MEET KAREN

Tuesday, May 25, 2021

Karen Cuneo, a Senior Associate Brand Manager for Savory Wellbeing Innovation has spent the last five years with Mondelēz International within Product R&D and Marketing. While balancing her career at Mondelēz , Karen fulfilled a lifelong dream-she wrote cookbook with her sister and co-author, Grace. To say she is amazing is an understatement.

Karen joined Mondelēz International in January 2016, as an Associate Scientist II in Health Wellbeing, after starting her career at Campbell's Soup and Medifast, for the opportunity to work on our iconic and global brands. As soon as she arrived, Karen knew it was a great fit. She loved the positive work culture At Mondelēz , we value attitude, not just skills, and welcomed the opportunity to work on products that could be in every single household in America. She's worked across the North American Biscuit organization, first within a Health and Wellbeing role and then in a Product Innovation role, where she was instrumental in the North American launch of RITZ Crisp and Thins, commercialized belVita and Chips Ahoy! innovation and developed the flavor for Mystery Oreo, and now in Marketing, where she supports Triscuit, Good Thins and Wheat Thins innovation.

Karen attributes her success at Mondelēz to the support of her managers, who prioritized robust career discussions and championed her career ambitions to ensure sure she feels fulfilled in her work. During her time in R&D, she developed a passion for brands and the consumer, so when a role for an ABM Innovation opened, it was her R&D manager who advocated for her to explore the opportunity. She moved into Marketing as an Associate Brand Manager in Savory Innovation and was recently promoted to Senior Associate Brand Manager. She says her time in Marketing has been wonderful, bringing her even closer to the consumer and allowing her the opportunity to contribute to the development of long term brand strategies.

Female empowerment and celebrating strong women has been an integral part of Karen, as she grew up in a household with 3 strong, accomplished older sisters that always supported and encouraged each other. After the 2016 Women's March, Karen had a lot of conversation around women's empowerment and the role she could play in building awareness and starting productive conversations with them. Her sister, Grace, mentioned making a Beyonce Bey Hive Honey Cake to post on Instagram, and they thought well, why stop with Beyonce? Within one week, they had come up with 100 names for punny recipes inspired by groundbreaking and influential women and knew it could make for a great cookbook. They spent a grueling 2.5 months making 3-4 recipes a day, recruited recipe testers, many of whom were Karen's Mondelēz colleagues, and researched a collection of amazing, strong females to make the book happen. By September 2019 the book was published.

I am really proud to work at Mondelēz , because it's not only a place that creates those moments of joy' for consumers, but also is a company that values diversity, fosters a culture of wellbeing and balance and value's each employees unique strengths. She said her technical background was embraced when she moved into Marketing, and her teammates saw her differentiated experience and thought as a strength.

Mondelez International is a place where you can feel empowered to be yourself and grow your career!