Unleash Your Spirit: Omar Cham

Unleash Your Spirit: Omar Cham

Meet Omar Cham – HR Generalist, active US army officer and executive lead of BOLD’s Kentucky Chapter.

Born in Gambia, West Africa, Cham and his family moved to New York City when he was 9 months old.

“My parents wanted me to have more opportunities and access to education,” said Cham. “Despite moving at such a young age, growing up was still difficult for me because I looked and oftentimes spoke differently than others.”

After spending much of his young life in New York, he moved to Kentucky to attend Western Kentucky University (WKU), where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration.

During his sophomore year at WKU, Cham enlisted in the US Army as an infantryman, where he developed leadership skills, and he soon became an officer. He is currently a 2nd Lieutenant (2LT) Personnel Officer.

Cham later attended the University of Louisville and earned a master’s degree in Human Resources.

“I chose HR because I have a passion for problem solving and strategic thinking,” said Cham. “I also know people generally need help and support in aspects of their career, and I want to be a person who can provide that.”

Cham joined Beam Suntory’s Kentucky HR team in 2018. In his role, he provides a wide range of support to employees of the company’s bottling center of excellence in Frankfort, including career coaching, administering benefits and workforce planning.

Last year, Cham was selected to be the executive lead of the Kentucky chapter of BOLD, the company’s Black Employee Impact Group.

“I was initially a part of BOLD’s leadership team, and I was inspired about the great work we were doing for people throughout the organization,” said Cham. “I heard from Kentucky employees directly and knew there were a lot of unique needs here to help elevate D&I as a priority in Kentucky. One of our solutions was successfully launching the chapter.”

In his free time, he enjoys working on do-it-yourself projects. Recently, he built a farmhouse table from scratch for his dining room.

You can learn more about how Beam Suntory employees are “unleashing their spirit” around the world in our people profile series.