KIND Snacks lives on the ethos that it doesn’t take much to be kind, and the more people encouraged to make a simple gesture, the better, stronger and more hospitable the world will become for everyone.
In a statement, KIND’s CEO Mike Barkley said, “Eradicating conscious and unconscious discrimination is not a problem we can address alone. We must all be committed to doing the work, as individuals and as an organization. It will not be easy and it will not always be comfortable. This is the point. Change doesn’t come when we feel comfortable.”
The business of tomorrow
Under its recently launched DEI umbrella, KIND hosted a Shark Tank-style business pitch challenge for the students of HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) Florida A&M University and North Carolina A&T State University to see how the future generation puts a face to modern business.
As part of the adoption programme, KIND has gifted $100,000 in student scholarships to the universities and is continuing to support students by hosting similar events to provide professional networking and career coaching with KIND leaders, as well as exclusive opportunities for tomorrow’s changemakers.
Three teams won funding and the eligibility to enrol in KIND’s internship programme, with exclusive access to KIND’s job network.
We speak to Keysha Bell-Brown, KIND’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion chair, to get an update on the brand’s DEI journey, to find out its involvement with the two HBCUs, who the Action Team is expecting to reach and how the initiative is inspiring others to follow suit.
