017: CHANGE - Derek Lewis, President of PepsiCo Multicultural Business and Equity Development

The first African American PepsiCo employees were hired in the 1940s.  Maryann Bond and Allen McKellar, Jr. were hired by PepsiCo's CEO Walter S. Mack to market Pepsi Cola to African American communities.  In 2021, Derek Lewis was promoted from within the ranks of PepsiCo to President of Multicultural Business and Equity Development for PepsiCo Beverages North America.  A Pepsi tradition of corporate social responsibility results in bottom line results nearly 100 years later. 

In the wake of George Floyd's death and the international Black Lives Matter marches of nearly 26 million, countless Fortune 500 companies pledged nearly $50 billion dollars to social justice.  PepsiCo was one of those companies.  In this very special episode on the campus of Hampton University at a hallmark homecoming, PepsiCo’s North American President Derek Lewis and guest host Tori Reid discuss sustainable, long-lasting change, his dedicated leadership, and PepsiCo's central role in multicultural communities.

"Success in my mind is the bar is always moving... The consumer landscape is moving. America is changing.  How do you continue to stay ahead of the curve?"  - Derek Lewis

CREDITS:
Guest:  Derek Lewis
Guest Host:  Tori Reid
Producer:  Patrick A. Howell
Producer:  James Parker
Executive Producer:  Tori Reid
Writers:  Patrick A. Howell with Tori Reid and James Parker
Post Production:  Cutting Edge Editing
Audio Recording:  Franklin Fitzgerald
Sound / Music Mixing:  Tori Scorsese
Advertising Sponsor:  Hilton Sacramento Arden West
Ad Voiceover Artist:  Ginger Levert
Photo Credit for Derek Lewis:  Unknown

Music:
Episode Intro:  Earth (Light It Up)/Tilden Parc, Xavy Rusan
Introduction:  Talkin (Neck)/The Hampton University Marching Force
Commentaries:  The Ace/Ballpoint, Cushy, _91nova
Outro:  Grizzlies/Mary Riddle

Background music:  DJ Envy (PepsiCo stage at Hampton University Homecoming)

a Victory & Noble production
@ 2022 Victory & Noble LLC  All Rights Reserved

Connect with the Guest:
Derek Lewis on LinkedIn
Derek Lewis on Instagram

More about PepsiCo's Initiative

More about Hampton University - The Standard of Excellence

Getting Deals Done is a show about doing business, changing power, changing systems and making the world a better place one deal at a time. Host, veteran banker and entrepreneur Patrick A. Howell, speaks with leading and successful innovators, mavericks and captains of industry about making big things happen in the world.