The US President-elect Donald Trump appointed PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi on December 14 to the President’s Strategic and Policy Forum that will consult with him on implementing his economic agenda.
Chennai-born Nooyi, 61, is the only Indian-origin executive in the 19-member President’s Strategic and Policy Forum.
While calling her as one of the ‘pioneering CEOs,’ Trump said, “America has the most innovative and vibrant companies in the world, and the pioneering CEOs joining this Forum today are at the top of their fields.”
Three new members were also announced in addition to the current 16. The other corporate bigwigs to join the forum are Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, and SpaceX and Tesla chairman Elon Musk.
Nooyi heads a multinational with an annual revenue of US$63 billion that employs 110,000 people.
A graduate of Madras Christian College in Chennai, she has management degrees from the Indian Institute of Management in Kolkata and Yale University.
Trump had earlier appointed Shalabh Kumar, the chair of the Republican Hindu Coalition, to the transition finance and the inauguration teams.
The finance team members review prospects for administration positions and make recommendations to Trump.
The inauguration team organises the festivities for Trump’s swearing-in as president on January 20, 2017.