Blake Krueger and Diane Sullivan - 2013 Annual Dinner

🎥 Dec 12, 2013 📺 twotenfootwear ⏱ 5m 👁 348 views

Blake Krueger, CEO, Wolverine Worldwide, Incoming Chair of Two Ten AND Dian Sullivan, President and CEO, Brown Shoe ...

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. Browse all interviews →

Transcript (5 segments)

Blake Krueger0:01

Introducing incoming chairman of the 210 board, Blake Krueger, and incoming Vice Chair Diane Sullivan.

Diane Sullivan0:08

Good evening. Good evening. I got to try that. Nobody listens to me at work either. But I want to welcome everybody tonight. It's been a great evening so far. We have just a couple of quick announcements, and then we can be off to party with Joe. First of all, it's a pleasure for me to be up here with Diane Sullivan. I mean, an old, longtime friend. I don't want to say old anymore, but a longtime friend and a Footwear News Person of the Year this year, so congratulations.

Diane, first I'd just like to say on behalf of 210, the board of directors, the staff, the industry, and in particular myself as the incoming chair, I want to say a special thank you to Jim Salzano. Jim Salzano served for two years as chair of the 210. He led by example. He gave his time, his treasure, he lent his voice to the organization during a very successful and transformational period of time. So I just want to say that it's not goodbye for Jim. Jim is going to be around. He's going to continue to serve on the board of directors, but our sincerest and most heartfelt thanks to Jim for the last two years. Jim.

Thanks. And I think what I'd like to do is add my thanks to Tim Bel. I don't want to do the sh thing, but we want to add our thanks, Tim, to you and your team. It was easy, wasn't it? Just like they said it was going to be, right? We really appreciate it. And our heartfelt thanks to really everybody who worked on the dinner tonight to really help make sure this was a success. I think you all know that the generous donations that you make to 210 really provide that safety net to the community in which we work and live here. And you do make those impossible things possible. So I bet you're interested in how much money we've raised from the dinner tonight, right? I would think so. $2.3 million raised tonight. And Wendy and the team that worked on the auction, $285,000 tonight. So the auction amazing. Thank you so much for that. So really terrific work. Thank you very much. And as you heard, 210 is entering our 75th anniversary year. And it's important to remember that our mission began in 1939 with the simple act, I understand, of passing a hat, which I understand is somewhat similar to this one. So from the doorstep of 210 Lincoln Street in Boston to the marquee tonight, we've come an awfully long way. Thanks to the sponsors, thanks to the members of our community, everybody that's here tonight. WiFi, YP, HR Leadership Group, thank you to Partners, our board members, honorary board members, and really all of the committees that are involved in 210. If you're wearing a ribbon like this one, we would like to have everybody stand up and we'd like to have a round of applause for all those folks that have participated in the 210 community. We appreciate it. Back to you, Blake.

Blake Krueger3:58

Well, Joe already kind of beat me to the punch, but he is not scripted if you didn't notice that. But it's really we're very pleased tonight to announce that Ken Hicks and The Foot Locker team is going to lead and chair next year's 2014 210 dinner. This dinner is going to occur during our 75th anniversary of this organization. It's going to be very, very special. Ken and Foot Locker have been great partners with 210 throughout the years. We're very excited to work with them on this milestone event. So thanks to Ken and Foot Locker for their support and for really leading the charge for this fundraiser and the largest industry get together that we have. So we only have, let's give a round of applause to Ken and Foot Locker. There's one last thing, a toast, then our evening is over officially. But I think everybody has some champagne at the table. And please join us in toasting 210 in another 75 years of shoe people giving back to shoe people. Cheers.