DALLAS, March 30, 2021
/PRNewswire/ -- PepsiCo's Frito-Lay North
America today announced the Women's Workforce Readiness
Initiative, a program providing 550 Southern Dallas women with the necessary
social support, and technical and soft-skills training needed to
secure employment in high-growth industries such as Advanced
Manufacturing and Logistics, Sales and Marketing, Food and
Hospitality Management, and others. Made possible through a
three-year, $750,000 grant from The
PepsiCo Foundation, once underway, the program will expand to aid
women throughout North Texas.
The program is the latest progress point for Southern Dallas
Thrives, an initiative created in partnership with United Way of
Metropolitan Dallas, The PepsiCo Foundation and Frito-Lay North America, which advances outcomes
for students Pre-K-12, increases food access, and supports women
entering and advancing in the workforce.
Today, nearly one in three adults live in poverty in
Southern Dallas. Many Southern Dallas residents are unemployed or
underemployed and the jobs available often do not pay a living
wage. Women, in particular, are significantly impacted and have
difficulties in accessing the workforce in the Southern sector.
Providing access to childcare will help mothers to enter the
workforce and fill more than 42,000 unfilled jobs in the area.
"Providing women with the resources they need not only helps
them in the near future, but it creates a long-term, positive
ripple effect across all areas of their lives," said Laura Maxwell, SVP, supply chain, PepsiCo Foods
North America. "The Women's Workforce Readiness Initiative aims to
remove barriers and create opportunity for these women to
succeed."
The Women's Workforce Readiness Initiative to Provide Real
Opportunity for Women in Dallas
Through the Women's Workforce
Readiness Initiative, up to 550 women will be placed in jobs in
Dallas in high-growth, food system
industries over the course of three years. At the program's end,
Southern Dallas Thrives will exceed its original goal to provide
200 mothers with job skills to enter the workforce by 75
percent.
The Women's Workforce Readiness Initiative will include:
- Social support: Women in the program will receive access
to housing, transportation and childcare, as well as food /
nutrition support.
- Soft-skills training: The program will provide life
skills training to take place at CitySquare, including: financial
coaching, networking, resume development, interview preparation and
recommendations for a work-environment wardrobe.
- Technical-skills training: Training will include tracks
from Dallas College to take place at
CitySquare and nearby Dallas College
campuses that will lead to real career paths – such as Advanced
Manufacturing and Logistics, Sales and Marketing, Food and
Hospitality Management, and others.
"Financial stability, along with education and health, is a key
building block of opportunity," said Jennifer Sampson, McDermott-Templeton president
and CEO, United Way of Metropolitan Dallas. "Our entire community
benefits when another North Texas
woman is equipped with the training and support to enter and stay
in the workforce with a good-paying job that sustains her family.
United Way's holistic, collaborative approach to preparing women
for career success, paired with Frito-Lay's commitment to the
communities in which its people live and work, makes us uniquely
positioned to serve women in the Southern
Dallas sector."
There are many ways women can become involved in the program,
including a direct referral from another CitySquare program,
referrals from Dallas College as
well as referrals from one of CitySquare's more than 100 community
partners.
"Creating lasting impact for our community starts with programs
that provide a path forward for those who need it," said
John Siburt, CEO, CitySquare. "The
Women's Workforce Readiness Initiative aligns closely with
CitySquare's goal to help close the skills gap that prevents
neighbors from entering viable career paths. By equipping women in
this program with the skills and knowledge needed to obtain and
retain employment, we are helping provide employers with
ready-to-work talent in high-demand fields."
"The future of workforce depends on educated and highly skilled
workers, said Monica Lira Bravo,
chair, Dallas College Board of
Trustees. "At Dallas College, we are proud to partner with PepsiCo
to help women and our students have the education and training they
need to immediately enter the workforce."
PepsiCo to Launch Dallas Scholarship and Professional
Mentoring Program for Black and Hispanic Community
Providing
education and opportunities spans beyond the Southern Dallas
Thrives initiative. In 2020, PepsiCo announced a more than
$570 million commitment over the next
five years to lift up Black and Hispanic businesses and communities
in the U.S. to address issues of inequality and create
opportunity.
As part of this commitment, PepsiCo and The PepsiCo Foundation
are launching a scholarship and professional mentoring program to
support Black and Hispanic aspiring and graduating community
college students. The $40 million
initiative is designed to help students gain jobs in growing
industries like cybersecurity, IT, engineering, manufacturing and
management through partnerships with community colleges across the
country. It will provide students with funding for tuition and
living expenses as well as mentoring, training and opportunities
for work experience. Dallas College
was selected as one of four inaugural partners for the program, in
addition to community colleges in Houston, Chicago and Westchester, N.Y., and the program is expected
to expand to support students in 16 additional cities in the fall.
The program aims to support 4,000 students over five years.
PepsiCo and Frito-Lay are continuously encouraging the
broader Dallas-Fort Worth community to help make a
lasting change in Southern Dallas
and beyond. For more information, visit the Southern Dallas
Thrives and the PepsiCo websites.
About Frito-Lay North
America
Frito-Lay North
America is the $18 billion
convenient foods division of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ: PEP),
which is headquartered in Purchase,
N.Y. Learn more about Frito-Lay at the corporate website,
http://www.fritolay.com/ and on Twitter
http://www.twitter.com/fritolay.
About PepsiCo
PepsiCo products are enjoyed by
consumers more than one billion times a day in more than 200
countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated more
than $70 billion in net revenue in
2020, driven by a complementary food and beverage portfolio that
includes Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Quaker, Tropicana, and
SodaStream. PepsiCo's product portfolio includes a wide range of
enjoyable foods and beverages, including 23 brands that generate
more than $1 billion each in
estimated annual retail sales. Guiding PepsiCo is our vision to Be
the Global Leader in Convenient Foods and Beverages by Winning with
Purpose. "Winning with Purpose" reflects our ambition to win
sustainably in the marketplace and embed purpose into all aspects
of our business strategy and brands. For more information,
visit www.pepsico.com.
About The PepsiCo Foundation
Established in 1962, The PepsiCo Foundation, the philanthropic arm
of PepsiCo, invests in the essential elements of a sustainable food
system with a mission to support thriving communities. Working with
non-profits and experts around the globe, we're focused on helping
alleviate hunger, managing water and waste responsibly and
supporting women as champions of nutrition from farm to family. We
strive for tangible impact in the places where we live and
work—collaborating with industry peers, local and international
organizations, and our employees to affect large-scale change on
the issues that matter to us and are of global importance. Learn
more
at www.pepsico.com/sustainability/philanthropy.
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SOURCE Frito-Lay North
America