Kimberlite Corp. wins inaugural TMA/SSN DEI Leadership Award

MCLEAN, Va., and YARMOUTH, Maine—The Monitoring Association (TMA) and Security Systems News (SSN) have announced that Fresno, Calif.-based Kimberlite Corp. is the winner of the inaugural Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Leadership Award.

American Alarm and Communications, Inc., based out of Arlington, Mass., received Honorable Mention for the award.

The DEI Leadership Award was presented to Kimberlite at TMA’s 2022 Annual Meeting in Marco Island, Fla., on Mon. Oct. 31. The goal of this new award was to promote and foster a more inclusive workforce throughout the security industry.

“We are honored and grateful to be recognized for the inaugural DEI award,” said Kimberlite Corp. President and CEO Joey Rao-Russell. “DEI is part of our DNA as an employee-owned company. Our growth and innovation would not be possible without contributions from our diverse team. To serve the changing world, I encourage all to embrace the diversity in the world. The results are truly amazing.” 

The idea for the TMA/SSN Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Leadership Award emerged from a small working group comprised of TMA CEO Celia T. Besore; TMA Vice President Steve Butkovich, former SSN Editor Paul Ragusa, and staff in 2021.

Each nominee was asked to deploy the TMA/SSN DEI Employee Assessment Survey to their employees. The web-based assessment tool consists of approximately 40 questions covering eight facets of DEI practice within an organization. Each nominee was also required to submit one to four “Shared Success Examples” of how their organization implements DEI-related activities.

The 2024 Award will be presented at the 2023 TMA Annual Meeting set for Nov. 4-8 at the Ritz-Carlton Maui, Kapalua in Hawaii.