Agenda  |  Registration  |  Company of the Year

Nurturing Excellence: Developing Latina Executive Talent

Wilka Toppins
Operational Vice President- Diversity, Strategic Partnerships, Macy’s Inc.

Ms. Toppins recently joined the corporate diversity leadership team at Macy's Inc. as one of its operational vice presidents. In this role, Ms. Toppins is part of a dedicated team of corporate leaders responsible for developing the company's diversity efforts. In particular, Ms. Toppins is in charge of developing strategic partnerships with diverse organizations on a national scale. Her efforts will include analyzing and establishing strategic partnerships with various Hispanic community organizations as well as assisting the company with its recruitment efforts of Hispanics. Prior to joining Macy's, Ms. Toppins was the founder and principal attorney at the Toppins and Shaneour Law Firm, the only Latina owned corporate law firm based in Houston, Texas. Ms. Toppins, a veteran lawyer of 17 years, is a native of Puerto Rico. Throughout her legal career Ms. Toppins has earned numerous awards including the 2006 Ana Maria Arias Memorial Fund/LatinaStyle award. Ms. Toppins graduated with a law degree from Tulane University in 1990 and has been a practicing attorney until her recent position with Macy’s, Inc.

Kate Lima
Mc Donald’s USA, LLC

Kate is a Director of Operations for McDonald’s USA, LLC. She started her McDonald’s career in 1987 as a crew person in Los Angeles, CA. She moved up through the ranks, holding several operations positions. In 1996, she relocated to New Jersey and in 1997 she was given the opportunity to move into the Human Resources Department. Although she enjoyed her time in HR, she continued her operations career and held several department manager positions in the New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia areas. Currently, she consults with and supports the eight different McDonald’s Regions in the East Coast, with territory ranging from Massachusetts to Florida. Kate received her Bachelor’s degree in Finance from Rutgers Business School in New Brunswick, NJ. She is married and has 2 children and 3 step children, ages ranging from 8 to 15.

Francisca Martinez, Vice President, Talent Management
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C.

Francisca Martínez is the Corporate Vice President, Talent Management for The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. In this role, Francisca leads the company’s talent acquisition and human capital strategy worldwide. The Ritz-Carlton currently operates 72 hotels in the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and the Caribbean. More than 30 hotel and residential projects are under development around the globe.
Francisca joined Marriott International, Inc. in May of 2000 as the Director of Human Resources for the North America Lodging Finance organization. In 2003, Francisca transferred into The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. as Director of Human Resources supporting the Sales and Marketing function. Prior to joining Marriott, Francisca held several roles in Human Resources with Bristol-Myers Squibb in the US and Europe. She started her career in Madrid, Spain as a Labor Market Analyst and Policy Specialist with the Women's Institute, a government agency for the economic and social advancement of women. Throughout her more than 15 years in global human resources in hospitality, healthcare and the public sector, Francisca has specialized in building organizational capability through strategic human resources, talent management and leadership development.

Francisca holds a Master's degree in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

RONALD C. PARKER
Senior Vice President, PepsiCo
Chief Global Diversity and Inclusion Officer

As the Senior Vice President, Global Diversity and Inclusion, Ron is responsible for directing PepsiCo’s Global Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and its efforts in becoming the premier company of the 21st century. His primary focus is directed towards succession planning, workforce analysis, and developing the cultural competency of PepsiCo’s leaders. Ron also chairs the PepsiCo Global Diversity and Inclusion Governance Council and its Ethnic Advisory Boards, reporting to Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo, Inc. The Council and Boards explore diversity and inclusion insights, consolidate functional initiatives, shares best practices and track execution progress and results.

He is a 26-year PepsiCo veteran who has worked in beverages, snack foods and corporate – in field and headquarters positions. Prior to this position, he served as Senior Vice President of Human Resources for PepsiCo North America. In that role, Ron was responsible for all human resource programs related to such things as succession planning, organizational capability, labor relations and human capital maximization. The Chief Personnel Officers of Frito-Lay, Pepsi-Cola North America, Quaker, Tropicana, and Gatorade, Worldwide Technology Operations and the PepsiCo Customer Teams reported to him.

Ron began his career as Assistant to the Vice President at American Quasar Petroleum. He then moved to the staff of Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, as Assistant Director of Athletics in charge of national recruitment. He joined an emerging petroleum services company, the Western Company of North America, where he focused on national recruitment and employee development. In 1982, he joined Pepsi-Cola Bottling as Human Resources Manager and went on to hold a variety of Human Resources positions, such as Director Human Resources, Vice President of Human Resources Pepsi-West, Vice President Employee Services, Vice President HQ Human Resources and Vice President Corporate Human Resources – PepsiCo, and Vice President of Human Resources – Frito-Lay North America where he directed all Human Resources efforts for Compensation, Benefits, Risk Management and Staffing and Diversity.
Ron is a board member of the Executive Leadership Council, Baylor Regional Medical Center – Plano, The Heart Hospital of Plano (a Baylor affiliate) and the Y.W.C.A. of Metropolitan Dallas.

A native Texan, Ron Parker earned his undergraduate degree in Political Science from Texas Christian University in 1976 where he now serves on the International Board of Visitors and the Board of Trustees.

Ron and his wife Paula reside in Plano, Texas and have three children, Jonathan, Michael, and Lauren.