UN Global Compact Network USA Appoints Two New Board Directors and Announces New Slate of Board Officers

NEW YORK, February 14, 2023 /3BL Media/ - UN Global Compact Network USA, the American chapter of the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative, today announced a new slate of board officers and the appointment of two new directors. Daniella Foster of Bayer was elected the new board chair; Ann Tracy of Colgate-Palmolive was named Secretary; and Shobha Meera of Capgemini stepped in as interim Treasurer. They will join Gayle Schueller of 3M, the Vice Chair, on the executive committee. In addition, Michael Okoroafor of McCormick & Company and Brian Tippens of Cisco, have joined the board.

Foster, an executive board member and senior vice president and global head of public affairs, science, and sustainability, and consumer health at Bayer, is in her sixth year of service to the Network USA board. She had previously served for two years as the board Secretary.

“I’m honored to be elected as the chair of Network USA and look forward to working with the entire board to advance the organization’s growth,” said Foster. “As one of the largest UNGC networks in the world, we have a great opportunity to help even more US companies embody and lean into the principles of the Global Compact and the Sustainable Development Goals.”

Tracy is the chief sustainability officer at Colgate-Palmolive and is in her third year on the Network USA board. Meera is the chief corporate social responsibility officer at Capgemini and has served on the board for two years.

“I'm confident that Ann will do a great job in her new role as Secretary, and I thank Shobha for stepping up to fill the Treasurer's position,” said Foster. “Adding Brian and Michael to our board will only strengthen us in the years ahead, as they both bring great experience from their careers leading corporate sustainability programs and are passionate about the work of the Global Compact.”

Okoroafor is the chief sustainability officer at McCormick, a global leader in flavor that manufactures, markets, and distributes spices, seasonings, condiments, and other flavor products to the entire food industry. He has spearheaded the company’s Purpose-led Performance journey and its inclusion on several well-known indices and lists, including the Corporate Knights Global 100 Sustainability Index, where McCormick has been ranked as the top company in the food industry for the past seven years; the FTSE4Good Index Series; and Fortune’s 2022 Change the World list. Additionally, Okoroafor has helped McCormick obtain recognition as one of America’s Most JUST Companies by JUST Capital. In 2020, he was named an Environment & Energy (E&E) Leader 100 honoree. In 2023, he will receive a Maryland International Business Leader Award for his work to promote Maryland as a global business hub. Okoroafor also serves on the board of Charter Next Generation and AMERIPEN (American Institute for Packaging and the Environment.) He previously served in various leadership roles at PPG, Coca-Cola, and Heinz.

Tippens is in his first year at Cisco, an American-based multinational digital communications technology corporation. He serves as Cisco’s senior vice president and chief social impact officer. He is a World Economic Forum contributor and a member of the Executive Leadership Council. He previously served as chief sustainability officer at HPE and was president of the HPE Foundation. Earlier in Tippens’ career, he worked in the legal group at Intel.

In addition to the four executive committee members, Okoroafor and Tippens join Jennifer Leitsch of EY and Eunice Heath of CRH as current Network USA board directors.

Network USA currently has more than 900 signatory participants and works with them to identify sustainability challenges and opportunities, provide practical guidance, and promote action to support broader UN goals. It works closely with the UN Global Compact Office to ensure that its members have access to all programs and learning tools to help them make progress against the Ten Principles and SDGs.

About the United Nations Global Compact

As a unique initiative of the UN Secretary-General, the United Nations Global Compact calls for companies everywhere to align their operations and strategies with the Ten Principles in human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption. Our ambition is to accelerate and scale the collective global impact of business by upholding the Ten Principles and delivering Sustainable Development Goals through accountable companies and ecosystems that enable change. With more than 17,000 companies and 3,000 non-business signatories based in over 160 countries, and 69 Local Networks, the UN Global Compact is the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative — one Global Compact uniting businesses for a better world. For more information, follow @globalcompactusa on social media and visit our website at https://www.globalcompactusa.org/.

Contact:

Noah A. Smith 
UN Global Compact Network USA 
+1 917-868-9320 
noah@globalcompactusa.org