Celebrating Our People: Global Diversity Awareness Month Part 3

With thousands of employees dispersed throughout the United States, Samsung Electronics America represents a diverse workforce coming together to showcase innovation. While recognizing employees occurs on a daily basis in our workplace culture, Global Diversity Awareness Month provides the opportunity to celebrate the multitude of heritage, backgrounds and life experiences of our people throughout October.

At Samsung, we are striving to cultivate an inclusive workspace that promotes diverse cultures and perspectives. “As part of our D&I journey, our employees are creating communities sharing their diverse stories helping us foster a culture of inclusion,” said Tami DeWeese, Head of Diversity & Inclusion for Samsung Electronics America. “Each employee holds unique life experiences which shape their perspective and lens contributing to robust dialogue in our workplace. During Global Diversity Awareness Month, we want to highlight our people. We are Samsung Strong and creating a better future because of the diversity of our people.”

In our continued effort to encourage employees to be themselves while building a better tomorrow, we asked employees at Samsung Electronics America to participate in a three-part series highlighting what diversity and inclusion mean to them both in the workforce and beyond. Here’s what they had to say:

“To me, diversity and inclusion means strength in variety, not similarities, and this is what working at Samsung is like. At Samsung, it is clear that the company is working to foster diverse and inclusive communities among employees by celebrating, embracing and sponsoring a variety of events through our Employee Resource Groups.” –Dan Wu

“I was born and raised in France and moved to America in my twenties, and as an immigrant, there is always a part of me that feels out of place. Working in an environment that values and encourages diversity – alongside people from different backgrounds and cultures – makes me feel like I belong and like I’m valued. The events, panels, and initiatives that each Employee Resource Group leads help communities to not only express themselves, but also share their experiences company-wide to raise awareness and create change. As a member of the Samsung Equality Alliance leadership team, I get to be a part of the change within my own community.” –Johanne Millet

“As a Black woman, true and embraced diversity and inclusion mean that I am not “othered,” it means improving the actual D&I numbers in company leadership as well as active sponsorship (not just mentorship) by company leadership of employees who have been “othered” throughout their careers.” –Freya Christian

“As a Native American, conservation and environmental awareness is part of our culture as my Great Aunt who worked at Smithsonian Zoo also taught me growing up. Samsung and my colleagues have encouraged and supported me over five years (pre-pandemic) as I volunteered in Africa to support my personal conservation goals. I’m also encouraged to share my experiences and thoughts on conservation upon return and during various times on departmental meetings. Samsung’s overall environmental responsibility from energy consumption of our products to our partnership recycling program for mobile phones and consumer electronics are also things I am proud Samsung supports.” –Jasper Morse

With this opportunity to highlight Samsung’s people, we are both humbled and honored to have been recognized for the progress toward a diverse and inclusive workforce. In 2020, Samsung Electronics America was recognized by Forbes USA as “The Best Employers for Diversity,” and in 2021 as “Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality” by The Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index. As we acknowledge all we have accomplished, we are eager to continue setting new goals that pave the path toward a better future for all, beginning with our people.