Patricia “Pat” Richards is one of the food industry’s leading Organizational Development (OD) professionals. She currently serves as vice president of Organizational Development for Hearthside Food Solutions, one of the food industry’s fastest growing companies. Her 30-year career includes working with some of food industry’s largest and fastest growing firms, where she has lead teams, designed structures and created systems that drive human performance to new levels; creating a competitive advantage for employers and clients.
As a hands-on professional and strategic thinker, Pat has spearheaded OD projects from the executive suite to the plant floor. By combining strategic situation analysis, highly tailored development programs, and grounded assessment tools, Pat enables organizations to identify and develop the leadership potential of human capital.
Her OD training materials and curricula have become industry standards, used by leading companies and trade associations. As the owner of PPR Consulting, an OD consulting practice, Pat has also advised many leading food and CPG companies on OD programs and issues.
Pat is a noted speaker, trainer, coach and educator on a range of OD issues. She has taught at Northwestern University – School of Professional Studies and is an adjunct professor at Loyola’s Quinlan School of Business engaged as both an instructor and executive coach. Along with fellow faculty members, she earned the 2015 Chief Learning Officer Silver Award in the category of Excellence in Academic Partnerships.