Fresh Perspective

Whitney Cox

Diversity, equity and inclusion program manager at Schnitzer Steel Industries

Photo courtesy of
Whitney Cox

Working at Starbucks during college taught Whitney Cox an important lesson that has stuck with her throughout her career—research to solve problems in front of you.

“My first trainer [at Starbucks] took a consistent and at times frustrating approach to onboarding,” Cox says. “Anytime I asked for assistance in making a drink or handling a customer issue, no matter how long the line was, the first thing [the trainer] would say to me is, ‘Where can you look that up?’ It wasn’t necessarily the answer I wanted in the moment … but it was the right one.”

She says learning to use resources available to her has helped her become a problem-solver, and this lesson has stuck with her throughout her career.

Cox joined Schnitzer Steel Industries, based in Portland, Oregon, nine years ago as a regional logistics specialist and worked her way up from managing rail and barge contracts to eventually becoming a senior regional logistics manager.

“When the role became available, I realized my skill set aligned with the position and my passion for DE&I outside work might make it a good fit,” Cox says.

Her ability to think on her feet and solve problems has proven to be helpful in all her roles at Schnitzer, and she says,“That thinking on your feet [and] promoting change, those are things I really enjoy doing, and those are skills that help to advance my work in this new role as a DE&I program manager."

Cox is responsible for overseeing and providing tools for Schnitzer’s employee resource groups (ERGs), which are employee-led groups that promote a diverse and inclusive workplace, as well as researching and sharing DE&I training with employees across the company. Cox tells Recycling Today more about the company’s DE&I goals, as well as how companies can embrace DE&I initiatives.

”Thinking on your feet [and] promoting change, those are things I really enjoy doing.”

Recycling Today (RT): How long has Schnitzer been considering DE&I initiatives?

Whitney Cox (WC): The concept of the program was initiated by our chairman and CEO Tamara Lundgren in 2017. While DE&I has long been a priority ... in [2017], our vice president of HR and now Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Steph Murray engaged with experts and looked outside our industry to see what other[s] were doing. Steph put together a formal proposal on how the company could roll out a DE&I program, which launched in 2018.

RT: What are Schnitzer’s ERGs?

WC: We have supported the initiation of [ERGs] that are employee-led and driven. Each ERG maintains an executive sponsor and steering committee to support the group’s administration, while members have the option to fill other leadership and administrative positions. ... We’re now actually up to six groups. We have the Veterans ERG, an LGBTQ+ Pride Group, Hispanic Employee Resource Group, our Black Employee Network, Women@SCHN and a group called BUILD, which stands for building up individuals’ lives daily that focuses on helping the communities.

RT: For smaller companies that might not have resources, how can they improve on DE&I initiatives?

WC: I might suggest looking at it from a different angle. … Say you have 12 employees and you have a conference room that only seats eight, ... you’ve already got a problem. By inherently offering eight people a seat at the table, you’ve excluded others and set up a second-tier system. Maybe start small and work your way up to programs that make sense for your organization.