EXPERT'S VIEW
Empowering Pathways to Opportunity Taking a page from The Hershey Co.’s commitment to DEI By Don Longo FOR THIS MONTH’S DIVERSITY & INCLUSION COLUMN,
Convenience Store News interviews Alicia Petross, chief diversity officer for The Hershey Co. and a charter member of CSNews’ new, industrywide Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Board. CSNews: Can you describe Hershey’s historical commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and what changed these last 18 months? Petross: At Hershey, DEI is a priority — it’s part of what makes us a leader in the industry, a great place to work, and a company people want to do business with. Prior to 2020, DEI was always on our radar and top of mind, but following the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, we doubled down on our DEI priorities and realized how much more we could and should be doing. In the wake of these tragic events, we accelerated our commitments and shifted our lens internally to take a hard look in the mirror. Our call to action became clear — we needed to pause, engage with our employees, and refresh and strengthen our inclusion strategy to put DEI at the forefront of all that we do across our company and supply chain. Over the last 18 months, it’s been clearer than ever before that action must be made with intentionality. As such, our executive team has embraced the mindset of “leading with bold transparency” to be allies to our employees and the greater community. We have placed a clear focus on engaging the hearts and minds of our people, asking the difficult questions to define the next steps needed to embark on an ambitious pathway to equity, and have doubled down on the areas where we’re already leading the way. CSNews: When did Hershey launch The Pathways Project and why? Who was involved? Petross: We identified core areas across the enterprise through honest, candid discussions with a variety of stakeholders to determine where to focus our DEI initiatives. The effort is truly an example of co-creation alongside our employees, including members of our Business Resource Groups (BRGs) — Abilities First, African American, Asian & Pacific Islander, GenH (Generations), Latino, Prism (LGBTQ+), Veterans, and Women. We specifically identified areas that needed attention such as training and education, hiring and career development, supplier diversity, consumer, and corporate social responsibility strategies. These interwoven initiatives became The Pathways Project, our five-year plan to make Hershey even more inclusive. CSNews: What changes have been implemented with The Pathways Project, and what are the goals of the project? Petross: We first realized that we must ensure all recruitment efforts reflect our path forward. As such, we assessed how we attract and recruit top talent. It became clear that we needed to reconsider how candidates are discovered, assessed and ultimately join our company and
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Alicia Petross, The Hershey Co.
corporate culture. In collaboration with our employees, we set ambitious goals to ensure: • Interview slates are 50 percent diverse; • Interview teams consist of at least 50 percent diverse employees; and • 50 percent of total search volume is conducted by diverse-owned firms. Our employees also shared that a lack of access to educational opportunities for underrepresented communities creates a huge barrier to success. Listening to this feedback, we committed to a historic $1.5 million investment in the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF), establishing a scholarship endowment that will reach $3 million over the next 10 years to subsidize students pursuing degrees in food science — the first time a company has ever committed to endow a TMCF scholarship for a specific area of study. We also assessed how we identify budding talent at the entry level and made the decision to prioritize 15 historically black colleges and universities, as well as 15 historically Hispanic-serving colleges and universities for recruitment; and achieve a college recruiting portfolio that is at least 50 percent diverse. In the past, as a company, nurturing diverse talent was not a priority. However, through The Pathways Project, we are committed to changing this. We are improving access to training and educational resources on leadership,
