Bea Perez ’91: Making a Difference with The Coca-Cola Company

As SVP and Chief Communications, Sustainability and Strategic Partnerships Officer of The Coca-Cola Company, Bea Perez ’91 is focused on one goal — creating more sustainable and equitable communities around the world.

The Coca-Cola Company is a total beverage company with products sold in more than 200 countries and territories. The company’s purpose is to refresh the world and make a difference. Perez’s team is a driving force behind the purpose — contributing to the company’s efforts towards economic empowerment, reducing carbon emissions, and increasing access to water and sanitation infrastructure worldwide, among other important initiatives.

It’s a mission that she felt compelled to take on after serving as The Coca-Cola Company’s Chief Marketing Officer within its North American division and leading projects such as Coca-Cola’s National Parks program. Perez says she naturally gravitated toward building marketing programs based on helping the company positively impact communities globally.

Then in 2011, her passion for making a difference manifested in her becoming the company’s first Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO), a role in which she would continue the company’s longstanding work in promoting sustainability and aspiring for a better shared future for all.

“We used to have a saying that we're not just here for the next quarter, we're here for the next quarter century. That's why this work is so important,” says Perez.

As she set the foundation for the new CSO role in 2011, Perez examined company archives and gained an appreciation for the sustainability work her predecessors carried out while highlighting areas where she felt she could further contribute to the company’s sustainability goals.

These include making 100% of the company’s packaging recyclable, reducing carbon emissions by 25% by 2030 and establishing a water balance with a return of over 100% of the water used in the manufacturing of its drinks.

“Coca-Cola is expected to do so much more and to look beyond itself to support communities holistically,” says Perez. “We looked at where we could credibly make a difference and how that intersected with the best interests of our stakeholders everywhere.”

Now, Perez leads a global networked team responsible for integrating the company’s sustainability strategies with core business objectives, with responsibility for global strategic communications, including digital media strategy for company-owned channels, global brand public relations, corporate and financial communications, and leadership communications. She also manages the strategic direction of the company’s retail, licensing and attractions portfolio and The Coca-Cola Foundation.

In her almost three decades with the company and having served over six years in her current role, Perez has maintained an approach of listening, learning and asking the right questions before reaching a conclusion or determining the course of action. 

That approach, paired with an academic foundation of data analytics from her time as a marketing student at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, has played a pivotal role in her success.

“I realized that Maryland's marketing and business programs put science at the center and used data and analytics to help us become better business people. We didn’t just use gut instinct to make decisions and I value that,” says Perez.

Reflecting on her assignments and notebooks, which she kept from that time, Perez says she’s realized that much of the lessons she gained in the classroom were “ahead of their time” and aligned with her experiences at The Coca-Cola Company.

“UMD was challenging us even back then on how business could have a greater impact on society. We studied cases with the lens of how businesses can drive growth by having a better connection to people,” says Perez.

Another lesson that has guided her – and that she frequently shares with students and young professionals – is being comfortable taking risks and seeking out opportunities that provide fulfillment.

She says that identifying those opportunities is “an instinctual feeling, " and trusting it will always lead to a valuable new learning experience.

“If you are passionate about something that you think you can make a difference with and it makes you want to wake up every day and go to work, then that's where you need to be,” says Perez.