Dean of Business Steve Reinemund to speak at symposium focusing on diversity and inclusion

Steve Reinemund, former CEO and Chairman of PepsiCo and current Dean of the Wake Forest University Schools of Business, will share his expertise on diversity and inclusion in the workplace during a national symposium in New York and Chicago.

The symposium for leaders and strategists — Is D&I in your DNA: How top performing companies drive results through diversity and inclusion — will be held Sept. 18 in New York and Oct. 23 in Chicago. Reinemund’s presentation is titled, “The Double Helix: D&I and Leadership: The PepsiCo Story.”

The Wake Forest University Schools of Business and Capital H Group are sponsoring the symposium.

Visit www.capitalhgroup.com/symposium for more information, including a complete list of panelists and speakers, and registration link.

Reinemund, the former chairman and CEO of PepsiCo., has been lauded for his efforts to promote diversity and inclusion throughout the business world. The Harvard Business Review has documented Reinemund’s story “Meeting the Diversity Challenge at PepsiCo: The Steve Reinemund Era,” as a business case which was recently released.

Barron’s twice named Reinemund to its “World’s Most Respected CEO List,” and BusinessWeek twice included him in its list of “Top 25 Managers.” He was honored by BusinessWeek for “constant innovation and savvy moves” that took PepsiCo to new levels of success. The magazine said Reinemund’s “greatest achievement is in developing people.”

A co-chair of the event as well as an expert panelist, Reinemund will share the D&I imperative he advanced at PepsiCo. and address the following questions: Why was the business case so strong? So clear? How was leadership/ management engaged and brought on board? What were the challenges? How were they overcome? What were the business results?

“Diversity is good for business, but it’s also the right thing to do,” Reinemund has said.

The event features top management from McDonald’s Corp., The McGraw-Hill Companies, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. and Sara Lee Corp. who are championing D&I within their organizations, according to conference materials.

Joining Reinemund as a co-chair is Keith S. Swenson, managing partner and group level executive, Capital H Group. Capital H Group helps organizations enhance their business performance through human capital solutions. The group has done a survey of middle to upper management at companies on the Diversity, Inc. Top 10, and those not ranked to determine how attitudes and initiatives towards D&I differ. Results from the survey will be embedded throughout the symposium.

This research is the first to test whether D&I efforts are actually getting to pivotal middle managers in those companies reporting to be “the best.”

“Organizations that see and understand the connection between D&I and leadership will be able to equip their leaders to use the D&I lever for improved and measurable business results,” conference organizers say.