Corporate Governance

Committees: Audit Committee, Finance Committee

R. Kerry Clark served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Cardinal Health, Inc., a provider of health care products and services until his retirement in 2009. Mr. Clark joined Cardinal Health in 2006 as President and Chief Executive Officer and became Chairman in 2007. Prior to that, he had held various positions at The Procter & Gamble Company, a consumer products company, since 1974, including President of P&G Asia; President, Global Market Development and Business Operations; and from 2004 to 2006, Vice Chairman of the Board. He is a director of Textron, Inc. and Anthem, Inc., and he was a director of Cardinal Health, Inc. from 2006 to 2009 and Avnet, Inc. from 2012 to 2019.

Mr. Clark has been on the General Mills Board of Directors since 2009. He is Chair of the Finance Committee and a member of the Audit Committee.

Committees: Finance Committee, Audit Committee

David M. Cordani is President and Chief Executive Officer of Cigna Corporation (NYSE: CI), a global health insurance and health services company. Mr. Cordani joined Cigna in 1991 and has held a variety of finance and operating positions, including Chief Financial Officer for CIGNA HealthCare and President and Chief Operating Officer for Cigna Corporation. He was named Chief Executive Officer of Cigna Corporation in 2009. Prior to joining Cigna, he held several senior staff positions at Coopers & Lybrand, an accounting firm. Mr. Cordani also serves as a Director of Cigna Corporation.

Mr. Cordani was named to the General Mills board in 2014. He is a member of the Finance and Audit Committees.

Financial Expert

Committees: Compensation and Talent Committee, Corporate Governance Committee

C. Kim Goodwin is an experienced financial services professional. Ms. Goodwin served as Managing Director and Head of Equities (Global) for the Asset Management Division of Credit Suisse Group AG from 2006 to 2008, and as Chief Investment Officer – Equities at State Street Research & Management Co., a money management firm, from 2002 to 2005. Since 2008, Ms. Goodwin has been a private investor, sitting on a number of public and private company boards.

Ms. Goodwin was elected to the General Mills board in 2022. She is a member of the Compensation and Talent and Corporate Governance Committees.

Jeff Harmening was named chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors of General Mills on June 1, 2017. He was elected to serve as chairman of the board of directors effective January 1, 2018.

Harmening joined General Mills in 1994 and has held leadership positions for the company in the United States and Europe.

Harmening previously served as president and chief operating officer for General Mills, where he shaped strategies for the company’s four global operating segments and had oversight of Global Supply Chain, and Innovation, Technology and Quality. He assumed his role as president and chief operating officer in July of 2016.

In the U.S., he served in various marketing roles before being named vice president of marketing for Cereal Partners Worldwide (CPW) in 2003. Headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, CPW is a 50-50 joint venture between General Mills and Nestle that manufactures and markets ready-to-eat cereal products in more than 130 countries outside of North America.

In June 2007, Harmening returned to the U.S. and was named president of the General Mills Big G cereal division. He was promoted to senior vice president in April 2011. In 2012, Harmening returned to Europe as CEO of Cereal Partners Worldwide and held that role from 2012 to 2014.

Returning to the U.S. in 2014, Harmening was named executive vice president, chief operating officer of the largest division of General Mills, the U.S. Retail segment. In this role he had corporate oversight of the Baking Products, Big G Cereals, Meals, Pillsbury USA, Small Planet Foods, Snacks, and Yoplait divisions.

During Harmening's leadership of the U.S. Retail business, the company greatly expanded its position in the natural and organic segment, including the acquisition of Annie's and EPIC Provisions. That made General Mills the fourth largest maker of natural and organic foods in the U.S. 

A graduate of DePauw University, Harmening began his career as a financial analyst at Eli Lilly and Company from 1989 to 1992. He received his MBA from Harvard in 1994, is a Trustee at DePauw University, and serves on the board of the Consumer Brands Association and The Toro Company.

Committees: Finance Committee, Audit Committee

Maria Henry has been Chief Financial Officer of Kimberly-Clark Corporation since April 2015. Prior to that, she was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Hillshire Brands, formerly known as Sara Lee Corporation, from June 2012 to August 2014. Ms. Henry was the Chief Financial Officer of Sara Lee's North American Retail and Foodservice business from May 2011 to June 2012. Prior to Sara Lee, she held various senior leadership positions in Finance and Strategy in three portfolio companies of Clayton, Dubilier, and Rice, most recently as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Culligan International from October 2005 to May 2011. Ms. Henry also held senior Finance roles in several technology companies, and she began her career at General Electric.

Ms. Henry was elected to the General Mills Board in 2016. She is the Chair of the Audit Committee and a member of the Finance Committee.

Financial Expert

Committees: Corporate Governance Committee, Public Responsibility Committee

Jo Ann Jenkins has served as Chief Executive Officer of AARP, Inc., the nation’s largest nonprofit organization serving Americans aged 50 and older, since 2014. From 2013 to 2014, Ms. Jenkins served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of AARP, and from 2010 to 2013 as President of the AARP Foundation. Prior to joining AARP, Jenkins served at the Library of Congress as Chief Operating Officer and Chief of Staff. She has also held a variety of senior roles at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Ms. Jenkins currently serves on the boards of AARP and Avnet, Inc.

Ms. Jenkins was elected to the General Mills board in 2020. She is a member of the Corporate Governance and Public Responsibility committees.

