Our leaders are some of the most respected in the industry, bringing a variety of perspectives and expertise to the company in our collective quest to bring goodness to the world. Together, they set and execute the strategy for Hershey, leading this century-old iconic company into new markets, new categories and continual reinvention and innovation.
Buck has held several senior leadership roles within the company. Most recently, she served as Chief Operating Officer, leading Hershey’s day-to-day North American operations and overseeing Hershey’s operations in Central and South America.
Before joining Hershey in 2005, Buck served 17 years at Kraft/Nabisco in numerous senior positions and at the Frito-Lay division of PepsiCo.
She serves on the Board of Directors at New York Life, and as a Benefit Co-Chair for the Children’s Brain Tumor Foundation. A native of central Pennsylvania, Buck earned a Bachelor’s degree at Shippensburg University and holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Charles (Chuck) Raup leads Hershey’s flagship U.S. business including core confection, expanding portfolio across snacking and the marketing, sales and go-to-market teams. He is responsible for driving accelerated, sustainable growth for the company across traditional and digital channels, balancing top- and bottom-line in the short and long term.
Raup has broad experience leading snacking operations across candy, mint and gum. He has served in increasing roles of responsibility throughout his 10-year service with the company, most recently leading the turnaround of the core U.S. business. Before that, he was Vice President/General Manager, Mexico, improving its operations and performance.
Raup joined Hershey in 2009 after 13 years at Kraft Foods. He served seven years in the United States Navy as a Surface Warfare Officer.
He has a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Bachelor’s degree in business from Penn State University.
Raup is an active member of Horizons for Youth, an organization that provides scholarships, mentoring and enrichment programs for children in low-resource areas of Chicago.
Kristen Riggs oversees the company’s growth strategy, including the consumer intelligence and strategy team, strategic growth platforms, marketing excellence functions, innovation, research and development, and The Hershey Experience. Her focus is to accelerate the company’s enterprise growth.
Riggs is a dynamic Hershey veteran with marketing, sales and commercial operations experience leading billion-dollar businesses across brand marketing and sales. She has a proven track record of transforming operations and cultures to drive growth and profitability. As Vice President and GM of Commercial Planning, she led U.S. Volume Planning and Integrated Business Management along with a range of commercial strategic planning responsibilities.
Riggs joined The Hershey Company in 2005 and has held a range of commercial leadership roles in brand marketing, shopper marketing, global marketing, sales, the Reese’s brand and was VP/GM of Brand Commercialization.
Before joining Hershey, Riggs worked as an engineer for Samsung Semiconductor in Austin, Texas. Riggs holds an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School and a Bachelor of Science degree from Purdue University.
James Turoff serves as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary. In this role, Turoff has responsibility for all legal department activities and strategies, including corporate governance, litigation, labor and employment, intellectual property, and enterprise risk management, as well as ethics and compliance, government relations, and security.
Turoff joined Hershey in March 2014 and has held multiple positions within the Legal Department during his tenure. Most recently, he served as Acting General Counsel. From March 2019 through December 2020, he served as Vice President, Deputy General Counsel, where he had oversight responsibility for multiple commercial and corporate functions within the Legal Department. From March 2018 through February 2019, Turoff was the Vice President, SEC, Corporate Governance & Compliance and helped oversee all commercial and corporate Legal functions globally while Hershey searched for and transitioned to a new general counsel. Prior to that, he served as Associate General Counsel, Securities & Governance and Business Transformation and as Associate General Counsel, AEMEA and Securities & Governance.
Prior to Hershey, Turoff was the Assistant General Counsel, Corporate and Securities at Harsco Corporation.
Turoff holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and economics from Ashland University and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law. He and his family reside in Mechanicsburg, Pa.