2023 Impact Awards winner: Wallace & Carey

Wallace & Carey, a full-service wholesale distributor, has been in business for over 102 years. Early on, it set the stage for equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) initiatives by instituting policies about the treatment of teammates and promoting those efforts in the workplace.

It produces an annual calendar to share with teammates and displays holidays significant to teammates of diverse ethnicities. The company holds lunches and celebrates events with various multicultural foods to share with its employees. The calendar shows other events supporting diversity, such as Pride Month.

Wallace & Carey has also partnered with Women in Need Society, a Calgary charity that supports people and their families transitioning from homelessness to the community, people who are economically disadvantaged and newcomers to Canada.

Today, women make up 30% of the company’s management team. It provides additional education and training if required for senior positions within the company. “When women choose industry roles in wholesale distribution, they become role models to other women,” says Jackie Bellrose, senior vice-president, people services.