Kenny Thompson, Jr.
Vice President of External Affairs at PepsiCo in Washington, D.C.
Kenny Thompson, Jr. is a public affairs executive with expertise in building corporate strategies and assessing political risk in the public and private sectors. He applies his experience with social impact, corporate responsibility, sustainability, advocacy, and communications to generate new business, amplify PepsiCo’s business partnerships, and grow PepsiCo’s reputation as a responsible corporate citizen. Under his leadership, the External Affairs team ensures PepsiCo’s stakeholder engagement plan delivers long-term value and sustained purpose to investors, employees, suppliers, customers, and the communities that PepsiCo serves.
Before joining PepsiCo, Kenny held several positions in the Obama White House, including Director of Message Events for Vice President Joe Biden, Senior Advisor to United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk, and Special Assistant and Advance Lead for President Barack Obama.
In 2020, Thompson was selected to serve on the Biden – Harris Transition as the Private Sector Liaison where he provided strategic and management oversight of the interaction with the private sector while managing relationships with Fortune 500 CEOs, Wall Street firms, venture-backed enterprises, and industry groups.
A native Texan, Kenny completed his undergraduate degree at Texas Christian University, where he was a proud member of the Horned Frog baseball team. He later earned a Master of Business Administration from Georgetown University.
Currently, Kenny serves on the Board of Trustees at Texas Christian University and the Board of Advisors at the Georgetown Institute of Politics.
In 2018, Thompson was selected as a Black Enterprise 100 Men of Distinction.
https://www.blackenterprise.com/modern-man-kenny-thompson/
In 2021, Thompson was appointed by President Biden to serve as a Commissioner on the President's Commission of White House Fellowships.
In 2022, Kenny awarded the Washington Business Journal's Diversity in Business award.
https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2022/03/24/diba-kenneth-thompson-pepsico.html
Kenny and his wife Jessica live in Washington, DC.