Fisher Phillips honors Michael Pearson with Business Leadership in Diversity Award

PHILADELPHIA, PA (December 15, 2015) – Fisher Phillips, a national labor and employment law firm, presented its first Business Leadership in Diversity Award to Michael K. Pearson, CEO and founder of Union Packaging (UP), the Yeadon-based maker of earth-friendly Food Service and Quick Service Restaurant paperboard packaging. Pearson, who was honored for his commitment to fostering diversity in business within his organization as well as in the local business community, received the award at a reception on Saturday, December 12, in New York City during Pennsylvania Society Weekend.

“Michael is an exemplary business leader who has demonstrated his commitment to diversity and inclusion in the workplace and on a broader basis in the community in which he works, lives and serves,” said Lori Armstrong Halber, Partner in the Philadelphia office of Fisher Phillips, which hosted the reception. “We are proud to recognize him with our firm’s first annual Business Leadership in Diversity Award to honor the work he has put in over many years in the Greater Philadelphia region.”

Michael Pearson founded UP in 1999 based on a business plan he wrote while living in Philadelphia’s Fairmount neighborhood. Today, UP is one of the biggest suppliers of FDA compliant paperboard packaging for food and quick service restaurants across the United States. The company is a certified African-American owned minority business enterprise and has an 80 percent minority employee base.

A South Philadelphia resident and University of Pennsylvania graduate, Pearson is an Army Airborne veteran and a member of the Democratic National Convention preparation group for Philadelphia Mayor-elect Jim Kenney’s transition team. He currently serves on the board of directors for the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, Philadelphia Health Management Corporation, United Way of Greater Philadelphia & Southern New Jersey, and the Committee of Seventy. He has been honored by the Philadelphia Business Journal, the Marriott Foundation, and U.S. Department of Commerce for his commitment to hiring minorities.