From a young age, Louisa Benedicto has had a passion for helping others be heard. “As a young kid, I wanted to work with disadvantaged youth because I was driven by making sure the person who didn’t have the loudest voice still had a voice.” Now the senior vice president of DE&I, Americas for multinational staffing company Hays, Benedicto is following her passion by facilitating conversations that, while difficult at times, have a transformative effect on the overall culture of the organization.

Her focus this year has been on peer learning with an emphasis on allyship. Through the development of numerous employee resource groups, panel discussions and trainings, Benedicto has made the DE&I conversation accessible and open to everyone. “You can’t make people believe something, but if you teach, learning will happen, and then the change comes,” she says.

One training program Benedicto created that made a significant impact on the Hays staff included recognizing bias in the recruitment process. While the focus of the training was on the recruiting process itself, recruiters individualized and internalized the message in a way that enabled them to see their own personal biases. Many attendees of the training stated that it helped them approach their job from a different lens.

"You can’t make people believe something, but if you teach, learning will happen, and then the change comes."

Next on the horizon for Benedicto and Hays is to continue educating their clients on inclusivity in their own recruitment processes. Benedicto also has a vision to impact the communities the company operates in by partnering with schools and other community organizations to create a pipeline of talent to ensure diverse individuals have the necessary education and experiences to prepare them for future employment opportunities.

Benedicto’s work on DE&I doesn’t stop with Hays. In her free time, you can find her building a new food bank in her province to provide a way to combat food insecurities or sharing her DE&I knowledge and experiences with others to advance the cause globally. “We’re all on a mission to make the world of work a better place and more accepting and equal.”

2023 DE&I Influencers List