Dr Sandra Casey-Buford, Director of Strategic Research/Diversity, Massachusetts Port Authority, USA

Speaker Biograghy: Sandra is a seasoned organisational development and behavior expert, who specialises in diversity and inclusion (D&I) and organisational transition. She is an author and researcher, and her corporate organisational leadership experience was gained working in a range of industries including transportation, technology and academia, in domestic and global settings. Sandra currently serves on the advisory board of the Commonwealth Compact, has served on the board of AMAC (Airport Minority Advisory Council, and served as Vice Chair of the ACI (Airport Council International) Business Diversity Committee. She is Co-chair of the WTS Diversity Committee. As a board director of COMTO (Conference of Minority Transportation Officials she was awarded the 2013 COMTO Thomas G. Neusom Award for excellence in diversity and inclusion accomplishments. Sandra holds a PhD in Organisational Development from Union I/U, an MEd from Cambridge College, and a BA from Eastern Michigan University.


Day 1 - 25 March
Session:
Customer Service & Passenger Experience


09:10 - 09:35 - Understanding the link between multicultural competency and passenger/customer service
Synopsis: Any discussion about the passenger experience in 2014 and beyond must include a consideration of diversity and inclusion (D&I). In an increasingly diverse world, there is no 'typical' passenger or customer. Therefore there is a need for a D&I 'lens' as a key success factor in all passenger enhancement initiatives and programmes. Research has shown that organisations implementing effective internal diversity and inclusion strategies have employees/staff who exhibit a higher degree of multicultural competency when handling passengers/customers from varying backgrounds. In addition, there are a number of emerging D&I issues that have come to the fore, including a growing focus on generational diversity, multicultural recruiting/retention, social justice and security issues.

Audience will learn: