The Heart of Hershey: People, Culture & Inclusion

Bringing goodness to the world is at the heart of Hershey. We believe in “doing well by doing good,” which continues to guide our mission as the original-purpose driven company. Our iconic brands and our purpose are ways we continue to bring goodness to others, and it all starts with our remarkable people.

Our workforce is what makes Hershey such a special place to work. I am proud to say that because of our strong company reputation, we appeared as No. 6 on The Reputation Institute 2018 RepTrak 100. This is an amazing honor as only four food and beverage manufacturers made the top 10 of the 100 most reputable companies in the country. This wouldn’t be possible without the hard work and dedication of one of the most talented workforces around the globe.

So, who are these remarkable people?  

·       Kristen Riggs, Vice President & General Manager, Commercial Planning, whose work on top brands like Reese’s and Hershey’s Kisses continues to make Hershey an industry leader. She also leads our Women’s Business Resource Group (BRG) to empower the next generation of female leaders at Hershey. Kristen is passionate about marketing and is energized by developing others to find and cultivate their passions within the company.

·       Veronica Villasenor, Senior Director of Reese’s and a member of the Hershey family for more than 15 years, she started her tenure at our Guadalajara, Mexico location before moving to Hershey, Pa. Veronica uses her skills in cross-functional team leadership to help Hershey deliver award-winning results. 

·       Nishant Kumar, Director of Transformational Growth and Enterprise Strategy, lived all over the world in his previous role. He brings this global perspective to the organization as the co-lead of Hershey’s PRISM BRG, which is dedicated to engaging and supporting our LGBTQ workforce. His passion continues to make Hershey a better employer and creates an enriched work environment. Nishant is a techno-optimist and bridges inspiration and hard work to deliver growth. 

·       Doug Straton, Chief Digital Commerce Officer, began at Hershey in November 2017 and hit the ground running. His innovative digital expertise has made such a positive impact for our company and he provides a wealth of knowledge from which our junior leaders can learn and grow. Doug is an intra-preneur, eager to contribute to and create the future. 

These are just a few of the amazing leaders at Hershey. I applaud the extraordinary people above because they are great role models for the company, they consistently display strong leadership and work to grow our business every day.

Last month, The Hershey Company was named number 33 to the 2018 DiversityInc. Top 50 list, recognizing the top corporations who demonstrate leadership and commitment to diversity and inclusion (D&I). In addition to the Top 50, Hershey was recognized at number 6 as a Top Company for Executive Women, number 9 on the Top Companies for Veterans list and a Top Company for LGBT Employees.

These honors are a major achievement for our employees and demonstrates our progress in becoming an even more inclusive organization.  And it’s through the support and leadership from people like the ones above that we can make headway in this space. Being a diverse and inclusive company helps us fulfill our founder’s mission to bring goodness to the world. From our Smartflex initiative – a suite of policies and practices to create a mindset for balancing work and personal time – to our employee development experience to our BRGs, we aim to maintain and continue developing an environment where employees can thrive, grow and be successful.

These acknowledgements are a sign of progress, but there is still more work to be done. By continuing to bring together people with diversity of thought, interest, background, skill and experience, we enrich our purpose-driven legacy, strengthen the employee experience and create a commercial advantage for the future. Our remarkable people are what make Hershey great and we are proud of the employees that foster our corporate mission, to Bring Goodness to the World.

What can you or your company do to create a more inclusive environment for all employees?