Gurnee works to diversify hiring panel

Gurnee's civil service commission, responsible for hiring most village employees, has its first minority member.

Tyrone Bonds, senior director of human resources for global procurement at Glenview-based Kraft Foods Inc., received village board ratification Monday on his commission appointment.

Mayor Kristina Kovarik said while the volunteer commission likely is unknown to most residents, it is responsible for hiring police officers, firefighters and public works employees.

She added that Bonds' appointment to the three-member commission is especially important because of the effort to increase diversity in the village work force. He is the commission's first minority member.

"In the interview process, minorities might be a little bit more comfortable if the civil service commission was diverse," Kovarik said.

Bonds said he hopes the village can benefit from his human resources expertise.

"After 33 years in the private sector, I feel that I can bring something to the village of Gurnee," Bonds told village board members after his appointment became official.

In his role as Kraft's senior director of human resources for global procurement, Bonds is responsible for about 1,000 employees across the world. He's been in that post since January 2007.

Bonds was on the board of trustees for Benedict College in Columbia, S.C., for the 2007-08 academic year. He received the Benedict College Charter Day Award for his accomplishments in creating work force diversity.

He also has been recognized as a YMCA black achiever in Chicago and New York, and received the Kraft Diversity Leadership Award in 2003. He was named to Gurnee's advisory diversity committee last year.