Archer Daniels Midland Company announced that it is part of a group of more than 150 companies signing onto the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion, a new CEO-led collaboration pledging to take action to cultivate workplaces that are both diverse and inclusive. The initiative launched this week with companies committing to exchanging best-known practices and supporting ongoing and new diversity and inclusion actions within their respective companies.

“A key success factor for businesses today is an inclusive culture and a diverse workforce that can drive innovative thinking among people from a variety of backgrounds and experiences,” said ADM chairman and CEO Juan Luciano. “At ADM, we take very seriously our commitment to these ideals both within our company and the broader agricultural industry. Working with other organizations in the newly-formed CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion group will enable us to collectively advance diversity and inclusion in the workplace by sharing best practices and working toward common goals.”

As a member of CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion, ADM will share its learnings from creating a workplace culture that values open mindedness and multiple perspectives from people of different backgrounds and experiences. In addition, the company’s annual employee diversity and inclusion training, and numerous support programs, are examples to build upon within the wider business community.

Building an inclusive workplace at ADM also extends to the broader agriculture sector. ADM founded and currently leads the Agriculture Diversity & Inclusion Consortium—a cross-functional council representing industry, academia, NGOs and legislative bodies—that is working to grow the pipeline of diverse talent within the industry. With the world’s population expected to exceed the available food in the next century—and the number of jobs in agriculture outpacing available workers to fulfill these roles—the consortium is identifying ways to build an inclusive workforce with the skills, capabilities and competitiveness to make American agriculture a leader for generations to come.