The PepsiCo Foundation's mission in Diversity and Inclusion is to support education and community organizations which advance opportunities, especially for young people, to further their education and advance economic mobility. PepsiCo and the PepsiCo Foundation provide support to a select number of colleges and universities which, offer opportunities for individuals of all backgrounds to gain leadership skills and experience. Also receiving charitable support are programs at the high school level with an emphasis on skill development for students of color and students from low-income households. In addition, the Foundation supports organizations which help foster the environment for minority-owned and women-owned businesses and advance workplace equality for the gay lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.

Examples include:

ESCALERA – Taking Steps to Success
National Council of La Raza (NCLR) with support and funding from PepsiCo, Inc. developed Escalera: Taking Steps to Success. Now in its second phase, Escalera is a best practice pilot model and training/development curriculum to help Latino high school students who are at risk of dropping out earn a high school diploma, plan for college, and explore career opportunities. Over a 15 month period, the Escalera program provides critical exposure, skill building and success-strategies to help Latino youth effectively navigate through senior year in high school, into work internships, through the college applications process and funding labyrinths and finally readies them for college admission. In its first five pilot years, 100% of Escalera graduates at NCLR’s pilot affiliates in Los Angeles and Chicago have gone on to two and four-year colleges. A third Escalera site in New York City was recently added and two more NCLR affiliates will be added to the network during 2007. Over $2 million dollars has been granted in support of Escalera from PepsiCo and the PepsiCo Foundation.

Portland State University - Food Industry Leadership Center’s
Pathways to the Future
In 2005 PepsiCo Foundation granted $500,000 over five years to Portland State University Foundation to establish the Pathways to the Future program housed within its Food Industry Leadership Center. The goal of Pathways is to attract and prepare ethnic, minority and low-income high school and college students for careers within the retail, food and beverage and consumer products industry. Key objectives include building awareness of career opportunities among diverse populations that will build a pipeline of talented human capital. This is done through a variety of strategies that engage local community groups, businesses and educational institutions.

Human Rights Campaign Foundation
LGBT Inclusion Toolkit for Corporate America
In 2006, PepsiCo Foundation granted $500,000 over two years to the Human Rights Campaign Foundation to design, test and deliver a variety of cutting-edge tools and web-based resources aimed to advance equality across American businesses. The primary goal of this research and evaluation project is to assist corporate America in moving to the next level of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) inclusiveness, beyond concrete policies, to behaviors and actions that create inclusive and safe communities for LGBT employees. Focused on workplace climate and culture, the project will develop a comprehensive and authoritative off the shelf tool kit to guide the business community in understanding & advancing equality in the workplace. It will produce an array of indices, measures and training guides geared to support managers, supervisors, Human Resource personnel, employee resources groups and others charged with creating inclusive environments as well as managing a change process.

Stanford Graduate School of Business
The PepsiCo Diversity Fellowship is a full tuition fellowship for diverse students enrolled in the Summer Institute for General Management. The goal of the fellowship is to expand the pipeline of talented diverse candidates exploring business acumen and possibly a higher degree in management education. The grant in the amount of $200,000 was made in May 2006 by the PepsiCo Foundation.

ASCENT – Leading Multicultural Women to the Top
ASCENT is a nonprofit executive education consultancy founded by author, scholar and thought leader Ella Bell of Tuck Graduate School of Business at Dartmouth College. ASCENT is a pipeline incubator to advance multicultural women into positions of authority and responsibility across North American companies providing educational curricula and mentoring opportunities along with cutting-edge research. With a $430,000 grant in May, 2006, the PepsiCo Foundation is one of ASCENT’s founding partners. The project will develop and pilot one of two main executive leadership programs: Mid-Level Executive Leadership Development Program.

Cornell University
Food Science Summer Scholars Program
The PepsiCo Foundation is a major sponsor of the Cornell Summer Scholars Program, supporting the initiative with an $180,000 grant made in 2005. The program is for promising undergraduate scientists interested in pursuing a degree and career in food science. Established in 2000, CSSP offers an intensive science-based experiential curriculum designed to expose students --with a particular emphasis on attracting minority undergraduate students to the field-- to an enriched opportunity for hands on learning and mentoring.

PepsiCo Foundation PHD Minority Fellowship in Health and Wellness at the University of Massachusetts Amherst
In June, 2005 the PepsiCo Foundation granted $167,000 to the University of Massachusetts Amherst to establish an endowed Ph.D. Fellowship in their food science department. A fellowship will enable UMASS to attract top minority Ph.D. candidates and researchers to the university and simultaneously amplifies the department’s research strength in health and wellness.

