Three Questions with Tia Glave

Tia Glave started Black Professionals in Food Safety & Quality for a simple reason: There was no group like it yet.

She started the group in December 2021 as a space for Black professionals in the field to freely discuss current topics and upcoming regulations, share best practices, network with other Black professionals in the industry and develop professionally and personally.  

The group had its first in-person meetup in August at IAFP 2022 in Pittsburgh, Pa., and it also hosts regular virtual networking and development meetings throughout the year.

We talked to Glave, who is co-founder of food safety and quality consulting firm Catalyst, about how she realized the group was needed and more. 

Quality Assurance & Food Safety: What made you realize there was a need for a group like Black Professionals in Food Safety & Quality?

Tia Glave: In organizations I’ve worked for, I was one of the few Black people that worked in food safety. There was a handful of us. I realized that as I’m thinking about my larger network, those are the only Black people I know in food safety. Even being removed from that company for a few years, all the Black people I know in food safety and quality are still from that company! I’m like, I know we’re out here somewhere. That had me thinking, Well, I should just build that community.

QA: Were there any other factors at play in your mind?

TG: With the events of 2020 and the whole conversation around Black America, there’s a need for corporations to really build their pipeline and know the statistics that, for example, only 7% of managers are Black people, and that number continues to dwindle as you move up in an organization. I don’t know about you, but I want to be more than a manager. I want to continue to progress in my career. But looking at the numbers, it’s going to be hard for me to do that. When you look at Black CEOs on the Fortune 500 list, there’s only five! What the world is telling me is that there’s a slim chance for me to be a CEO at a company. It’s something that more people need to talk about. We need to continue to put ourselves in front of people. When the Wells Fargo CEO said he didn’t know any Black people to fill his senior leadership team, I’m like, “I believe you!”

QA: How can Black Professionals in Food Safety & Quality be a solution to that issue?