Levi's names Elizabeth Morrison as premiere chief diversity, inclusion and belonging officer

By

Gabriella Lacombe

Published
Nov 18, 2020

Levi Strauss & Co. has named Elizabeth Morrison as its premiere chief diversity, inclusion and belonging officer.

In the role, Morrison "will be responsible for ensuring that the company has the right practices in place to attract and retain a workforce that is as diverse as the communities where we live and work," Levi's said. 

Bringing over 20 years of experience working on diversity and inclusion in the corporate sector, Morrison comes to her role at Levi's after most recently serving as vice president of diversity and belonging at Live Nation Entertainment. 

Previously, she has served as global director of workforce diversity and inclusion at Campbell Soup Company, as a communications and change management consultant for Comcast Cable, and as director of global internal communications and culture for Mars Drinks, among other roles. 

“I’m so excited to welcome [Morrison] as our new head of DI&B,” said Levi's CEO, Chip Bergh. 

“Diverse organizations, where everyone regardless of background can grow, thrive and bring their full selves to work, consistently outperform homogenous ones. I can’t wait to get to work with her. I know she will be an invaluable partner as we work to build a better, more inclusive future.”

According to the company, Morrison's hire comes as Levi's increasingly focuses on boosting diversity in the wake of the killings of Black Americans like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor—a sentiment shared by many other members of the fashion industry attempting to support BIPOC talent and combat systemic racism from within, including The North Face, the Council of Fashion Designers of America and Tommy Hilfiger. 

“[Morrison's] hire represents another important step forward in our journey to building a more inclusive workplace — but it is nowhere near the end,” said Levi's chief human resources officer, Tracy Layney. 

“We need to build a truly comprehensive, holistic and global diversity, inclusion and belonging strategy. I believe that Elizabeth is exactly the right person to help lead this work. I also want to emphasize that it remains the work of all of us to continue holding ourselves accountable every single day for challenging biases, welcoming new ideas and lifting up new voices.”

“I’m thrilled to join one of the world’s most iconic brands and an organization with a proud history of advocating for equality,” Morrison said. 

“This is an unprecedented time of awakening and accountability for diversity, inclusion, belonging and racial justice, and I’m excited to build on LS&Co.’s core values to drive systemic and sustainable change for our employees, consumers and communities.”