MLT is celebrating its first 10 years of preparing high potential minority men and women for senior leadership positions in the private and public sectors with its inaugural gala on May 29, 2014 at the New York Hilton Midtown in New York City. The Gala will celebrate extraordinary senior leaders, who have made a transformational impact on their industry, their organizations and on the broader community, including:
- CEO of the Decade: Indra Nooyi, CEO, PepsiCo. Under Nooyi’s leadership, PepsiCo has delivered strong, consistent financial results while simultaneously making investments to ensure the company is built for long-term, sustainable growth. PepsiCo’s long history of leadership in promoting diversity and inclusion has been a key driver of the company’s continued success. In the United States, women, people of color and people from diverse backgrounds comprised more than 60 percent of PepsiCo’s new hires from its college campus recruiting in 2012.
- Mentor of the Decade – Tom Bernstein, Founder/Owner of Chelsea Piers. As a MLT supporter and mentor, Tom Bernsteinis a worldwide humanitarian. He is the Vice Chair of Human Rights First and a board member of WNYC Radio (NYC public radio), The Fresh Air Fund, The Partnership for Public Service, Center for Civil and Human Rights and City Year New York. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
- Artist of the Decade – John Legend, Grammy Award-Winning Artist. In addition to having a thriving music career, John Legend has been a leading voice for K-12 education and serves on several boards including Teach For America, Stand For Children and Harlem Village Academies. A 2010 BET Humanitarian of the Year honoree, among other accolades, Legend launched his own education-based organization, the Show Me Campaign (ShowMeCampaign.org), in 2007 with the mission of breaking the cycle of poverty. John started his career at BCG and MLT, where he launched MLT’s Career Prep program. John is currently a board member and national spokesperson for MLT.
Gayle King, Co-Host of CBS “This Morning” and Editor-at-Large, O Magazine, will be Master of Ceremonies for the evening. The event will also feature a special performance by John Legend. Presenting sponsors of MLT’s Gala are Target and PepsiCo.
MLT has prepared over 4,000 African Americans, Latinos and Native Americans to succeed at the undergraduate, MBA and mid-career levels. MLT has quickly become one of the nation’s leaders in developing minority talent. Its formalized preparation programs develop talented minorities from across the country be successful in the nation’s leading corporations, non-profits and entrepreneurial ventures.
“Over the past 10 years, we have successfully changed the career trajectories of 4,000 people and transformed the talent pipelines of 100 partner organizations who are the world’s best companies, MBA programs and non-profits,” explains MLT Founder and CEO John Rice. “With the support of our honorees, sponsors and donors, MLT will continue to develop senior leaders who will have transformational impact on their careers as well as on our nation’s most vulnerable communities.”
For more information about MLT’s National Rising Leaders Weekend and Gala please visit – (http://www.cvent.com/events/mlt-10th-anniversary-celebration/event-summary-428b265c3c7847efa0fab795f8f81ff8.aspx)