Global Head of Diversity, McCormick & Company, Inc.
Nereida (Neddy) Perez joined McCormick & Company, Inc. as global head of diversity in 2019. In that capacity she is responsible for developing and executing the company’s global diversity and inclusion strategy as well as working with Talent Management and Human Resources to imbedded business strategies that lead to a more inclusive and innovative culture where people can thrive. Prior to TIAA she led Employment Brand, Early Talent & Diversity Recruiting at TIAA, in that capacity she revamped the company’s external recruiting brand and instituted new hiring practices to attract diverse talent. Neddy’s background includes more than 20 years of experience in Human Resources, Diversity Management, Corporate Social Responsibility, and STEM workforce pipeline development.
She has served as Chief Diversity Officer at Ingersoll Rand, National Grid, and KPMG. She has worked in Asia, Europe and Latin America. Neddy has developed a number of award winning and internationally recognized diversity programs focusing on women and the science, technology, engineering and math space. While at Ingersoll Rand she developed a women’s leadership program that generated more than $27 million dollars in revenue and savings in under three years. The program was so successful that she was invited to serve on the board of trustee of the National Association of Manufactures’ Institute and there she helped to build the leadership model for their women’s program. At KPMG she worked on strategies to increase the diversity hiring mix and improve the Partner Pipeline. She also established the company’s supplier diversity initiative saving the company several millions in government contracts. At National Grid she worked with the corporate foundation to create and launch STEMConnector.org, which is a central clearinghouse of information on STEM Corporate/Government/Education Initiatives. She also built the company’s supplier diversity program and created the New York Energy Supplier Diversity Conference and relaunched the National Utilities Diversity Council (NUDC) a nonprofit focused on workforce and supplier diversity
Born in Havana, Cuba she realized at an early age the power of education as a way to break through the glass ceiling and overcome prejudice. As a result, she has worked with a variety of non-profit organizations to support education and leadership development initiatives that empower people and remove organizational career barriers. Aside from serving on the board of several nonprofits she has also partnered with companies to look at their talent pipeline needs and share best practices on building STEM strategies. She has been a speaker on the topic of STEM and workforce diversity at a number of national conferences and events.
Neddy has served on a variety of national and international nonprofit and foundation boards including the Society of Human Resources Management Foundation Board, National Association of Manufacturing Institute, Ingersoll Rand’s Foundation Board, National Hispanic MBAs Association, Howard University’s Center for Accounting Excellence and Hispanic Association of Colleges & Universities and board of Central Piedmont Community College. She currently serves Asia Society Talent Advisory Council, Diversity MBA, Diversity in Higher Education boards and is a Program Advisor to Elevate. She has been an advisory to the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Air Force Academy and U.S. Army on diversity initiatives.
In 2017 & 2015 she was recognized for a second time as one of the 100 Most Influential Corporate Women in STEM. In 2015, Neddy was named one of the 10 most influential global diversity leaders by Global Diversity Magazine and in 2014 she was named as the top Hispanic Corporate Executive in the U.S. by the National Hispanic Business Council. Her work has been recognized by the United Nations Committee on Sustainability, The Prince William Foundation, and National Association of Manufactures, U.S Congress and many others.
