CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns are being championed by an organization of league workers and sports professionals—awarded for their commitment to workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion by the Fritz Pollard Alliance in an inaugural recognition.
On Thursday, the Browns received the inaugural John B. Wooten Award, named after the two-time Pro Bowler who played on the offensive line for the Browns and was a longtime NFL executive. Wooten now serves as the Chairman of the Fritz Pollard Alliance, a non-profit organization made up of NFL scouts, coaches, front office personnel, and other sports professionals.
The award was presented to the Browns for their diverse workplace environment that includes Andrew Berry, one of seven Black general managers in the NFL, Glenn Cook, the Vice President of Player Personnel and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, who was Vice President of Football Operations before being hired by the Vikings to be their GM.
Cleveland also holds numerous other minority employees in football operations, scouting, research, and strategy, as well as other areas within the organization.
The coaching staff is diverse as well and includes Defensive Coordinator Joe Woods and Chief of Staff Callie Brownson, one of the few female coaches in the NFL. The Browns staff also includes Ashton Grant, who joined the team via the Bill Willis Coaching Fellowship, created to help elevate a minority coach on the offensive side of the ball, as well as four fellows on the business side of the organization.
“It is a tremendous honor for the Browns to be the inaugural recipient of the John B. Wooten Award,” Executive Vice President and GM Andrew Berry said in a press release. “Diversity, equity and inclusion are priorities for us. We are deliberate in hiring and developing people who come from different backgrounds and have different perspectives. We believe success in the NFL comes from good people and good people come from all walks of life. We appreciate the recognition and look forward to continuing the work.”
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