On April 21st, the Lisbon MBA hosted a session with Helen Duphorn, CEO of IKEA in Portugal, as part of its “Breakfast with CEO” event cycle.

 

In an intimate and restricted setting, the Lisbon MBA guest speaker Helen Duphorn talked to the Lisbon MBA students about the intertwining of both her professional and personal journeys, sharing with the students how her previous job positions have led her to live in different parts of the globe and experience the contrasts and unique aspects of various cultures.

 

Helen Duphorn discussed what are the longstanding values of IKEA and its core mission to “enable everyone, even those with ‘thin wallets’, to create a good home environment for themselves”, the company operations nationally and abroad, such as its supply chain operations, sustainability procedures and work in supporting better lives for people. Since last summer, Helen has taken a parallel role in the company as the Global Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Manager besides overseeing all operations in Portugal, focused on the group’s purpose and opportunity-driven approaches. In this subject, in particular, she addressed the fast-track procedures in place at IKEA that make the company a leader in diversity. She also highlighted the urgent need for all companies to guarantee that senior management becomes more culturally, ethnically and racially diverse, and gender-equal.

 

The students shared their background and professional journey, and asked questions regarding Helen’s professional journey, the path to inclusion and diversity as well as best practices that the company is following in terms of talent attraction and company culture.

 

It was a specially inspiring breakfast. We thank Helen Duphorn not only for taking the time to be present with our students but also for highlighting the important theme of equality, diversity and inclusion.

 

Breakfast with CEOs, is part of the Lisbon MBA’s Talks with CEOs, a cycle of interactive sessions with C-level executives, offering students direct access to inspirational leaders open to sharing their personal leadership journey, vision, and experience, as well as valuable industry insights.