Diamond Scholars
In 2003, the PepsiCo Foundation established the Diamond Scholars Program to provide an opportunity for urban youth who have the potential and desire to succeed in post-secondary education but who may have been overlooked for scholarships. The PepsiCo Foundation is providing these scholarships to address the needs of today's youth and to increase graduation rates in America's urban cities. The program continues in 2006 in Dallas, Detroit, Hayward/San Jose, Los Angeles, and Miami, with community-based partners – Cuban American National Council, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, National Council of La Raza, National Urban League, SER and the Young Men’s Christian Association. In each market, up to 10 renewable scholarships in the amount of $2,500 is awarded to students.

Women Business Enterprise National Council
The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) was created in 1997 to provide women’s business enterprises (WBE’s) with expanded opportunities to increase their share of the vendor/supplier market both in the private and government sectors.

In 2004, the PepsiCo Foundation provided its first grant of $25,000 to enable executive directors and WBENC staff to attend the Tuck-WBENC Executive Program for Women’s Business Enterprise. Presented in conjunction with the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, the program is designed to help WBE’s that are beyond the startup phase to assess and improve their businesses. The Foundation renewed its support of the program with a $25,000 grant in 2005.

National Minority Supplier Development Council
For the past five years, the National Minority Supplier Development Council has been working through its Global-Link program to work with corporate volunteers to establish minority supplier development organizations in select countries, as well as processes necessary to produce effective linkages between major corporations and suppliers from excluded communities.

The purpose of the Global-Link program is to ascertain and stimulate interest in countries with strong potential for success in ethnic-based supplier diversity programs by creating, implementing and expanding ethnic-based supplier diversity development programs and providing technical assistance to organizations in countries such as Canada, Brazil, United Kingdom and South Africa. The PepsiCo Foundation provided $25,000 in support of this effort in 2003 and another $25,000 in 2005.

Core Schools
In 2000, PepsiCo launched the Core School Program with the mission to strengthen the pipeline of future business leaders. The University of Texas at Austin and Hampton University were selected as the first Core Schools in 2000. The selection of Howard University and California State University Los Angeles followed in 2001.

University of Texas at Austin
Frito-Lay Student Leadership Center
In 2000, PepsiCo committed to providing $500,000 to UT Austin for the Frito-Lay Student Leadership Center. Located within the McCombs Business School, the 24-hour center serves as a functional work area for graduate and undergraduate students. The state-of-art facility is available for use by members of all undergraduate student organizations and serves as a central hub for all undergraduate organization action.

The center provides students the opportunity to build leadership and networking skills and plays an important role in students’ professional and personal development. About 1,000 to 1,500 students use the center annually - about 100 to 150 students a day.

LeaderShape Institute
In 2002, the PepsiCo Foundation committed to $350,000 over five years for the LeaderShape Institute in the McCombs School of Business. The six-day leadership experience is designed to help participants learn to lead with integrity. The Institute selects 50 McCombs students each year, with preference given to freshman. LeaderShape emphasizes key leadership topics such as strategic vision, forming and enhancing partnerships, promoting integrity, and generating results.

Hampton University
Leadership Institute
In 2000, the PepsiCo Foundation committed to providing $1 million over four years to Hampton University (HU) to endow the Frito-Lay Scholar Program at the Leadership Institute. The funding has assisted in the establishment of the Leadership Institute and is being used for scholarship support of students who are selected to participate in the program.

Students chosen by Hampton for the Leadership Institute are extraordinary students who receive full tuition scholarships based on merit. The Institute offers undergraduate students a curricula option that enhances the regular university experience and is designed to train students to make a positive difference in society, whatever their chosen profession.

William H. Harvey Endowed Chair in Management
In 2004, the PepsiCo Foundation awarded $1 million over five years to Hampton University for the William R. Harvey Endowed Chair in Management in the University’s School of Business. The Chair will have a dual interest in the College of Business and Hampton’s Leadership Institute. As a result, the holder of the Chair will inter-relate the qualities of leadership to management practices that more closely aligns the role and function of leadership with management.

Howard University
In 2001, the PepsiCo Foundation committed to providing $1 million over three years to Howard University (HU) to endow the Dr. H. Naylor Fitzhugh/PepsiCo Foundation Fellows at the Howard University School of Business. The funds are designated to endow scholarships at the Howard University School of Business. The funding is in an effort to increase the availability of scholarships for worthy prospective and currently enrolled undergraduate students. Students who receive the scholarship are studying in the areas of marketing management and information system/technology and research.

California State
Leadership Center
PepsiCo committed to providing $1,445,000 over four years (2002-2005) to develop the Frito-Lay Leadership Center. The center prepares students in the College of Business and Economics and College of Engineering and Computer Science and to become leaders capable of facing challenges and opportunities of today as well as in their chosen profession. Students are provided with training to enhance their organizational leadership skills and diversity awareness and the opportunity to build alliances with the business community and its leaders. Building an inclusive workforce that is the key to the multicultural corporation and a healthy business community is a major component of the center.