BRINGING UNIQUE SKILLS TO THE BOARD ROOM- CARLOS ABRAMS-RIVERA

CARLOS ABRAMS-RIVERA'S pathway to corporate success started in Puerto Rico where he was born and grew up. He went to the mainland to earn a degree in economics but came home because he wanted to contribute to Puerto Rico. He served two years as a government aide before he went to the University of Michigan to earn his MBA in 1994. Abrams-Rivera's first stop in a 25-year corporate career was Kraft Foods. Subsequently, he held management positions with several food companies in the U.S. and Mexico including well-known brands such as Campbell and Nabisco. Eventually, he returned to Kraft and in 2020 became U.S. Region president for Kraft-Heinz. At this time, he took on a new role, as a member of the board of directors of another iconic company, Energizer Holdings. "In Energizer Holdings," Abrams-Rivera said, "I felt I had a passion for what it is, an American icon," and "saw a company that has a future vision for growth and that I also can contribute to the future." AbramsRivera has found board work is vastly different from his ongoing senior management functions. "You are there to make sure you are giving guidance, you are there representing the shareholders in the long-term view of the company, you are there to also provide advice to the senior team. You bring unique skills that you can provide advice to the senior leadership absolutely, but it is not to run the company."

Also, Abrams-Rivera saw governance as a forum where he could give back the help he received in his career in a different way, creating opportunities, opening doors and inspiring people to better their lives and "achieve all the best."

Picking the right board, the Energizer director said, is very important. "You have to find both the cultural fit within the company and also within the board," he said. There also are responsibilities to be addressed. For shareholders, he said the board needs to provide for the sustainability of the company, no matter what happens. "We also have to do the right thing," he said, and make sure we do it with the right level of compliance. "I am very proud about how Energizer has managed that," he said.

Then there is ESG, Environmental Social Governance. "People are thinking about what is the role of a company in having a point of view on society issues, what is the role we have in regard to the environment and how we can create a transparent community as we work.” He continues, "We are at a moment of great change and as a board member or executive it is hard to think about the possibilities and what you can do to prepare for all of them." But, he said, it is important for a director to spend time with management thinking about what are the capabilities the company needs to be around not only around for next three years, but also next twenty or fifty years. By investing in these capabilities, "we don't have to be afraid of what the future brings."

As for leadership, Abrams-Rivera has developed strong feelings about what traits are essential. These are a strong vision, strong courage and empathy. There are people, he said, who have a vision of the future and how their business can grow, and also accept the obstacles because "nothing worth doing is going to be easy." However, the Kraft Heinz president said empathy is just as important. This encompasses the ability, he said "to understand and relate at a human level in a way that is going to help us connect so that we achieve more than we felt possible because we are working in a way that we can sustain empathy and bring that into the corporate environment." He added, "I think that is strength that has helped in my corporate career."

Adams-Rivera finds Latinos are in a different places today than when he started his career as the son of a casino dealer and a member of a family that owned a small pharmacy. "People like us, by the time we get to corporate America, we have gone through so many challenges, we have overcome so many obstacles, that we also have a diversity of thinking and a tenacity that comes through in everything we do," Abrams-Rivera said.

Today, there are more companies, he said, that believe diversity of opinions and thoughts are going to make them a better place to work and create an environment in which they can actually achieve business results. "As we go forward, Latinos should be seen as one community that can help drive change for the better in the country that we have chosen to live."

"PEOPLE LIKE US, BY THE TIME WE GET TO CORPORATE AMERICA, WE HAVE GONE THROUGH SO MANY CHALLENGES, WE HAVE OVERCOME SO MANY OBSTACLES, THAT WE ALSO HAVE A DIVERSITY OF THINKING AND A TENACITY THAT COMES THROUGH IN EVERYTHING WE DO,"