commitment to creating a diverse workplace is being recognized by an external entity,” says Alfreda Brown, Ed.D., vice president for Kent State’s Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. “I’m excited that Kent State has been listed to the Commission 50 among other leading organizations in Northeast Ohio, and I am extremely happy for everyone involved in helping to create an inclusive environment at our university.”

The Commission on Economic Inclusion is a program of the Greater Cleveland Partnership, a 15,000-membership association of Northeast Ohio companies and organizations that was created in 2004. The Greater Cleveland Partnership has a goal to mobilize private sector leadership, expertise and resources to create attractive business conditions that create jobs, grow investment and improve the economic prosperity of the region.

“This recognition is very rewarding for us at Kent State because it is an acknowledgment of the university’s success in creating a diverse supplier base even as we continue to expand our supplier diversity program at the university,” says Veronica Cook-Euell, manager for the supplier diversity program at Kent State.

For more information about the Commission 50, visit www.gcpartnership.com/Economic-Inclusion/Commission/Commission-50.aspx.

For more information about supplier diversity at Kent State, visit www.kent.edu/procurement/diversity.

For more information about Kent State’s Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, visit www.kent.edu/diversity.