Institute For Inclusion

Eric Watson joined Food Lion as Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion in October 2003. He is responsible for the development and implementation of Food Lion's diversity and inclusion business strategy. He is also responsible for leadership and associate development, and measuring progress in the areas of culture and environment, diverse supplier development, minority recruitment and retention, education and training, and assisting in growing and sustaining a diverse market presence. 

 
In 2007, Watson accepted additional responsibilities for Talent Acquisition for Food Lion, LLC, which includes, strategic sourcing, recruitment, managing strategy, measuring processes and resources.

 
Watson brings 28 years of experience in operations management, with more than 15 of those years in the field of diversity. Watson has developed strategies to impact business success by creating a vision to manage diversity, designing leadership mentoring programs to promote diversity and establishing an accountability system for business diversity. 

 
Immediately prior to joining Food Lion, Watson was the Executive Director of Diversity and Workforce Capability at the Williams Companies Inc.  From 1994 to 2000, he served as Vice President of Global Diversity for the St. Paul Companies Inc. 

 
He is a member of the PFLAG National Board, member of the MCDC Board (MultiCultural Development Center), Chair for The Conference Board Workforce Diversity Council and a member of the ELC (Executive Leadership Council) Human Resources Committee.  He is a participant in the University of North Carolina-Charlotte Center for International Understanding - Mecklenburg County Latino Initiative Program, a member of the Board of Directors of the Urban League of Central Carolinas in Charlotte and chairs the Urban Youth Empowerment Program (UYEP), member of the Board of Visitors for Johnson C. Smith University, the Charlotte Lesbian & Gay Fund, and The ARC/Rowan, and a member of the Leadership Team of the Community Building Initiative (CBI) in Charlotte, and the North Carolina NAACP Youth & College Division Advisory Board. 

 
Watson holds a bachelor's degree in English literature from Livingstone College in Salisbury, N.C.