Industry News
Vail Resorts Inc. has been named one of “America’s Best Employers for Women” by Forbes for the second year in a row. This recognition, which considers survey responses from 75,000 U.S. employees as well as a review of diversity in top executive positions, highlights the Company’s continued efforts to advance women in leadership in its corporate offices and across its 37 mountain resorts worldwide.
“We’re honored to once again be named to Forbes’ list, as advancing women in the historically male-dominated ski industry is a priority for us at Vail Resorts. While we’re proud of the progress we’ve made and the change we’ve championed around gender diversity, we also recognize that we have significant work to do when it comes to racial diversity within our company, our industry and our sport. We’re committed to going further – to create a truly inclusive culture, where all types of diversity are valued, celebrated, and welcomed.”
– Lynanne Kunkel, chief human resources officer at Vail Resorts
At Vail Resorts, currently four out of nine of the Company’s Board of Directors and a third of its Executive Committee are women. The Company is also proud to have women running resorts in every region where it operates – including three out of its five Colorado resorts.
“Intentional representation at the highest levels and in leadership roles across the company is critical to foster true diversity and inclusion.”
– Lynanne Kunkel
In 2019, Vail Resorts rolled out a new diversity and inclusion initiative, building off its previous women in leadership programs. POWDER, which stands for Providing Opportunity for Women through Diversity, Equality, and Respect, is designed to foster an inclusive culture that attracts and retains a broad range of talent and promotes diverse leadership growth opportunities. While the initial focus of POWDER was on gender equity, the POWDER platform is expanding to include all forms of diversity.
Forbes, in collaboration with analytics firm Statista, selected the third annual list of “America’s Best Employers for Women” using an independent survey from a vast sample of more than 75,000 U.S. employees, including 45,000 women, working for companies employing at least 1,000 people. The 2020 evaluation was based on direct recommendations, including topics like atmosphere and development, pay equity, family support, and flexibility, as well as diversity among top executives/Board members. This recognition by Forbes is the latest for Vail Resorts, which has also been named one of “America’s Best Employers” and “Best Employers for Diversity” by the publication.
