Adding Value: Empowering Diverse Voices at Ahold USA

Listen to this article

By John Black

In her role as Director of Diversity and Inclusion at Ahold USA, Stacey Miller oversees a wide variety of Business Resource Groups (BRGs), from veterans and working parents’ groups to the LGBT community and developing professionals. While each of the fifteen chapters under her umbrella has a specific demographic they deal with, it’s Miller’s job to make sure they all work together towards the same goal—creating better neighbors, better workplaces, and better places to shop.

“It’s so important that our employees know they have an active voice in the company,” Miller said. “It can be anything from an idea on how to improve customer service or celebrate a special event they’ve discussed in their chapter. We’ve even had people enter a contest to come up with an idea for a new product that is being developed as an in-house brand.”

Miller’s first experience in the diversity and inclusion field came during her time in the Air National Guard, where she served as an advisor and discovered her passion for helping people find their voice.

“I knew from that experience that when I left the military, I would continue on the path toward developing more effective diversity and inclusion policies and programs,” she said. “I not only love what I do on a day-to-day basis, but I’m extremely proud of the achievements this company and its associates have made in improving the three areas that make working with us a better experience.”

Some of Miller’s achievements include a leadership conference held by the Business Resource Group “Women Adding Value,” as well as a new in-house program where several of the Ahold USA companies offer healthy snacks to children of shopping parents to help them both enjoy the experience a little more.

Associates from Giant / Martin’s and Ahold USA have also banded together and donated over 6,000 Jared’s Boxes—small plastic storage boxes filled with small gifts, toys, games, and fun activities, selected for a specific age and gender—that are delivered to children in hospitals. And in 2016 this same group donated 90,000 pounds of household items to the USO Liberty—the largest single donation of its kind ever made to the United Service Organizations.

“It was the perfect need and opportunity to do something positive for the community and be that Better Neighbor,” she said. “I’m extremely proud of what we do.”