Thomas J. Ryan
General Counsel
The current law department at PepsiCo Beverages and Foods (PBF), a division of PepsiCo Inc., was created from the 2001 merger of The Quaker Oats Company and PepsiCo Inc., two corporations with demonstrated, top-driven commitments to diversity.
PepsiCo Inc. has received national recognition for its diversity efforts and has been earmarked as one of the top places for women and minorities to work. In 2002, PepsiCo ranked number 15 on Fortune‘s list of “50 Best Companies for Minorities” and was named one of the “Top 50 Companies in Diversity” by DiversityInc.com. That same year, it was also recognized by Latina magazine and Div2000.com for its efforts in maintaining an inclusive environment and building multicultural business opportunities.
With this top-down model, the 12-lawyer PBF law department, which counsels the Quaker, Tropicana, and Gatorade business units, is charged with furthering PepsiCo’s diversity commitments. Five of its attorneys are women and two are people of color.
Three of the general counsel’s five direct reports are women, and one is a person of color.
Beyond these numbers, General Counsel Thomas J. Ryan’s own example sets the stage for further advocacy for diversity. Ryan serves on the ABA Committee on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession, and was also a chair of its Spirit of Excellence Luncheon. As General Counsel at Oscar Mayer in the mid-1980s, Ryan was a charter member who helped found the commission’s predecessor, the Minority Counsel Demonstration Project.
Under Ryan’s leadership, PBF attorneys participate in a number of diversity-related efforts. For example, PBF attorneys serve on the PepsiCo Diversity and Inclusion Steering Committee, and the Women of Color Forum. One attorney was a founding member of the “Women in Management Forum,” an organization where women executives mentor up-and-coming female executives. The bottom line is that the company believes its employees should represent the company’s diverse customers.
The law department also supports the Hispanic Law Student Alliance, including underwriting a law school scholarship for a deserving Hispanic law student in a Chicago-area law school. The company believes that diversity begins at the upper level of management and that for diversity to work, it must start at the top.
Diversity is a core value at PBF, which also has a strong supplier diversity program that is geared to assist minority- and women-owned companies and small businesses.
Given how involved PBF legal is in implementing and embodying PBF’s overall commitment to enhancing the role of minorities and women in business, it is clear why the PBF law department is one of the diversity leaders in the food industry.
From the November/December 2003 issue of Diversity & The Bar®