Unleash Your Spirit: Angela Brandford-Stevenson

Unleash Your Spirit: Angela Brandford-Stevenson

Meet Angela Brandford-Stevenson – Senior HR Manager, who is building the next generation of Beam Suntory leaders in Kentucky and serving as a strategic partner to help ensure that everyone has a seat and a voice at the table.

In her role at Beam Suntory, a world leader in premium spirits, Brandford-Stevenson works directly with the employees at the Bottling Center of Excellence (known as the Old Grand Dad Plant) in Frankfort, Kentucky, where they bottle Jim Beam, Cruzan Rum and many other Beam Suntory products. She leads the Beam Suntory Kentucky Internship Program, and as she describes it, “does all things people-related.”

From when she earned a place in the gifted and talented program at her elementary school in Chicago and where she later attended Catholic high school, to her professional career, Brandford-Stevenson felt like a lot of Black people who were “the only” people who look like them in a room.

“I would ask myself, ‘who is Angela and what do I stand for?,’” she recalls. Brandford-Stevenson made a choice to stand for those who are silenced and seek to uplift those who are sidelined due to their differences.

Brandford-Stevenson brings that commitment to Beam Suntory’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. She is a member of the Kentucky Diversity & Inclusion Council, for which she has been instrumental in driving the D&I agenda to recruit, retain and develop more women and diverse talent. She is also on the company’s Black Employee Impact Group’s (EIG) Kentucky chapter’s leadership team and is a valued contributor to the Women’s EIG.

She earned a bachelor's degree from Purdue University and master's degree from Xavier University. She is currently at Xavier pursuing her doctoral studies with an emphasis on education and leadership.

Brandford-Stevenson’s family instilled in her the importance education, charity and legacy. Upon her father’s passing in 2019, she realized that leaving a legacy means preparing and leading the next generation. Brandford-Stevenson is a proud mother of two, “only children,” a son who is a college senior at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, and a son in kindergarten.

Outside of Beam Suntory, Brandford-Stevenson is a Leadership Kentucky Alumni, she holds leadership positions with the Women in Manufacturing (WIM) Kentucky Chapter and Jack and Jill of America, Inc. She is very active in her church and several ministries. She is also a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. In her free time, she is a freelance event planner and master craft artist.

You can learn more about how Beam Suntory employees are “unleashing their spirit” around the world in our people profile series.