The Greater Milwaukee Committee and Milwaukee Women Inc. awarded the fifth annual Mary Ellen Stanek Award for Diversity in Corporate Governance to Susan Schmitt of Rockwell Automation and to Aurora Healthcare earlier this week.
The award, named for Robert W. Baird & Co. chief investment officer Mary Ellen Stanek, was created in 2013 to recognize individuals or organizations demonstrating a commitment to promoting diversity in their corporate structure resulting in increased gender diversity in leadership and on corporate boards in the Milwaukee region.
Schmitt, Rockwell senior vice president of human resources, was recognized for efforts that increased gender diversity among executives and directors at the company by 65 percent. Her nominator noted she created an internal structure for diversity and inclusion “that places the ownership and accountability in the business and engages senior leaders not only as sponsors, but as participants and change agents in this work.”
Aurora was recognized for efforts to address health care disparities in diverse communities and investing in the creation of a diverse talent pipeline. The organization is also increasing its cultural competency training, diversity in leadership and governance and collection and use of race, ethnicity and language preference data.
Previous recipients of the award have included Stanek, Jeff Jorres of Manpower Group, Gale Klappa of WEC Energy Group and Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co.
