MIAMI & DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 19, 2026--
Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits (Southern Glazer’s) – the world’s preeminent distributor of beverage alcohol – today announced that it has been awarded a place on the Forbes list of America’s Best Employers for New Grads 2026 for the third consecutive year. This distinguished honor is presented in partnership with Statista, the world-leading statistics portal and industry ranking provider. The 2026 list was released on May 19, 2026 and is available on the Forbes website.
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America’sBest Employers for New Grads 2026 were identified through an independent survey of more than 100,000 U.S. young professionals — employees with fewer than 10 years of work experience — working at companies with at least 1,000 U.S. employees. Over 2 million employer evaluations were considered. Final scores were based on two types of assessments: personal evaluations (those given by employees themselves) and public evaluations (those given by friends and family members of employees, or individuals who work in the same industry). This special recognition underscores Southern Glazer’s commitment to cultivating a workplace where recent graduates are empowered to progress, develop their careers, and contribute meaningfully from the start.
“We’re deeply grateful to be recognized once again as one of the Best Employers for New Grads,” said Amy Kickham, Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer, Southern Glazer's. “Receiving this honor for the third time is a reflection of the passion and dedication of our entire team. Our early‑career employees inspire us every day, and we’re committed to giving them a workplace where they feel supported, valued, and excited about their career path — because at Southern Glazer’s, careers are crafted here.”
Southern Glazer’s is committed to developing leaders of tomorrow through special corporate programs. Each year, college students can gain hands‑on experience through the Company’s Summer Internship Program, contributing to meaningful projects, participating in professional development workshops, engaging with executive leadership, and supporting community service initiatives across functions including Sales, IT, Operations, Finance, HR, and Supply Chain.
For rising seniors and recent graduates, Southern Glazer’s immersive 12–24‑month NextGen Rotational Programs in Leadership, Information Technology, and Operations/Supply Chain provide structured development, mentorship, and cross‑functional exposure designed to cultivate the next generation of Company leaders.
The Company also offers a range of entry‑level full‑time roles that empower early‑career professionals to grow, innovate, and build long‑term careers within the evolving wine and spirits industry.
Southern Glazer’s career site offers job opportunities and more information about the Company’s positive and influential work culture.
About Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits
Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits is the world’s preeminent distributor of beverage alcohol, building brands for moments that matter. The multi-generational, family-owned Company has operations in 47 U.S. markets and Canada, as well as brokerage operations through its Southern Glazer’s Travel Retail Sales & Export Division in the Caribbean, Central and South America. In 2026, Southern Glazer’s was recognized by Newsweek as one of America’s Greatest Workplaces for Culture, Belonging & Community. In 2025, Southern Glazer’s was recognized by Newsweek as one of America’s Greatest Workplaces for Diversity and America’s Greatest Workplaces for Women. Southern Glazer’s urges all retail customers and adult consumers to market, sell, serve, and enjoy its products responsibly. For more information visit www.southernglazers.com. Follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram @sgwinespirits.
Forbes - America's Best Employers For New Grads Recognition Logo 2026
Yan Diomande came to America as a 15-year-old soccer prospect not speaking any English, with his family half a world away in Ivory Coast.
Over the course of two years in Florida, he sharpened his skills on the field and grappled with unfamiliar U.S. customs and “unhealthy” food.
Less than two years after leaving the U.S., he's heading back as a star in European soccer and one of the most-hyped young players at the World Cup.
“That was this crazy life,” he told reporters last week, shortly before he was named to the Ivory Coast roster. “Everything went fast.”
While most of the world’s top teenage players were at storied club academies in Europe, Diomande was playing for DME Academy in Daytona Beach and taking local club team AS Frenzi to a national title.
He returns as the German league's rookie of the year after he scored 12 goals and assisted nine more this season for Leipzig.
Diomande arrived in Florida from the Ivory Coast aged just 15, without any family members and speaking only French. He's grateful for what he learned in the U.S., but the memories are bittersweet.
“Really far away from your family, from your friends, and from the people you love, and I didn’t speak English before, so it was really difficult for me, but that was a great experience to be there,” he said.
Diomande took the unusual career path via Florida at a time when he was too young under international soccer rules to sign a pro contract outside of his home country.
He said he struggled with “unhealthy” food, the American preference for basketball over soccer and other culture clashes.
“It was a very different culture, because I’m from Africa. There’s a lot of, kind of, respect, the way you speak to people,” he said, adding the U.S. was “not the same thing.”
Moving to the Spanish league in January 2025 with Leganés — where he made his pro debut against Real Madrid — and then to Germany in July gave Diomande a chance to shine against the world's best opponents.
Those multi-million-dollar transfers will also leave a lasting financial legacy for his family and small-town Florida club Frenzi.
When the Ivory Coast steps out at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia for its World Cup opener against Ecuador on June 14, it'll be a world away from Diomande's previous biggest game on U.S. soil.
Back in August 2023, the winger scored both goals in front of a few dozen spectators in Loudoun, Va., as his Frenzi team beat Sporting Wichita to the title in the United Premier Soccer League, a lower-level U.S. developmental competition.
Darting past two players for the opening goal showed Diomande's speed and skill. Scoring the extra-time winner showed his stamina and ability to find space on the field.
Team owner Wayne Dorman remembers Diomande as a player so committed to his teammates that he ended a trial with a Major League Soccer team early so he could return for the championship game.
“After he scored the winning goal in that final, he cried,” Dorman told The Associated Press. “He bent on his knees and he cried in tears. He was so happy with joy. It brought him to another level. He was MVP of the tournament and it was ‘sky’s the limit.'"
Dorman remembers a player who “mesmerized” coaches with his skill at his first tryout, shrugged off rough tackles as word spread and opponents targeted him, and showed the kind of ambition and leadership that, Dorman thinks, would make him fit to be Ivory Coast's president one day.
He was also a kid who put on French-language music in Dorman's car on rides to practice and listened to the Jamaica-born Dorman's reggae in return.
However hard he personally found his time in the U.S., Diomande believes it was worth it.
“For me it was more easy to stay in USA because it’s really difficult in Africa,” he said.
Now, his rapid rise in world soccer means he can change his family's lives too.
“I know you cannot buy happiness with money but this is one part of happiness as well,” he added. “I’ve got money from Leipzig a lot to help my family, to bring my family here, take care of them.”
More could be coming. Diomande has been linked with transfers to some of Europe's biggest teams and admits it gives him extra motivation to show his best game.
Dorman said Frenzi's in line for a small slice of transfer fees as part of FIFA's programs to help teams who develop players in their youth. That would allow Frenzi to set up younger kids' teams and mean “we can sustain as a club for quite a few years,” Dorman said.
Diomande has suggested Chelsea or Real Madrid as future destinations in his career, but first comes the World Cup.
AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
FILE - Leipzig's Yan Diomande, centre, and Bayern's Leon Goretzka challenge for the ball during the Bundesliga soccer match between RB Leipzig and FC Bayern Munich in Leipzig, Germany, on Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)
FILE - Ivory Coast's Yan Diomande, left, and Burkina Faso's Issa Kabore challenge during the Africa Cup of Nations best of 16 soccer match between Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso in Marrakech, Morocco, on Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe, File)
