U.S. — We’re happy to share that Cesar Vargas is joining us as our North America Zone VP of Legal and Corporate Affairs, effective September 1. In this role, Cesar will join our Management Committee and report to our CEO, João Castro Neves.
Cesar will succeed John Blood, whose promotion we announced in April of this year. John will join the Executive Board of Management as General Counsel & Company Secretary. Cesar comes to us from consulting firm Goddard Gunster, where he was a Senior Advisor. He has spent more than 20 years developing and successfully executing public affairs strategies worldwide on behalf of Fortune 100 companies including Philip Morris, Miller Brewing Company and Kraft Foods. Cesar has overseen public affairs activities in more than 100 other countries around the world, and has also managed communications and government relations initiatives, election campaigns, and outreach programs in Washington, D.C. and across all 50 states in the U.S.
As North America VP, Legal and Corporate Affairs, Cesar will oversee legal, communications, federal and state government affairs, community affairs, and corporate social responsibility in the United States and Canada.
We’d like to extend a warm welcome to Cesar and congratulate John again on his new role with our global company.