Meet Sherie Valderrama, Sodexo Champion of Diversity Award Recipient
By Michelle Thomas, Senior Manager, Diversity Recruiting

Sherie Valderrama, Sr. Director of Talent Acquisition for Sodexo , has been selected as the company’s fourth quarter Champion of Diversity Award Winner.

According to her colleagues, Sherie is extremely deserving of this wonderful recognition. Her unrelenting efforts to uphold the company's culture of diversity and inclusion and her many contributions to support its advancement are making a difference. Some of Sherie's contributions include serving as a role model for building a strong (virtual) recruitment team, significant and ongoing efforts to build a mentoring culture, extensive involvement in external culturally diverse organizations and much more.

Please tell us about your background.

My interest in human resources began 25 years ago when I was a volunteer in Tanzania, East Africa. During my three years in Tanzania, I developed a passion for service, as I witnessed firsthand the enormous impact that can be made when the right person is hired, trained and developed. After receiving my BA degree in International Affairs at The George Washington University, where I also minored in Spanish, I began my career in international human resources, working primarily in the professional services arena. I specialized in the management of international recruitment operations in developing and transitional economies in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. In 2003, I joined Sodexo as the Senior Director of Recruitment for the Health Care Services Division. Since 2004, I have been a Senior Director with Sodexo ’s Talent Acquisition Group.

What is the Champion of Diversity Award?

Sodexho's Champions of Diversity is a quarterly recognition program that recognizes employees who go above and beyond to advance diversity and inclusion at Sodexo . Champions of Diversity are recognized by their respective division in the company for their "best practices" in one or more of the following three ways: improving employee relations, working with clients and customers, and their work in the community.

What types of organizations are you involved with that support the cause of diversity and inclusion?

Internally, within Sodexo , I was involved with the English as a Second Language (ESL) Task Force. Sodexo recognized that in many of our units, we had a need to provide this resource to our employees to facilitate communication. Part of our task was to conduct pilot studies of units cross-divisionally to see if there was a strong demand for launching ESL. As a result of our findings, Sodexo launched the Sed de Saber program, making it available to our frontline employees in 2005. I was also a member of the committee that helped launch the Sodexo Spirit of Mentoring Program, where I currently remain as a facilitator. In addition, I contribute to Sodexo ’s sourcing strategy which aims to build a diverse and inclusive workforce. As far as my involvement with external organizations is concerned, I am a member of the Women’s Food Service Forum, which is a professional association dedicated to elevating women leaders. I am also a member of the Advisory Board of the University of Houston’s Hospitality Industry Diversity Institute (HIDI).

Why is mentoring so important for career growth?

I am a passionate advocate of mentoring—both for the benefit of our company and for our individual employees. I know that by building a mentoring culture within our organization, we are better able to attract, develop and retain a talented workforce. For our employees, mentoring enhances both professional and personal growth by creating a safe environment to explore new interests, expand perspectives and work on developmental goals. Especially in a company as large as ours, mentoring can help to navigate the organization, making it possible for our employees to learn more about our entire organization and the many opportunities it provides cross-divisionally and cross-functionally. Mentoring provides exposure to people with different ideas and perspectives, which is what diversity is all about.

Personally, I have had the same mentor for the past 20 years, and I credit my mentor with helping me to grow into a stronger professional and a better person. Even after all of these years, I still seek out her guidance when faced with dilemmas of major importance. Although she is retired, she remains a wonderful sounding board and is still able to offer valuable perspectives that challenge my thinking and help me to grow.

I feel very fortunate to be a part of Sodexo ’s Spirit of Mentoring Implementation team. We are now preparing to launch our fourth phase of mentoring partnerships, and it has been so rewarding to see the positive impact that this program has had on our company and on our employees.