Mars Associate Stories

Making a living from tasting chocolate and helping to create exciting new flavors for products all over the globe may sound like a fantasy for many, but for Lisa Saxon Reed, Global Director of Sensory at Mars Wrigley, it’s what she does every day

Lauren Belomy, a Digital Transformation Associate, who works for Mars, Inc., describes her roles as helping the company to move forward in a world that's ditial.

This interview is with Tina Blackmore, who works as a Science Engagement Research Partner for MARS.

This interview is with Ana Marchan-Garcia, who works is a Senior Technologist for MARS.

With more than $35 billion in annual sales, Mars Inc — the company behind brands like Twix, M&Ms, and Skittles — is one of the largest family-owned companies in the world. And it has been around for more than 100 years.

But as the company makes changes and invests in its future, there is one thing that will continue to stay the same for the chocolate giant, Mars chairman Stephen Badger told Business Insider in a recent interview.

Staying private allows the company flexibility that many public companies could only dream of.

A few weeks ago, MARS INC. contacted me, asking me to interview four of their Women in STEM.* Over the next few weeks, their interviews will be posting one by one. This interview is with Cui Wang, who works in the Global Food Safety Center for MARS in Beijing.

A few weeks ago, MARS INC. contacted me, asking me to interview four of their Women in STEM.* Over the next few weeks, their interviews will be posting one by one. This interview is with Valerie Maldonado, Fruity Confections CBU Mars Wrigley Confectionery here in the US.

Can ignoring gender bias make it go away? Of course not.

But I do wonder whether the specter of gender bias is creating self-limiting stories for a generation of women entering the workforce. This question was inspired by a recent visit to the campus of one of our nation’s most respected universities.

Women occupy just 15 percent of board seats worldwide. In the US, women account for just five percent of all CEOs among S&P 500 companies. In the UK the situation is worse: in 2016 there were more male CEOs named David (eight) than women CEOs (six) in the FTSE 100.

These figures make for uncomfortable reading for men and women alike, but we have two choices in the face of this harsh reality – we can either feel discouraged by the lack of progress and downbeat about the prospects for women in the workplace. Or, we can allow this data to fuel women’s rise to the top and help drive the change that is needed at the higher echelons of business.

This month, I have the privilege of presenting an award at the Woman’s Day Red Dress Awards, where we at Mars Symbioscience, makers of CocoaVia® dietary supplement, are the lead sponsor for the third year in a row. Before I don my own red dress at this glamorous event, (thankfully picked out by my 18-year old daughter on a rushed Sunday afternoon shopping trip,) I find myself reflecting on what this award means to me as a business leader, a woman, a friend, and a mother.