Bayer announced that Sara Boettiger will lead the global Crop Science Public Affairs, Science and Sustainability organization effective September 1, 2020. As a member of the Executive Leadership team for the Crop Science division, Boettiger will report to the president of the division, Liam Condon. In this role, Boettiger will be responsible for driving the divisional strategy for sustainability, stakeholder engagement and public affairs.
“Sustainability is core to our business and our ambition to shape the future of agriculture for the benefit of consumers, farmers and our planet,” says Liam Condon. “Sara is a noted expert and leader in the agriculture field with extensive experience in advising companies, investors and governments on social and environmental impacts.”
Boettiger joins Bayer from McKinsey & Company, where she has been Senior Advisor and co-leader of the McKinsey Center for Agricultural Transformation. In this role, she was successful in bringing together the company’s expertise in agriculture, climate change, food security, and nutrition to advise companies and governments around the world.
Prior to this role, she served as the Former Deputy Director at Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation where she co-managed a USD 400+ million annual grant and contract investment portfolio with USD 2.2 billion in active assets. She also was a leader in implementing a major shift in Gates Foundation’s investment strategy to focus on the transformation of smallholder agriculture and its role in nutrition, climate change and global poverty.
“I’m thrilled to join Bayer as a leading company that values progress against its sustainability targets with the same importance as achieving its financial targets,” says Boettiger. “I am passionate about our generational responsibility to create a more sustainable global agri-food system for the future and look forward to working with the team at Bayer to make this happen.”
Boettiger has a PhD and Masters from the University of California, Berkeley in Ag & Resource Economics. She has a BA in Economics from the University of Arizona. Boettiger will be located in St. Louis, MO.
