BackgroundThe most important thing a leader must understand is that diversity is about being different. PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi understands what it means to be different. Reinemund and Paige explained that Indra Nooyi understands the differences. Indra Nooyi faced the differences of being a woman, a minority and ethnicity and still managed to make her way to the top of the corporate ladder. Ms. Nooyi holds a Bachelor of Science from Madras Christian College, a Master of Business Administration from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, and a Master of Public and Private Management from Yale University (PepsiCo , nd). Indra spent many years as a vice president in various positions before joining PepsiCo in 1994 as senior vice president of strategy and strategic marketing. Ms. Nooyi rose through the corporate ranks at PepsiCo and in 2006; took over as president and CEO. Indra Nooyi experiences diversity every day and understands what Richardson (2005) calls an organization of people from different backgrounds that consists of race, ethnicity, gender, and beliefs. This article will focus on how Indra Nooyi influences diversity at PepsiCo based on ethnicity, gender, and policies. A key element of successfully implementing a diversity policy is the ability to lead and manage ethnic diversity. EthnicityDiversity has been and continues to be beneficial to the economic growth and prosperity of this country (Herrerra, 2001). According to Moore (2007), Indra Nooyi is a native of India and one of the few women to lead a Fortune 500 company. PepsiCo is a proponent of diversity, and in the 1940s it had minority-owned franchises and employees of color. Moore said that Peps...... middle of document ......Chief Executive Officer, PepsiCo).Reinemund, S., & Paige, C.,. Meeting the diversity challenge at PepsiCo. Retrieved from http://www.businessfacts.us/management/Meeting_the_Diversity_Challenge_at_PepsiCo_31. shtmlRichardson, D. (2005). A journal of conservative biogeography. Diversity and Distributions,11(1), 1-2. doi:10.1111/j.1366-9516.2005.00157.x.Schultz, H. (2008). Indra Nooyi. Time Magazine. Retrieved from http://content.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1733748_1733758_1736190,00.htmlU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, (2013). Women in the workforce: a data collection. Report 1040, taken from the blog www.bls.gov.WordPress, (2011). Indra Nooyi's Management Mantras for Success. Minds inspired to change lives. Retrieved from http://changeminds.wordpress.com/tag/indra-nooyis-management-mantras-for-success/