A Coat of Many Colors and Backgrounds: Leadership’s Competitive Weapon

We are always interested in pursuing leaders who are focused on employee engagement and powerful self-correcting cultures that promote innovation and change. Avoiding the peril of scotomas (blind spots) requires cultivating a diversity of thinking. Diversity of thinking comes from a melting pot of cultures, education, and experiences. Diversity is not about numbers. Diversity is about organizational strength.

One such leader is Eddie Reynolds, CEO and co-Founder of Iluminar. Iluminar is a specialist manufacturer and supplier of IR and white light illuminators and license plate recognition products. Co-owners Eddie Reynolds and Joni Hamasaki bring over 30 years of combined industry experience. Together they launched Iluminar in 2009 with a mission to supply high quality and reliable lighting and license plate recognition products to the video surveillance industry, backed by unsurpassed customer service.

Eddie happens to be black and a woman. We get inside her head on the value of diversity, how mentors make a difference, and her experiences within the industry. She is also a member of the Security Industry Association (SIA) and the SIA RISE Steering Committee. They are launching Talent Inclusion Mentorship Education (TIME) – a new mentorship program for early and mid-career professionals in the security industry.

The TIME program is designed to promote diversity, equity and inclusion and empowerment of underrepresented identities in the security industry by creating a well-defined pathway for learning and development.