Irene Rosenfield was recently ranked as the world’s 9th most powerful “mom” by Forbes, and the magazine consistently ranks her among the most powerful businesswomen in the world.

Mondelez -- the maker of Oreo, Ritz, Cadbury  and Trident chewing gum -- was known as Kraft Foods until last year when it spun off  its North American grocery business.

Rosenfeld, 59, started her career in consumer research, then joined General Foods, which became part of Kraft. She served as chief executive of Frito-Lay from 2004 for two years, before she was named chief executive at Kraft in 2006.

In an interview with Fox Business, Rosenfeld said she had learned during her career that women don’t have to be “minimen”.

"We have the opportunity to be role models and mentor others," Rosenfeld said. “Hang in there; we can help to reshape the environment on the job and outside.”

The greatest disservice to diversity is filling the job with the wrong diversity candidate, Rosenfeld said. Risk-taking, travel for work and accepting new challenges are all key to success, she added.

At Mondelez, diversity and inclusion training are fundamental requirements for every employee at key career stages to sustain a culture that values individual differences.

The company believes that everyone should be treated fairly and with dignity. It is a basic human right that should be upheld by governments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), civil society and the private sector.

Mondelez supports various graduate, internship and co-op programs in post-secondary institutions and colleges.

Co-op students  gain valuable work experience while making significant contributions to the business, the company says.