Committees: Audit Committee, Compensation and Talent Committee

Elizabeth C. Lempres served as Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company, a management consulting firm, until her retirement in August 2017. Ms. Lempres joined McKinsey & Company in 1989 and held a variety of positions of increasing responsibility during her career including Senior Partner and Global Leader, Private Equity and Principal Investors from 2016 to 2017; and Senior Partner and Global Leader, Consumer Sector from 2010 to 2014. Prior to McKinsey & Company, she held positions in engineering related fields at IBM and General Electric. Ms. Lempres serves as a director of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd.

Ms. Lemrpres was elected to the General Mills board in 2019. She is a member of the Audit and Compensation and Talent committees.

Committees: Corporate Governance Committee, Public Responsibility Committee

Diane L. Neal served as Chief Executive Officer of Sur La Table, Inc., a retail company with more than 100 stores offering a selection of exclusive and premium-quality goods for the kitchen and table, from October 2014 until her retirement in January 2017. From 2012 to September 2014, Ms. Neal served as an advisor to retail companies including L Brands, Inc., the parent company of Bath & Body Works where she served as Chief Executive Officer from 2007 to 2011. Ms. Neal joined Bath & Body Works in 2006 as President and Chief Operating Officer. Ms. Neal served with Gap Inc. from 2004 to 2006 where she held the positions of President, Outlet Division and Senior Vice President, Merchandising, Outlet Division. Previously, she served at Target Corporation for more than 20 years in various executive and leadership roles, most recently as President of Mervyn’s from 2001 to 2004. Ms. Neal serves as a director of Fossil Group, Inc., and she was a director of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. from 2014 to 2015.

Ms. Neal was elected to the General Mills board in 2018. She is a member of the Corporate Governance Committee and the Public Responsibility Committee.

Committees: Public Responsibility Committee, Finance Committee

Steve Odland is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Conference Board. From 2013 to June of 2018, Mr. Odland was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Conference Board’s public policy affiliate, the Committee for Economic Development. From 2011 to 2012, he was an Adjunct Professor in the graduate school of business at Lynn University and at Florida Atlantic University. Mr. Odland served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Office Depot, Inc., an office merchandise retailer, from 2005 until 2010. From 2001 to 2005, he was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AutoZone, Inc., an auto parts retailer. Prior to that, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Tops Markets, Inc., a U.S. food retailer, from 1998 to 2000, and as President of the Foodservice Division of Sara Lee Bakery from 1997 to 1998. He was employed by The Quaker Oats Company from 1981 to 1996. Mr. Odland is also currently a Senior Advisor at Peter J. Solomon Company, and a CNBC contributor.

He has been on the General Mills Board of Directors since 2004. Mr. Odland serves as the Board's Independent Lead Director. He is a member of the Public Responsibility and Finance committees.

Committees: Corporate Governance Committee, Compensation and Talent Committee

Maria A. Sastre served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Signature Flight Support Corporation, the world’s largest network of fixed-base operations and support services for private and business aviation, from 2013 until her retirement in 2018. Ms. Sastre joined Signature Flight in 2010 as its Chief Operating Officer. From 2009 to 2010, she was President and Chief Executive Officer of Take Stock in Children, Inc., a Florida based non-profit that helps low-income youth escape the cycle of poverty through education. Ms. Sastre served with Royal Caribbean Cruises LTD from 2000 to 2008 where she held the positions of Vice President, International, Asia, Latin America & Caribbean, and Vice President of Hotel Operations. Previously, she had held various executive and leadership roles at United Airlines, Inc., Continental Airlines, Inc. and Eastern Airlines, Inc. Ms. Sastre serves as a director of O’Reilly Automotive, Inc., and she was a director of Publix Supermarkets, Inc. from 2005 to 2016.

Ms. Sastre was elected to the General Mills board in 2018. She is Chair of the Corporate Governance Committee and a member of the Compensation and Talent Committee.

Committees: Public Responsibility Committee, Audit Committee

Eric D. Sprunk served as Chief Operating Officer of NIKE, Inc., an athletic footwear and apparel business, from 2013 until his retirement in April 2020. Mr. Sprunk joined Nike in 1993, and held a variety of positions, including Regional General Manager of Nike Europe Footwear from 1998 to 2000, Vice President & General Manager of the Americas from 2000 to 2001, Vice President of Global Footwear from 2001 to 2009, and Vice President of Merchandising and Product from 2009 to 2013. Prior to joining NIKE, Mr. Sprunk was a certified public accountant with the accounting firm Price Waterhouse from 1987 to 1993.

He was elected to the General Mills board in 2015. He is Chair of the Public Responsibility Committee and a member of the Audit Committee.

Financial Expert

Committees: Compensation and Talent Committee, Public Responsibility Committee

Jorge A. Uribe served as Global Productivity and Organization Transformation Officer at the Procter & Gamble Company, a consumer products company, from December 2012 until his retirement in July 2015. Prior to 2012, Mr. Uribe served as Group President of Latin America at Procter & Gamble from 2004 to 2012, as Vice President, Marketing and Customer Business Development, Latin America from 2001 to 2004 and as Vice President, Venezuela and Andean Region from 1999 to 2001. Mr. Uribe also serves as a Director of Ingredion Incorporated.

Mr. Uribe was elected to the General Mills board in 2016. He is a member of the Compensation and Talent and Public Responsibility Committees.