Black PR Wire Power Profiler on Sam Mathis

Dedicated to progress and race relations in business and in the community, SamMathis, vice president of diversity relations with Office Depot, Inc., is a man to watch and emulate.

In the winter of 2002, Mr. Mathis was appointed vice president of diversity at Office Depot, Inc., the world's largest seller of office products and an industry leader in every distribution channel. Headquartered in Delray Beach, Florida, he is charged with strengthening the company's diversity relation's initiatives. As a result of his extraordinary leadership, Mathis has accomplished a spectacular feat of successfully implementing a winning training initiative with up to 40,000 employees and is making a name for himself and Office Depot worldwide.

Mr. Mathis began his career nearly 20 years ago.Equipped with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Architectural Design from Kansas State University, he was hired by Darden Restaurants, a national restaurant chain that owns Red Lobster, The Olive Garden, Bahama Breeze and others.While at Darden, Mr. Mathis continued his studies and obtained a Master of Business Administration degree from Rollins College. Shortly thereafter, he was provided an opportunity to head up Darden's diversity relations division.During his tenure there, Mr. Mathis was also recognized for his numerous accomplishments in the areas of business diversity and customer relations and led Darden to be recognized as a distinguished recipient of the United States President's Initiative on Race for Best Practices in Diversity award.

Since his move to Office Depot, Inc., Mr. Mathis is challenged with breaking new ground in an established and very innovative operation.To implement a successful diversity relations program, Mr. Mathis strives to focus on four strategic areas: workforce, supplier, community outreach and consumer relations.In this capacity, he is working diligently to create an environment, which encourages and values different cultures and representations of race and gender at various levels throughout the company. He is also a mastermind at building partnerships with community organizations throughout the country, thus providing the opportunity to increase networking abilities nationwide. In this process, he is opening doors of progress to help other minorities succeed as he facilitates the broader understanding needed in the area of race and gender relations.

"Prior to getting involved in diversity, I experienced challenges and difficulties as I attempted to be successful in a major corporation," comments Mr. Mathis.Through these challenges and difficulties, he saw a need and opportunity to make a difference. From creating understanding and increasing awareness among communities, Mr. Mathis has played an important role in the first steps of filling that need.He then goes on to say, "Most exciting is the ability to be creative and make a personal contribution in support of the corporations efforts to have a meaningful impact in diverse communities"

In addition, Mr. Mathis has facilitated Office Depot's sponsorship and donations program, which has donated thousands of dollars to local groups such as the National Urban League.

Outside of the corporate arena, Mathis dedicates quality time on several associations in the community.He has been on the board of directors for theEdgewood Children's Ranch, past president for the board of Homes in Partnership, past chairman for the board of the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida and a consultant for Junior Achievements Inc.He was also a founding class member of Central Florida's YMCA Adult Black Achievers

While Mr. Mathis has impressive professional credentials, his proudest accomplishment continues to be his family, which includes his wife Jacinta, and children Camille and Elliott.

"An achievement that I am most proud of is contributing to the development of two wonderful people -- gifts of God -- my children," says Mr. Mathis. They live in the South Florida area and continue to support projects that will improve their community.

Sam Mathis is the man with the plan.He consistently demonstrates positive and courageous efforts within the workforce and within the community.Now at the helm ofOffice Depot'sinnovative andwinningdiversity programs, Sam Mathis is leading the path of success for generations to come.

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