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Heidi Koester Oliveira is a senior sustainability and human rights leader with nearly two decades of experience driving business growth and societal benefit. As the global lead of Sustainability at Mars Pet Nutrition, Heidi focuses on the delivery, governance and evolution of the social & environmental sustainability strategy for the world’s largest pet food company – driving meaningful impacts for people, planet and pets through sustainable sourcing, circular packaging and climate action.
Previously, she was the Global Director of Social Impact at Mars, Incorporated – building human rights strategies in high-risk factory and agricultural origins, leading supplier sustainability engagement & compliance, and creating more gender equity and inclusion in global supply chains. She worked with procurement teams around the world to design and deploy efforts that improve respect for rights of vulnerable people across key extended agricultural supply chains, including industry-leading work on forced labor and child labor risks, along with new ways to unlock opportunities for women, foster impactful global partnerships and advocate for policy change.
Heidi spent more than eight years with The Coca-Cola Company, building program and policy efforts across human rights, youth and women’s economic empowerment, and smallholder farmer development. She also focused on the expansion of Project Last Mile, a ground-breaking initiative to enhance health delivery systems in 10 African countries. Additionally, Heidi worked in international development with the U.S. Peace Corps in rural Costa Rica for two years. She has volunteered to teach English as a Second Language for more than 12 years and began her career at National Geographic Adventure magazine.
Heidi holds a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from Northwestern University and earned a Master in Sustainable Development and Corporate Responsibility from Escuela Organización Industrial in Madrid, Spain. She’s a guest lecturer on business and human rights, including for George Washington University, Georgetown University and Johns Hopkins University. While her roots are in Iowa, Heidi has lived in Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica and Spain. She is fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese.