Lorena Leonardi is the LAC HR Talent & Transformation Lead at Diageo. Lorena created and led the implementation of Striding Women, a development program to advance talented women Managers to Senior Leaders within the company. The program addresses barriers such as impostor syndrome, personal branding, and self-care while fostering effective sisterhood and networking. The program also trains leaders and HR partners as women’s career coaches. Striding Women has significantly improved the retention of women colleagues from 45% to 95%, promotions from 10% to 40%, and maintained high employee engagement at 84%. Outside the company, Lorena collaborated with market CR and HR teams to promote social mobility for women in Colombia through the Learning for Life program, which provides business and hospitality skills to enhance employability. Over 50% of participants have been women, and the program has established employment agreements with major distributors and hospitality venues.
