Pepsi ACT Team Honored with PepsiCo’s Global Harvey C. Russell Inclusion Award

Disability Solutions @Ability Beyond is thrilled to announce that the Pepsi Achieving Change Together (ACT) Team has been recognized with PepsiCo’s prestigious Global Harvey C. Russell Inclusion Award. Working together with Disability Solutions, the Pepsi ACT Team was commended for their efforts to develop an innovative, sustainable hiring model to support people with disabilities. The award, one of PepsiCo’s highest honors, is named for Harvey C. Russell, former Vice President of Community Affairs at PepsiCo, and the first African American to be appointed Vice President in corporate America. This honor is bestowed upon teams or individuals who exemplify PepsiCo’s values, going beyond their daily responsibilities to reinforce PepsiCo’s commitment to creating a diverse and engaged environment. Through their partnership with Disability Solutions, the Pepsi ACT Team took initiative to ensure that differently abled PepsiCo employees have the right tools and support systems in place for their success. Kris Foss, Managing Director of Disability Solutions, is proud of the successes that the Pepsi ACT project has seen to date. “Recognizing the value of hiring people with disabilities, Pepsi ACT is creating a best-in-class model for next-generation hiring practices to attract talented, valuable jobseekers with disabilities. Pepsi ACT is not just another charitable initiative, but instead demonstrates the company’s commitment to build talent partnerships that are sustainable as part of their overall talent and workforce development strategy. We applaud their leadership!”

The Pepsi ACT initiative was created as a partnership between PepsiCo and Disability Solutions @Ability Beyond in 2013. Pepsi ACT, a national, multi-year project will expand the number of people with disabilities that are employed by PepsiCo across all career and experience levels. To date, the Pepsi ACT project has launched in four U.S. cities with each location successfully employing people with disabilities, including veterans. Pepsi ACT will continue to expand across PepsiCo Americas Beverages’ North America region in 2015. PepsiCo and Disability Solutions @Ability Beyond believe that Pepsi ACT will inspire other corporations to create sustainable hiring initiatives based on the successes of the Pepsi ACT model. At PepsiCo’s Las Vegas Certified Center, Manager Julio Padilla supervises 43 employees, half of whom have disabilities. “They are incredible workers—willing and eager to learn, and focused on productivity and meeting team goals,” said Padilla. “It didn’t take me long to realize that I wasn’t hiring people with disabilities, I was hiring the best people for the job.” To learn more about The Harvey C. Russell Award for Inclusion: https://www.pepsicochairmansaward.com/ca/hraward1.shtml