Wednesday, August 16, 2017

A Call To Action: Step Down! A Letter to PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi

Wendy writes to PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi in the latest installment of her "A Call To Action" series.  She plans to write to every CEO on Trump's advisory councils.  Wendy encourages our readers to do the same.

Dear Ms. Nooyi,

As a former PepsiCo employee back in the days when the glass ceiling for women was impenetrable, I have followed your leadership at PepsiCo and on the Yale Corporation with great interest and admiration.  While your success is not related to either your gender or minority status, those attributes give you a platform from which to provide an example for those of us who do not have as much visibility.  

CEOs of six major US companies have resigned from presidential advisory councils in protest of Trump's statements about Charlottesville.  Yet you remain a member of the Trump Strategy and Policy Forum.  Your presence on that council is an affront to women and minorities, and it is a lost opportunity to make a strong statement on the right side of history.

I have heard and reject the argument that in order to affect change, one needs a seat at the table.  While that logic might hold in normal times, these are not normal times, and we can not reasonably expect that this council will be effective in the midst of the White House chaos. Your presence at the table is instead an affront to basic American values.  It is a particular slap in the face to women -- who Trump has degraded using the most base language -- and to minorities -- need I say more about his encouragement of white supremacy?

I implore you to stand up and do the right thing.  Step down from the Strategy and Policy Forum. 


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