Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits Announces Winners of Employee Diversity & Inclusion Idea Competition

MIAMI & DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits ('Southern Glazer's')-the world's pre-eminent distributor of beverage alcohol-today announced winners of its first Company-wide diversity and inclusion idea competition. The competition was run through Southern Glazer's Idea Distillery program that uses an online platform to crowdsource ideas from employees to solve significant business challenges in innovative ways. This latest Idea Distillery competition centered on enhancing and sustaining a more diverse, inclusive and equitable culture at Southern Glazer's, as well as promoting business growth in a diverse marketplace and positively impacting the diverse communities where the Company operates.

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More than 7,000 employees joined live webinar sessions promoting the contest-and over 2,500 employees actively engaged in the idea submission process, with an impressive 519 ideas submitted. Ideas were categorized by the following themes: Leadership Accountability, Our People, Marketplace Impact, Community Partnerships, and Learning & Awareness. Eleven idea finalists were selected through an extensive vetting process and awarded the opportunity to present at a Master Distillers event on November 5^th and 6^th in front of a panel of diverse Southern Glazer's executive leaders.

The Company is proud to recognize the following winners whose ideas covered internal initiatives, as well as external and community partnerships:

• 1^st Place
  • Alejandro Colindres
• 2^nd Place
  • Daniel Celestin & Luke Aubrey
  • Maria Hernandez & Cedric Keeton
• 3^rd Place
  • Bailey Gins
  • Shelly Lungstrum
  • Tonya Knox

In addition, the Company recognizes the remaining finalists and category award winners:

• Innovation Award
  • Stu Ratner
• Market Impact Award
  • Allison Campbell
• People Development Award
  • Jamila Tate & Kimberly Erceg
• Supplier Partnership Awards
  • Alexis Fore
  • Tara Jones & Candace Stroud

Cash prizes are being awarded to all winners and finalists. In addition to these prizes, Southern Glazer's used this initiative as an opportunity to provide a charitable donation to the Equal Justice Initiative-$25 was donated for every idea generated through this Idea Distillery effort-leading to a total donation of $12,975.

Commenting on the competition, Wayne E. Chaplin, Chief Executive Officer of Southern Glazer's said, 'This Idea Distillery initiative, engaging all employees, solidifies the importance of Diversity and Inclusion at Southern Glazer's. We have changed the landscape of how we identify, prioritize and pursue Diversity and Inclusion opportunities by listening to our frontline employees, who are best positioned to shape and benefit from this enhanced culture at the Company.'

Senior Director, Diversity and Inclusion for Southern Glazer's, Terence Goods, added, 'This initiative was a huge win for our Southern Glazer's FAMILY, and just as we anticipated, we could not have picked a more compelling time to execute this important Diversity and Inclusion effort. We are thrilled with the results and the positive overall impact this process has had on our organization-and will continue to have as the winning ideas are implemented.'

About Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits

Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits is the world's pre-eminent distributor of beverage alcohol, and proud to be a multi-generational, family-owned company. The Company has operations in 44 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and Canada. Southern Glazer's urges all retail customers and adult consumers to market, sell, serve, and enjoy its products responsibly. For more information visit www.southernglazers.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @sgwinespirits and on Facebook at Facebook.com/SouthernGlazers.

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Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits, LLC
Cindy Haas
Vice President, Public Relations
Office: (305) 625-4171, ext. 1166
Mobile: (786) 498-7640
Email: [email protected]
or
Jennifer Hanlon
Manager, Public Relations
Office: (305) 625-4171, ext. 1534
Mobile: (305) 898-9982
Email: [email protected]

Source: Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits

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