MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, US — Gregory D. Jones has been named chief diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) officer at Cargill.

Jones joins Cargill from KeyBank, where he was executive vice president and chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer since April 2020. Earlier, he spent six years as chief diversity officer at United Airlines. He also has held diversity leadership roles at Northwestern Mutual, UBS Wealth Management and Bank of America. He began his career as a global manager of equipment service/six sigma/engineering at GE Healthcare, later moving on to consulting roles at Egon Zehnder and Chase Winters Worldwide.

He received a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at Tuskegee University and a master’s degree in electrical and electronics engineering at Stanford University.

“Throughout the interview process, Greg impressed us as a leader who cares deeply about ensuring that every individual has the opportunity to realize their potential and use their unique perspective to help organizations succeed,” said Myriam Beatove, chief human resources officer at Cargill.

Cargill said its DEI team, under the leadership of Demetha Sanders as global head of diversity, equity and inclusion, has built a strong foundation with global and regional prioritization, leadership training and accountability, and new processes around hiring, promotion and succession. In his new role, Jones now will work with Cargill’s businesses and functions to unify the company’s actions, investments and processes in a way that accelerates progress on the company’s DEI goals, Beatove said. The company’s DEI goals include achieving gender parity, advancing underrepresented groups globally and addressing anti-Black racism.

“If, as a manager, you are engaging only 80% of your team or 80% of an individual, imagine the lost potential,” Jones said. “Our DEI strategy will help us create a culture in which we not only understand differences but make the most of them for the benefit of Cargill, our teams and our employees.”