Why McDonald’s Created a Global Impact Team

Last October, I had the privilege of being named the first Chief Global Impact Officer for McDonald's Corporation. 

For me, it was the unexpected culmination of a lifelong passion to make a difference in the world, a journey that began in my hometown of Cleveland, where our local McDonald’s was the center of our community. It’s where my dad would swing by to pick up Friday night Filet-O-Fish dinners, where my volleyball team would hang out after games, and where three of my seven siblings worked their first jobs. It’s a journey that has taken me to the highest levels of the United States government, from the U.S. Senate to the White House, and to public service of another kind, managing corporate responsibility as the head of Global Corporate Affairs at Hilton Corporation.

For McDonald’s, it was the beginning of a different journey, one in which this legendary brand became one of the first companies, if not the first, in the Fortune 500 to create a Global Impact function.

Since taking this job, I’ve been asked: Why did McDonald’s create a Global Impact team, and why now? What does “global impact” mean? What is this function responsible for?

I think most of us would agree that the world is feeling extraordinarily complicated today. Between a once-in-a-century pandemic, social tensions caused by racial injustice and economic inequality and increasing strains on our natural ecosystems due to climate change, it’s clear that no single government or organization will be able to solve it all.

It’s going to take all of us. It’s why now, more than ever, people are looking to leading brands like ours for stability … and even hope.  

That was among the extraordinary conclusions reached by the Edelman Trust Barometer, which has tracked public attitudes toward institutions for 20 years. In the 2021 edition released a few weeks ago, Edelman found that for the first time over two decades of tracking, consumers trust businesses more than they trust other institutions in their lives.

Consumers know that global companies like McDonald’s have the scale and experience to help tackle big challenges. In the 40,000 local communities across 100+ countries where we operate, 80 percent of the population comes to a McDonald’s at least once a year. We serve about 65 million customers a day. Few companies in the world have our reach, and our customers expect us to use it to make a difference. 

This isn’t simply a social necessity, but a business imperative. Brands that drive positive environmental and social impact tend to perform better over the long run—from delivering more value to their investors, to their ability to attract and retain talent, to their resilience in navigating shocks to the system, to the ways they maintain customer loyalty over time.

As my boss, McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski has said, it means that none of us have the luxury of sitting on the sidelines anymore. When consumers feel better about our brand, when they see us making a difference in the world in service of our purpose to feed and foster community, they visit us more often. It’s not just the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing we must do well.

The challenge, as anybody that works in the field of corporate responsibility—known as Environmental, Social, and Governance, or ESG—knows is that measuring “impact” across our community and sustainability activities is notoriously hard.

That’s true at McDonald’s as well. We’ve embarked on a multi-decades-long commitment to making a difference in the world, but our impact is not universally known. I suspect it’s one of the reasons why many people that visit our restaurants are reluctant to say they feel good about it.

And yet, how would our customers feel if they knew that we hired their friends and neighbors during the pandemic when other employers unfortunately had to cut jobs?

Or that we donated 12 million free meals and counting to first responders during the pandemic?

Or that we have created more small business owners in their community than any other company?

Or that we are on a path with ambitious commitments to source our beef, chicken, and coffee more sustainably because we know that it’s going to have a profoundly positive impact for farmers, carbon emissions and ecosystems?

Or that we are taking responsibility to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion by setting aggressive goals to increase our diversity while holding senior leaders accountable for results?

If they knew those things about us, we might feel a little more connected. A little more local. A little more able to tackle the needs of our communities together. 

Part of the challenge of the new Global Impact team will be to better connect our words and actions around the world—to get that pent-up goodwill off the sidelines and form stronger partnerships with our communities. The idea behind creating this team is to integrate and elevate all of the resources and talent we have that are driving a positive impact—from government relations and public policy to communications, philanthropy and sustainability. 

To maximize that impact, this week, we evolved our structure in important ways by creating four Global Impact Centers of Excellence. 

Our Sustainability & ESG team, led by Jenny McColloch, our Chief Sustainability Officer, will design and manage our social, environmental and community impact strategies across our value chain, including corporate giving and volunteerism.

Our Global Communications team, led by Michael Gonda, our Chief Communications Officer, will ensure a consistent voice, drive authentic content to better connect our positive impact with consumers to drive brand trust, and assure communication readiness for all issues that impact McDonald’s.

Our Global Government Relations & Public Policy team, led by Genna Gent, our VP of Government Relations and Public Policy, will advance public policy aligned to our responsible business growth strategy and to advance our ESG agenda and sustainability goals.

Ronald McDonald House Charities, Inc., led by CEO Kelly Dolan, will continue its mission to create, fund, and support programs that improve the health and well-being of children and their families all around the world – adding to our 685 core programs across 62 countries and regions.

To effectively integrate our purpose-driven strategy across the 40,000 communities where we operate, we are expanding the roles of two seasoned regional leaders. Dave Tovar will be taking on the expanded role of Chief U.S. Corporate Relations Officer, responsible for leading corporate relations and leveraging the resources of the COEs to drive a positive impact across the U.S., McDonald’s largest market. And, we are excited to announce ten-year McDonald’s veteran Dionne Parker has been promoted to Vice President, International Corporate Relations to take on a similar role leading corporate relations across McDonald’s International markets.

Finally, to ensure we stay aligned on this critically important work across the global team, we have established an Office of Strategic Planning, Alignment & Operations led by Senior Director Rodney Jordan.

I learned a long time ago that there is no company that serves local communities like McDonald’s. By coordinating all of our impact work in one team, and building upon that work to address the challenges of our times, we aspire to track and communicate that impact effectively to build trust in our brand. It doesn’t say that on my business card, but that is what our Global Impact Team is all about. We look forward to seeing you in our restaurants.