About Diane Sullivan
Diane Sullivan, executive chairman at Caleres, has been involved in legal proceedings and philanthropic activities. In December 2019, she delivered a defense closing argument for Johnson & Johnson in a mesothelioma trial related to baby powder, during which the judge warned her about conduct that violated prior court rulings and considered striking her closing statement. Sullivan argued that government agencies, including OSHA and the FDA, have found no evidence of toxicity from non-asbestos cleavage fragments.
Sullivan has also participated in industry and community events. At a 2019 Junior Achievement of Greater St. Louis event, she described herself as a first-generation American and said her parents taught her a strong work ethic. She discussed the meaning of the company name Caleres, which she said comes from the Latin word "calare" meaning passion and to glow. At the 2015 Two Ten Annual Gala, she noted that $3.15 million was raised and said she was proud of the character and integrity in the footwear industry. In 2011, she introduced herself as the founder of ThreeDecadesThreeKids.com, a parenting website, and said she has three children born in different decades.
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Diane Sullivan's recent appearances.
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Transcript (3 segments)
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Blake Krueger0:06
Well, something I've been meaning to say all night: simply look how good everybody looks tonight. I'm very impressed. This is a wonderful evening, and I think our industry should be proud of one simple thing tonight: collectively, you have raised three million one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. So you deserve a big applause. Thanks again to Run From and Fanny for sponsoring this evening. I hope all of you think it was as fantastic as I do. And now I'd like to invite Blake Krueger, chair of the Two Ten Footwear Foundation, and Diane Sullivan from Caleres back up to the stage. Blake, Diane.
First of all, a heartfelt thanks to everybody in the room tonight. It was an unbelievable evening, all-time record set. But congratulations really to three special people: to Debbie, to Kevin, and to Vince's family. Everybody that knew Vince, very, very special evening. I also want to do a quick shout out again to Jim Isler and the HH Brown team for helping to plan this evening and host this evening. It was very, very special. A quick reminder to everybody: there's going to be two thousand associates here at the Hammerstein Ballroom tomorrow night. It's going to be a great party, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. That's the first album, I hate to date myself, I ever got as a gift, but I was born in '72. Anyway, it's going to be a wonderful evening tomorrow night. A lot of the younger people that our companies are going to be there tomorrow night, they're looking to rub elbows with folks like you, so I encourage everybody really to show up. And my last official act this evening is to introduce my successor. I know what you're all thinking: a younger, better-looking, much smarter. So here's Diane Sullivan.
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Diane Sullivan2:40
Blake has done an amazing job the last two years on behalf of Two Ten. And in all seriousness, we do these things because we want to and because we love it and we're trying to do good work. There's a lot of things that I think about in terms of Two Ten, but one of the things that Blake was really focused on was he really wanted to increase the individual giving to Two Ten, and he did an amazing job over the last two years making that a focus. So I just want to say I have big shoes to fill, and I'm really looking forward to my next two years, and hopefully we can continue to raise money for Two Ten and beat the records like we did tonight: $3.15 million tonight. So thank you again. I would just, I want you to have dinner, so we're going to wrap it up. I am humbled, I'm excited. Actually, when I thought about Vince and what Louise had to say, and heard Jay and Debbie and Kevin and everybody tonight, it just spoke volumes about the character and the integrity and the kind of people that we have in this industry. And I'm so proud to do whatever we can do here at Two Ten to continue the great work. So have a wonderful evening, enjoy your dinner. Thank you very much.
