Spirit of Inclusion Scholar looks to add diversity to beverage alcohol industry

Dave Bouckenooghe can list by name many of the women at the top of the corporate ladder in the alcoholic beverage industry.

It’s not only because the Professor of Organizational Management and Human Resources is an avid industry watcher for research purposes. It’s also due to so few women reaching the upper echelons of wine, spirit and brewery operations.

There aren’t that many names for Bouckenooghe to remember and he’s working to change that.

He’s doing research to identify elements that would enable women and people of colour to climb industry ranks because, in its current state, the white, maledominated workforce of alcohol beverage production doesn’t reflect the diversity of its consumers, he explains.

“The primary goal of this project is to improve our understanding of how organizations can become more gender diverse with a specific focus on empowering women and people of colour to adopt leadership roles in all facets of the industry, but also to empower men to be voices for and drivers of this mission,” Bouckenooghe says.

He’s also curious about the internal resources that women, including Maggie Timoney, CEO of Heineken USA and Michelle DeFeo, president of LaurentPerrier, have which helped them adapt and succeed professionally when the odds would appear against them.

“Change won’t happen overnight, so we’ll look to role models in the industry and what’s making them successful,” Bouckenooghe says.

The aim is to use that information to help women in the industry grow their career adaptability in the short term while longer-term work targeting barriers to equity, diversity and inclusion is happening.

Bouckenooghe’s efforts are supported by Charton Hobbs and Moët Hennessy as part of the LCBO Spirit of Inclusion initiative, which supports university-based research to create more opportunities for diverse women looking to enter, advance and thrive in the alcoholic beverage industry.

Bouckenooghe has been appointed to a three-year term as the LCBOHennessy Spirit of Inclusion Research Scholar. He brings with him a background in research on fairness in the workplace and abusive leadership.

Funding from alcoholic beverage industry partners, including Charton Hobbs and Moët Hennessy means his work will be supported by two master’s students, who are diverse women.

Together, they hope to establish best practices for a more equitable and industry with inclusive leadership that celebrates uniqueness and diversity in its workforce.

“Successful leaders are focused on being inclusive and on the uniqueness of employees, but the problem is many leaders are white men who might not be aware of the challenges different groups face,” Bouckenooghe says. “So the white male approach to solving this might be different than the approach that women or people of colour would take. We need to learn from them and grow the mindset of equitable treatment in the workplace.”

Bouckenooghe notes The Spirit of Inclusion initiative aligns with the United Nations’ Sustainability Development Goal 5 of granting women and girls equal rights and opportunities to live free of discrimination, including in the workplace.

He’s taken up this work as a white male because he refuses to be complacent about an issue that’s pervasive in more than just the alcoholic beverage industry.

“As a white male, I don’t want to stand at the sideline,” he says. “We have to be involved in the process and in consultation with those who are passionate about this project.

“Brazilian philosopher Paulo Freire said social change always has two ailments: One is too much reflection on a topic with not enough activism or too much activism without reflection. Through this project, we hope to achieve that balance for this group that has been underrepresented in the industry.”