LAS VEGAS, May 9, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today MGM
Resorts International announced that it will serve as founding
sponsor of a newly formed nonprofit Foundation for Women's
Leadership & Empowerment, dedicated to women's leadership
education and empowerment.
The new foundation is expected to expand the footprint of the
successful Annual Women's Leadership Conference, historically
presented by The MGM Resorts Foundation in Las Vegas to other cities around the country.
These conferences will focus on developing women leaders in all
industries.
MGM Resorts' Phyllis A. James
will leave her current post as Executive Vice President and Chief
Diversity & Corporate Responsibility Officer this summer to
assume presidency of the new foundation.
"Phyllis has had a stellar 17-year career with our Company in
both the legal and CSR realms. I cannot applaud enough her
contributions to the evolution of our systems, practices and most
of all, our values and culture of inclusion," said Jim Murren, MGM Resorts Chairman & CEO. "In
light of the deep passion and commitment she has brought to the
quest for equality – both in our Company and beyond – and her
steadfast dedication to our Foundation's Women's Leadership
Conference, I cannot think of anyone better positioned to lead the
new Foundation for Women's Leadership & Empowerment. MGM
Resorts is proud to be Founding Sponsor for this new venture. I
expect its conferences will inspire many, many women and other
attendees to greater personal and professional achievements and
help accelerate our society's movement toward gender equity."
The Annual Women's Leadership Conference, presented by the MGM
Resorts Foundation, has been a centerpiece of MGM Resorts'
diversity programs since 2006, hosting more than 1,000 women in
recent years and featuring diverse and nationally recognized
keynote speakers and accomplished women role models.
The mission of WLC is to provide women, and men who attend, the
developmental tools they need to continuously advance their lives
and careers. Through WLC, women from all community segments are
offered a variety of ways to elevate their personal and
professional lives, including networking opportunities, educational
workshops and exposure to other women who can serve as role models,
heroes or mentors. The conference also provides two days of
career-oriented workshops that give attendees hands-on
opportunities to develop skills based on their career needs.
Diversity and Corporate Social Responsibility
Leadership
After successful careers as a partner in private law practice at
the Pillsbury Madison & Sutro (now Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman) law firm and
then as General Counsel (Corporation Counsel) for the City of Detroit, Phyllis James joined MGM Resorts in 2002 as
senior counsel in the Company's Corporate Legal Department – where
she subsequently served as Chief Litigation Officer leading defense
of major complex litigation against the Company.
For most of her MGM Resorts tenure she performed the dual
functions of litigation counsel and development of the Company's
diversity and inclusion initiative – including serving as counsel
and advisor to the Board of Director's dedicated Diversity
Committee. In 2009 she was appointed Chief Diversity Officer, where
she played the seminal role of chief architect of the company's
enterprise-wide diversity and inclusion policy, strategy and
programming.
In 2010 James' role was expanded to include leadership of the
company's overarching Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
platform – encompassing both general CSR policy as well as all
aspects of the company's giving and community support. She also was
charged with supporting the critical role of CSR in the Company's
resort expansion activities. In this regard she eventually took on
the full-time appointment (without legal responsibilities) of Chief
Diversity & Corporate Responsibility Officer.
James is credited with spearheading the organizational
infrastructure, systems and cultural evolution that have resulted
in MGM Resorts' award-winning diversity and inclusion and CSR
platform, from introducing Employee Resource Groups as affinity and
professional development avenues ‒ to installing the Job Posting
and Diverse Candidate Slate Policy and other talent pipeline
initiatives ‒ to positioning the Company for successive
year-after-year rankings on such national reputation surveys as
DiversityInc (14 years), the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate
Equality Index (8 years), Black Enterprise's Top Companies for
Diversity (10 years+) and the Civic 50 (3 years as most
community-minded companies determined by Points of Light) ‒ to
establishing the company's annual CSR Report ‒ to leading the
growth of the MGM Resorts Foundation's Annual Women's Leadership
Conference from a local gathering to a major national conference,
among other contributions.
James herself has received many recognitions and awards, such as
Most Powerful Women in Corporate Diversity (Black Enterprise
Magazine 2019), the Equality Award for outstanding leadership
and service to the LGBTA community (Human Rights Campaign Las Vegas
2017) and Lifetime Achievement Award (National Bar Association
(2016).
"I have been privileged to dedicate myself to MGM Resorts as
both legal counsel and Chief Diversity & Corporate
Responsibility Officer – twin passions of my life. At this juncture
I am extremely enthusiastic about serving as President of the new
Foundation for Women's Leadership & Empowerment," said
Phyllis James. "Gender equity is an
unconquered realm of equality, and one of the most vital to achieve
the full potential of human civilization. Whatever we can do to
educate and equip women to better meet the challenges of leadership
of our families, our communities, our institutions and our society
is a noble endeavor that will serve us all."
For additional information about MGM Resorts' efforts in
inclusion and corporate social responsibility, please visit:
www.mgmresorts.com/csr.
ABOUT MGM RESORTS INTERNATIONAL
MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) is an S&P 500® global
entertainment company with national and international locations
featuring best-in-class hotels and casinos, state-of-the-art
meetings and conference spaces, incredible live and theatrical
entertainment experiences, and an extensive array of restaurant,
nightlife and retail offerings. MGM Resorts creates immersive,
iconic experiences through its suite of Las Vegas-inspired brands. The MGM Resorts
portfolio encompasses 30 unique hotel and destination gaming
offerings including some of the most recognizable resort brands in
the industry. Expanding throughout the U.S. and around the world,
the company recently acquired the operations of Empire City Casino
in New York and Hard Rock Rocksino
in Ohio, which was rebranded as
MGM Northfield Park. In 2018, MGM Resorts opened MGM Springfield in
Massachusetts, MGM COTAI in
Macau, and the first
Bellagio-branded hotel in Shanghai. The 83,000 global employees of MGM
Resorts are proud of their company for being recognized as one of
FORTUNE® Magazine's World's Most Admired Companies®. For more
information visit us at www.mgmresorts.com.
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SOURCE MGM Resorts International