CEW honors Unilever with 2013 Corporate Empowerment for Women Award

Cosmetic Executive Women, a leading professional organization in the beauty, cosmetics, fragrance and related industries, today honored Unilever with its Corporate Empowerment for Women Award, recognizing the consumer goods company’s commitment to cultivating a workplace environment that provides opportunity, empowerment and skills for women. Gina Boswell, Unilever’s EVP of Personal Care, and Ashley Boyce, Global Associate Brand Development Manager, Hair, accepted the Award on behalf of the company during the CEW’s annual Achiever Awards Luncheon.

Each year, the Corporate Empowerment for Women Award recognizes one company in the beauty industry that demonstrates a commitment to advancing women leaders within its organization. Specifically, Unilever is being recognized for its initiatives in three key areas: professional development, work/life flexibility, and the development of future leaders.

“Unilever is honored to receive this award as a testament to our commitment to workplace diversity and nurturing female talent within our organization,” said Kees Kruythoff, president of Unilever North America. “We take pride in putting women at the forefront, through programs that empower women as current and future leaders, as well as understanding and connecting with female consumers.”

Currently, nearly half of Unilever employees and approximately 42 percent of managers and executives are women.

“Being recognized by the CEW and the cosmetics industry as an organization committed to the advancement of women is a proud moment for Unilever,” Gina Boswell, EVP, Unilever Personal Care. “Personally it is very rewarding to be able to foster the next generation of leaders, and to work for a company that is so focused on women’s development, both professionally and outside of the office.”

Unilever focuses on nurturing female talent through its diversity program, which includes leadership immersion programs, mentoring, and flexible working. The company’s agile working program, for example, allows employees to work flexibly – anytime and anywhere – as long as the needs of the business are met. The aim is to create a working environment supportive of family life. The program is widely used, with 48 percent of employees flexing their hours or telecommuting, and 73 percent of employees compressing their work week.

Unilever’s Dove Movement for Self Esteem initiative focuses on beauty as a source of confidence for all girls and women, and invites women to inspire and encourage the next generation to reach their full potential. Unilever annually gathers employees for a program called Dove Day, which offers self-esteem workshops for young girls, providing employees with an opportunity to make a positive impact within their communities.

Unilever leverages diversity to create a dynamic, open and innovative workplace environment. With the company’s diverse consumer base, having a workforce that reflects the diversity of the real world enables Unilever to connect with the widest range of consumers. Its commitment to diversity not only drives growth for the organization but also aligns with Unilever’s plan for sustainable growth.

“Having a diverse workforce is a critical element of our long-term strategy for sustainable growth, and is reflective of our consumer base,” said Sumeet Salwan, SVP HR, Unilever North America. “We take pride in creating an environment where all employees can feel empowered to grow and succeed, both in their personal and professional lives.”

Cosmetic Executive Women, Inc. (CEW) is a nonprofit professional organization with over 5,000 executives, both women and men, in the beauty, cosmetics, fragrance and related industries. The CEW Achiever Awards were established in 1975 to honor leading women executives and companies who contributed significantly to the growth of the beauty industry and the advancement of women. The CEW board of governors votes on honorees annually.

For more information on Unilever’s proactive plan to enhance diversity, please visit our website.

About Unilever United States, Inc.

Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Food, Home and Personal Care products with sales in over 190 countries. Our products are present in 7 out of 10 homes globally and are used by over 2 billion people on a daily basis. In the United States the portfolio includes brand icons such as: Axe, Ben & Jerry’s, Bertolli, Breyers, Caress, Clear Scalp & Hair Therapy, Consort For Men, Country Crock, Degree, Dove personal care products, Good Humor, Hellmann’s, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!, Just for Me!, Klondike, Knorr, Lever 2000, Lipton, Magnum, Motions, Nexxus, Noxzema, Pond’s, Popsicle, Promise, Q-tips, Ragú, Simple, Slim-Fast, Soft & Beautiful, St. Ives, Suave, tcb, TIGI, TRESemmé and Vaseline. All of the preceding brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of the Unilever Group of Companies.

Our ambition is to double the size of our business, whilst reducing our overall environmental footprint (including sourcing, consumer use and disposal) and increasing our positive social impact. We are committed to helping more than a billion people take action to improve their health and well-being, sourcing all our agricultural raw materials sustainably by 2020, and decoupling our growth from our environmental impact. Supporting our three big goals are more than 50 time-based targets. See more on the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan at http://www.unileverusa.com/sustainable-living/

Unilever employs more than 10,000 people in the United States – generating over $9 billion in sales in 2012. For more information, visit www.unileverusa.com