40 Next: Julia-Feliz Sessoms

In celebration of our 40th anniversary, Black Enterprise is taking a look both forward and backward at the world of black business. Our list of 40 Next celebrates the next generation of entrepreneurs and business leaders.

These BE Nexters–those 21—35 years old making a measurable impact within their respective business, organization, industry, or field–are standouts in the areas of entrepreneurship,

corporate America, academia, nonprofit, the arts, and the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). And they prove every day that “business as usual” is not so usual. For them, leveraging expertise in one area to maximize an opportunity in another is standard operating procedure.

Using the legacy of their business predecessors to forge their own way, this new generation

of leadership accepts the torch without trepidation. But the commonality between then and now is that success still takes a focused, strategic, and passionate mindset. Here, we introduce you to one of our 40 Next.

Julia-Feliz Sessoms, 31
Director of Global Public Policy
PepsiCo Inc., Washington, D.C.
Sessoms is responsible for developing and advancing global public policy positions in health, wellness, and the environment and participates in The Healthy Weight Commitment, a partnership of retailers, food and beverage manufacturers, restaurants, trade associations, and non-governmental organizations in support of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Partnership for a Healthier America and the Let’s Move campaign to stem childhood obesity. Sessoms is also involved in the Clear on Calories project, which is committed to outlining total calorie

count on the front of all beverage containers by 2012. “Part of my role is to explain to those advocates in this administration and other policymakers about all the things we are doing and continue to do on nutrition.”

Be sure to pick up the commemorative 40th anniversary August 2010 issue of Black Enterprise, which contains the entire 40 Next list.