Pamela Culpepper
Senior Vice President, Global Diversity and Inclusion Officer
PepsiCo
Historically, diversity at PepsiCo has meant making sure its workforce resembled its consumer base. But today that concept has grown to embrace developing global multicultural thinkers, innovators, and leaders, says Pamela Culpepper, PepsiCo’s Global Diversity and Inclusion Officer.
Culpepper says the goal is not just to recruit and hire people from all walks of life but to retain and promote them, explaining that “diversity is about having a mix of talent, while inclusion is about people of differing backgrounds working cohesively together.â€
PepsiCo’s Talent Sustainability program specifically aims to increase women and minority representation in its management ranks. Across the globe, roughly 30% of the company’s highest-level executives are women and about 30.5% are people of color. “Our CEO (Indian-born Indra Nooyi) is the best example of what we have done to increase the representation and advancement of women and people of color at PepsiCo,†says Culpepper. The international food and beverage company was named one of B.E.’s Best 40 Companies for Diversity in 2010.
PepsiCo has a Global Diversity and Inclusion Governance Council, diversity and inclusion councils were established in all four continents of its international business, and it has two U.S. ethnic advisory boards, one representing African Americans and the other Latinos/Hispanics. There are also 11 employee resource groups, including one for white men and one for members of Generation Y.
PepsiCo also has a cross-functional Supplier Diversity Executive Council to ensure sustained growth and development in the supply chain arena. “We lead from a place of performance and purpose in the areas of career, community and culture,†says Culpepper.
Continued on next page: Establishing employee support groups that encourage inclusion