Regional Managing Director of Media at dunnhumby UK talks about the rise of female representation

To celebrate International Women's Day, Stacy Gratz, Regional Managing Director of Media at dunnhumby UK talked with The Current about the rise in female representation in the business, the importance of diversity and inclusion at dunnhumby, and the unique challenges she's faced in her career.*

Since the start of your career, have you seen a big shift in the representation of women in the industry? 
Absolutely. It is incredible to see the increase in female representation in senior-level roles and board positions across Fortune 500 and FTSE 100 companies. There is still a lot of progress to be made but when I think about the early days of my career working in media in NYC the representation of women at the most senior level is better.

In your organization and the broader industry, how is diversity and inclusion tracking?
Our global team at dunnhumby is made up of around 55 percent male and 45 percent female colleagues, and we have a range of initiatives in place to improve our gender balance including our Women Returners program, inclusive policies focused on menopause, fertility, and pregnancy loss; balanced recruitment shortlists; and our inclusive sponsorship program, Catalyst.  At dunnhumby, diversity outcomes are just one element of our DEI journey. Through our flagship inclusion program, Belonging@dunnhumby, we’ve set the expectation that all our people contribute to building an inclusive culture, where everyone feels a sense of belonging and is free to be their authentic self at work. The program launched in 2021 with a series of global summits and has continued into the Embed phase as we entrench inclusive behaviours into our day-to-day work by acting with integrity, empathy and courage.

In your role, what was the biggest challenge or adjustment you faced?
Retail media is an exciting, fast-moving part of the dunnhumby business, and I lead a large team with ambitious growth targets. My goal is to keep them motivated, remove obstacles and distractions, and provide the right enablers. Making sure the team stays motivated and feels like they are supported and growing in their careers whilst going through a transformation can be challenging, but it’s something they are facing brilliantly.

*Adapted from The Current's International Women's Day: Careers, challenges, and changes

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