Aramark Celebrates Female Leadership, Presents First EMPOWER Awards

Recipients Honored at Aramark’s Inaugural “Empowered Women: Rising Together” Virtual Symposium

PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In celebration of Women’s History Month, Aramark (NYSE:ARMK), a global leader in food, facilities management and uniforms, is recognizing the commitment and contributions of women in its workplace, with the inaugural EMPOWER Awards.

The awards were presented at the “Empowered Women: Rising Together” virtual symposium, hosted by EMPOWER, Aramark’s largest employee resource group (ERG), that works to accelerate the advancement of women leaders. Award recipients were recognized for their efforts in advocating action for women in the workplace, and included:

EMPOWER Leadership Award: May Limbach was recognized for achieving extraordinary outcomes related to empowering others through leadership development, mentoring, networking and community outreach, and for exemplifying the very best of the EMPOWER ERG.

Marketplace Service Award: Jessica Tantin was recognized for her role as a community leader, exemplifying dedication, integrity and honorable service to her local community, suppliers, colleagues and clients of Aramark.

Workforce Impact Award: Carrie Santiago was recognized for delivering sustainable impact to the Organization through programming, development of others and taking initiative to bring innovation and solutions to better support the women of Aramark.

Workplace Ally Award: Greg Lennox was recognized for working to make Aramark a more accepting, positive, diverse and inclusive space, and for going above and beyond to engage with stakeholders and groups within Aramark, to support the commitments of EMPOWER and ongoing diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Hub of the Year Award: The Denver EMPOWER Hub was recognized for delivering the EMPOWER mission to its workplace, workforce and marketplace.

“Congratulations to all of the EMPOWER Awards recipients. Their commitment to accelerating the advancement of women leaders across Aramark is incredible, and I thank them for promoting action for women in the workplace,” said John Zillmer, CEO of Aramark. “Aramark strives to create equity and increase access to opportunities for all of our employees, and our ERGs, like EMPOWER, give the next generation of leaders the tools to own their careers and inspires them to thrive in our company.”

Aramark’s commitment to people is a core part of the company’s sustainability plan, Be Well. Do Well., focused on positively impacting people and the planet. Aramark’s people priority is to facilitate access to opportunities that will improve the well-being of the Company’s employees, consumers, communities and people in its supply chain. The Company’s diversity and inclusion efforts have been recognized by many notable organizations, and it has been recognized as a Winning ‘W’ Company by 2020 Women on Boards, for achieving at least 20% women on its corporate board before the year 2020; Aramark’s Board stands at 33% women today. Aramark was also recently named to Diversity Best Practices (DBP), a division of Working Mother Media, Inclusion Index, for creating an inclusive workplace.

About Aramark EMPOWER

EMPOWER launched in April 2011, to enable business outcomes through the connection of engaged women in leadership. Since then, EMPOWER has become Aramark’s largest ERG, with more than 1,400 members globally, and continues to work to accelerate the advancement of women leaders by promoting career development, networking and mentoring alongside allies across Aramark.

Each year, EMPOWER sponsors women across different functions, to participate in KPMG’s Executive Leadership Institute for Women (ELIW) and the Women’s Foodservice Forum. More than 1,500 Aramark women have completed these programs, participating in skills-building sessions and other leadership development areas.

With a commitment to bringing awareness and action to race-related issues, EMPOWER partners with the Philadelphia-based nonprofit, The Evoluer House, where ERG members volunteer as mentors, coaches and allies to low- to middle-income women of color, ages 13-18, who have been expelled, suspended, or did not graduate from high school.

About Aramark

Aramark (NYSE: ARMK) proudly serves the world’s leading educational institutions, Fortune 500 companies, world champion sports teams, prominent healthcare providers, iconic destinations and cultural attractions, and numerous municipalities in 19 countries around the world. We deliver innovative experiences and services in food, facilities management and uniforms to millions of people every day. We strive to create a better world by making a positive impact on people and the planet, including commitments to engage our employees; empower healthy consumers; build local communities; source ethically, inclusively and responsibly; operate efficiently and reduce waste. Aramark is recognized as a Best Place to Work by the Human Rights Campaign (LGBTQ+), DiversityInc, Equal Employment Publications and the Disability Equality Index. Learn more at www.aramark.com or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.