PROFILE Advocacy in-house
Tracey Durand brings advocacy, diversity, and inclusion to in-house role. By Vawn Himmelsbach
As a woman in law, the issue of diversity has been of inter- est and concern from Day 1 for Tracey Durand, senior vice president and gen- eral counsel of Sodexo Canada. "It's no secret that's a concern for the legal profession in general," she says.
"In Sodexo, there's a very strong focus on diversity and inclusion — it's part of our growth strategy.
rocket science, she added. "The world is figuring out that diversity of thought is key to driving all sorts of things includ- ing business results." Sodexo, which provides outsourced
" This isn't exactly
facilities management, offers food pro- grams and other services to clients, including healthcare facilities, university campuses, or remote sites in Northern Canada. Since the company provides "quality-of-life" solutions to diverse clients across diverse markets, it'
sity part of their day-to-day jobs, although there's no affirmative action in place. Instead, it'
have a deeply embedded understanding of diversity, says Durand. Employees are incented to make diver-
s essential to
diversity and inclusion. And everyone has one, including the chief executive officer. "We're a people company — I know
s about developing a plan for
everyone says that, but our asset is our workforce. We don't own buildings or big equipment," says Durand, who is also the chairwoman of Sodexo'
working group in Canada (the company
In law school I loved advocacy, I still love it to this day — loved the trial, the courtroom. I absolutely
saw my law career as a commercial litigator. TRACEY DURAND, Sodexo Canada
36 • AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012 WWW.CANADIANLAWYERMAG.COM/INHOUSE INHOUSE s women's net-
