Food Industry CEOs Pledge to Catalyst ‘Champion for Change’ Initiative

More than 40 CEOs – including several retail food industry executives such as Doug McMillon, president and CEO, Walmart Stores Inc.; Indra Nooyi, chairman and CEO, PepsiCo  Inc.; Brian Cornell, chairman and CEO, Target Corp.; Denise Morrison, president and CEO, Campbell Soup Co.; and Muhtar Kent, chairman and CEO, The Coca-Cola Co. – have pledged to continue to drive change for gender equality in the workplace as part of a Catalyst CEO Champions for Change initiative.

“We are incredibly proud to stand with these CEOs, leaders and companies…[who] are already outstanding champions of gender equality and inclusion,” said Deborah Gillis, president and CEO of New York-based Catalyst, a global organization whose mission is to accelerate the progress of working women.

“In a divided world, inclusion at work matters more than ever,” Gillis continued. “These 40-plus companies represent more than 9 million employees and more than $1.5 trillion in revenue globally. The positive ripple effect will be tremendous in helping to build workplaces where everyone has a fair chance to succeed.”

Although progress has been made, there is still much work to be done. Only 25 percent of S&P 500 executives and only about 20 percent of S&P 500 board directors are women. The Catalyst CEO Champions for Change, Gillis explained, are not only making bold organizational and personal commitments to continue to accelerate inclusion, but will also transparently report on their companies’ collective progress.

The Catalyst CEO Champions for Change pledge can be found here. 

The retail food industry’s Catalyst CEO Champions for Change includes:

• John Bryant, chairman, president and CEO, Kellogg Co.
• Ian Cook, chairman, president and CEO, Colgate-Palmolive Co.
• Doug McMillon, president and CEO, Walmart Stores Inc.
• Brian Cornell, chairman and CEO, Target Corp.
• Denise Morrison, president and CEO, Campbell Soup Co.
• Indra Nooyi, chairman and CEO, PepsiCo Inc.
• Muhtar Kent, chairman and CEO, The Coca-Cola Co.
• Michel Landel, group CEO, Sodexo
• Jerome Peribere, president and CEO, Sealed Air Corp.
• Paul Polman, CEO, Unilever
• Irene Rosenfeld, chairman and CEO, Mondelēz International 
• David S. Taylor, chairman, president and CEO, The Procter & Gamble Co.
• Inge G. Thulin, chairman, president and CEO, 3M