Indra Nooyi Aims to Boost Ranks of Women Among Corporate Leaders

Longtime Greenwich resident Indra Nooyi, a former Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, stepped down this past week as co-chair of AdvanceCT, an economic development advocate for the State of Connecticut, as her new book, My Life in Full, is being published this week, accompanied by a burst of publicity highlighting her efforts to advance the presence of women at the highest levels of corporations in the U.S. and around the world.

A native of India, Nooyi had been co-chairing the state’s efforts at the invitation of Gov. Ned Lamont, a friend and Greenwich neighbor, along with retired Webster Bank CEO James Smith.  Both stepped down after three years co-chairing the organization’s Board of Directors.

Inducted into the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame in 2015, Indra  Nooyi was described as “a visionary known for her keen intellect, strategic thinking, can-do attitude, and consistently demonstrating a commitment to sustainability and corporate responsibility to society as a whole.” Nooyi, a graduate of the Yale School of Business in the late 1970’s, who has said she “loves this state deeply,” also received the Outstanding Woman in Business award from the Connecticut League of Women Voters in 2019.

Her book is described on Amazon as “a rich memoir brimming with grace, grit, and good humor (which) offers a firsthand view of Nooyi’s legendary career and the sacrifices it so often demanded.” In addition, the book offers “an inside look at PepsiCo, and Nooyi’s thinking as she steered the iconic American company toward healthier products and reinvented its environmental profile, despite resistance at every turn.”

“Nooyi also lays bare the difficulties that came with managing her demanding job with a growing family, and what she learned along the way. She makes a clear, actionable, urgent call for business and government to prioritize the care ecosystem, paid leave and work flexibility, and a convincing argument for how improving company and community support for young family builders will unleash the economy’s full potential.”

She began her career with PepsiCo in 1994 as Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning and was promoted to Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Development in 1996. In 2006 Indra was named President and CEO of PepsiCo, and assumed the role of Chairman in 2007. She was ranked as the 3rd most powerful woman in business by Fortune in 2014 and as the 2nd most powerful women by Fortune in 2015.  She retired in late 2018 after 12 years leading the company, and joined the Amazon Board of Directors in 2019, the same year she signed on to co-chair the Board of what would become AdvanceCT.

Governor Lamont commented on the leadership transition at AdvanceCT, "Jim Smith and Indra Nooyi have stepped up to help usher in a new era of prosperity in Connecticut. Our state is fortunate to have them as friends who only want to see our residents, businesses, and communities succeed. From assisting the state with the challenge of reopening from the COVID-19 crisis, to helping the state develop an economic development plan for the future, their work has made a difference and helped bring new corporate investment to our cities and towns.”

Nooyi also served as co-chair of the Main Advisory Group of the Reopen Connecticut Advisory Committee, helping to steer Connecticut’s path to reopening Connecticut’s businesses and economy after months of closures due to COVID-19.   

In an interview about her book, and her career, broadcast on CBS Sunday Morning, Nooyi explained, “work and life is not a balance; it's a juggling act. And how you juggle this every day is the big challenge. The biological clock and the career clock are in conflict. Some people are delaying childbirth for many, many years, freezing their eggs, or just not having children at all. Others are saying, 'I can't keep working, I can't go through this rat race.' So my point is, we've got to make it less of a rat race."

"In 2018, when I retired as CEO, of the Fortune 500, out of 500 companies there were 41 women CEOs," she said. "Now, you can read it as great progress, from zero to 41. Or, you can say in 25 years we moved from zero percent to about eight-and-a-half percent. Is that progress? Yes and no."