Kristin Colber-Baker, a seasoned executive and independent director (Fresh Del Monte (NYSE:FDP), is the Global Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Mars. Her global finance expertise – including extensive M&A and turnaround experience – combined with her human capital and culture expertise has prepared her to make immediate contributions to boards and board committees as a qualified audit committee financial expert and a seasoned talent leader. She has personally generated significant shareholder value for iconic consumer goods, retail, and restaurant companies such as Mars, PepsiCo, YUM! Brands, and Burger King. Kristin has been sought-after by private equity investors to provide leadership to companies facing strategic transformations based on a reputation for improving profits while solving complex business issues.
Kristin’s leadership, functional expertise and intellectual curiosity have been the hallmarks of her 25+ year career. Her first executive role was as CFO of PepsiCo’s $700M Pizza Hut division where she had functional oversight of finance, internal audit, and IT operations. At YUM! Brands, she led the development of a complex franchise transformation strategy that included successful acquisitions, divestitures and restructurings across the company’s platform. Later, Kristin helped lead Burger King’s turnaround of 250+ franchisees, completing complicated workouts, restructuring of $2B of debt, and positioning the business for a highly successful IPO. As CFO of Mars Retail Group, she led the turn-around of a highly complex business unit including two concepts (M&M’s WORLD and Ethel M Chocolate) and omnichannel commerce (retail, wholesale, catalog, ecommerce), restoring profitability in under three years. She was responsible for critical post-merger integration efforts related to Mars’ acquisition of Wrigley, presenting frequently to the global board of directors and investors.
Following a successful career in finance, Kristin was hand-selected by Mars to lead a strategic talent transformation across its entire $38B consumer goods and veterinarian business comprised of 125,000 employees in 73 countries. As Global Head of Talent & Leadership Development she implemented a total digital transformation of talent development programs that were critical for the achievement of business strategy, increasing the effectiveness and reach of development programs by 50% while reducing overall cost. Her efforts have earned her multiple awards including the Excellence in Practice GOLD award from the European Federation of Management Development; the Brandon Hall GOLD award for her innovative approach to accelerating the progression of high potential employees; and the CLO Innovation Award for developing multicultural, diverse talent.
In addition to her extensive experience reporting to the boards of several of the companies she has served, Kristin is on the board of Compassion International, a $1B global non-profit child development organization. She serves on the Finance and Audit Committee and is Chairperson of the Compensation Committee. Previously, she was Chairperson of the Wheaton College Leadership Council and Vice Chairperson of Partners International, a global non-profit.
Kristin received her BA in Economics from Wheaton College and her MBA from University of Virginia Darden School of Business. She completed the Women’s Director Development Program at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
