Cecilia Carter

Location: New York City, NY
Language: English

As a nationally recognized corporate affairs executive, coach and career strategist, Cecilia brings to AIIR more than 30 years of experience in corporate affairs, communications, and philanthropy. Cecilia’s mission is to help individuals and organizations win, through work, play and community. Her background in combining experience in both the public and private sectors across many diverse industries including retail, financial, consumer brands, and entertainment, make her uniquely positioned to provide strategic counsel both personally and professionally.

In her most recent position, Ms. Carter was Vice President of HR Communications for PepsiCo where she led communications and PR for human resources and diversity. Prior to joining PepsiCo, Ms. Carter led the community, diversity, and government relations teams as Vice President / Global Head of Diversity for Starbucks Corporation and General Manager of the Starbucks Foundation. In this role, she launched an innovative sustainable profit sharing program called Community Stores, which holistically aligned branding and business growth with social impact and served as company spokesperson. Additionally, Ms. Carter developed Starbucks’ diversity change management strategy.

Ms. Carter was also head of community affairs at UBS, where she lead the company’s philanthropic and community outreach. Earlier in her career, she worked in Burson-Marsteller’s corporate consultancy specializing in corporate reputation management, public affairs, and multicultural marketing. Ms. Carter also served as Senior Vice President of Communications for GE Small Business Solutions. During her 12-year tenure with GE, she managed and counseled on corporate campaigns, marketing, and internal communications. During this time, she also served on GE’s Corporate Marketing Council.

Ms. Carter currently serves as a Board Member for the University of New Haven and is a former Director for the Southwestern Connecticut chapter of the Urban League. Her past service includes Chair Woman, Committee for the Association of National Advertisers, Executive Director of the Rhythm & Blues Foundation, and a member of the corporate council for Hands On Network, the world’s largest volunteer agency.

She has been featured in numerous publications including Black Enterprise, Fast Company, and Savoy Magazine as one of the top 100 influential African American women in corporate America. Ms. Carter holds degrees from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management and her bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University. She is a certified iPEC ELI-MP coach. She received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from University of New Haven and served as the Commencement speaker at their January 2010 graduation ceremony. Cecilia now resides in New Rochelle, NY with her husband and children.