Kelly McGinnis on Employee Activism and Earning Profits Through Principles at Levi’s

Corporate activism has long been sewn into the fabric of Levi Strauss and Company, and over the past seven years, senior vice president and chief communications officer Kelly McGinnis has continued to uphold Levi Strauss’ reputation as a pioneer in tackling social issues. Bringing her background in social work to the table, Kelly has continued to seek out new opportunities to foster change in the corporate world through employee activism, activist partnerships and corporate coalitions. In this episode, Kelly discusses the power of listening to employee opinions, emphasizing that many of the company’s most memorable actions in response to social issues have come straight from their employees. She offers valuable insights into how the company builds advocacy into every level of its operation to amplify causes that they care about and form corporate coalitions that lobby for policy changes. Featuring:Kelly McGinnis (@kellylmcginnis), SVP and CCO of Levi Strauss and Company (@LeviStraussCo). Host:Fred Cook (@fredcook), Chairman of Golin, a global PR firm. Author of “Improvise - Unorthodox Career Advice from an Unlikely CEO” and Director of the USC Center for Public Relations Follow us: @Center4PR (Twitter, Facebook and Instagram)Newsletter: News from the USC Center for Public RelationsVisit our website: https://annenberg.usc.edu/research/center-public-relations  Production CreditsA production of the USC Annenberg Center for Public Relations at the University of Southern California.Host: Fred CookExecutive Producer: Ron AntonetteSeason 7 Producers: Joe Carreon and Anvi MahajanProduction: Camille Culbertson, Jack Gisler, Toma BattinoEditorial: Joey Cha, Ivan Feng, Natalie Lopez, Grace AnSocial Content: Angelina Tran, Hailey Evans, Arushi Purkayastha, Chris ApyGrowth: Van Luu, Shaan DhaliwalLinksFollow the USC Center for PR (@usccenterforpr) on Instagram and LinkedIn. Follow Fred Cook on LinkedIn. Find all our reports at annenberg.usc.edu/cpr.Download the 2025 Relevance Report at annenberg.usc.edu/relevance