Denny's diversity officer, Rachelle Hood-Phillips, to speak Sept. 26

Rachelle Hood-Phillips, chief diversity officer of Denny's Restaurants, will deliver a talk at Cornell Sept. 26. Her subject: how the restaurant chain went from pariah to the top U.S. company for minority employment and advancement. The talk will take place from 4 to 5 p.m in 305 Ives Hall and is free and open to the public.

Hood-Phillips' talk is the first in a series called "Leadership, Management and Diversity in Corporate America."

"We are delighted and honored that Rachelle will be kicking off our speaker series," said Quinetta Roberson, assistant professor of human resource studies in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. Roberson and Ralph Christy are the coordinators of the series. Christy is the J.T. Clark Professor in the Department of Agricultural, Resource and Managerial Economics (ARME) in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences,.

"In 1994, Denny's Restaurants experienced a series of diversity-related incidents that led to one of the most high-profile class action discrimination lawsuits to date," related Roberson. Denny's was sued for treating black patrons with hostility and refusing to serve them in some of its restaurants.

Hood-Phillips, who joined Denny's in 1995, is credited with helping the restaurant chain leverage the diversity of the retail food industry workforce into an advantage.

"As a result of cultural and structural changes guided by Ms. Hood-Phillips, Denny's was recently ranked first in Fortune magazine's 50 best companies for minorities. It now serves as a model for other companies," said Roberson.

Before joined Denny's, Hood-Phillips spent 20 years in diversity management within the corporate world, including 10 years at the Burger King Corp., where she was promoted to vice president, human resources development, training and diversity affairs worldwide. She currently advises Fortune-500 companies on how to implement effective diversity intervention within their organizations.

The series will feature business leaders who will present their view on contemporary issues around managing diversity in their corporations, explained Roberson. "Overall the series is intended to provide a unique opportunity for students, faculty and staff to gain first-hand knowledge of best practices in managing diversity and to bring Cornell to the forefront of diversity management in academia and in training future business leaders."

During her two-day visit to campus Sept. 26-27, Hood-Phillips also plans to take part in a class on human resource management, meet with students and discuss diversity management on campus with staff.

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