Smurfit Westrock's Sue Lamon-Diver wins Impact Award for Role in Landmark Merger

Poppulo is delighted to announce that Sue Lamon-Diver, Vice President, Employee Experience & Internal Communications at Smurfit Westrock, has been named the latest recipient of the Poppulo Impact Award.

This award recognizes individuals who are making a significant impact through internal communications, driving employee engagement, inclusion, and organizational alignment.

Sue played a pivotal strategic role during the landmark merger of Smurfit Kappa and Westrock, which created the world’s largest packaging company.

At a time of enormous change, Sue and her team ensured employees felt connected and informed, while guiding communications to support the organization’s new, global identity.

Leveraging Poppulo, the company maintained a highly impressive 77% engagement rate on CEO and leadership communications—showing how clear, consistent outreach helped keep employees engaged and involved throughout the transition.

Sue has also begun rolling out Poppulo’s AI-powered automatic translation, a major forward-focused initiative designed to make communications more inclusive across the company’s global workforce.

By enabling communication in 26 languages across 40 countries, this step is opening the door to greater clarity and connection for more than 100,000 employees worldwide.

Accepting the award, Sue said:

I’m honored to receive this award, but it’s really a recognition of the incredible team at Smurfit Westrock. Our goal has always been to make sure employees feel connected, wherever they are in the world, and Poppulo has been an important partner in helping us do that, especially through the merger and now as we move forward together.

Ruth Fornell, CEO of Poppulo, praised Sue’s leadership: "I've been especially impressed by the way Sue and her team are using our automatic translation to open up communications in their employees' own languages. It’s a significant initiative that’s already giving people greater clarity and a stronger sense of inclusion across the globe.”

Ruth added:

I’m also proud that Poppulo was the first communications tool Smurfit Westrock turned to for the merged employee audience. To play that role at such a defining moment in the company’s story is truly a privilege for us, and we’re delighted to celebrate Sue’s achievements with this award.

* The Poppulo Impact Awards celebrate organizations and individuals that are transforming employee engagement, fostering positive culture, and driving business success through internal communications.