Karen de Segundo, Non-Executive Director
uk bat.com - Karen de Segundo, Non-Executive Director
- CSR Committee (Chair)
- Nominations Committee
Karen de Segundo, who retired as CEO Renewables and President Hydrogen of Shell International B.V. in 2005, was appointed to the Board of British American Tobacco p.l.c. as a Non-Executive Director in October 2007. She has chaired the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee since May 2008 and is also a member of the Nominations Committee.
Karen joined Shell in 1971 and gained early exposure across oil and gas marketing and various businesses in Brazil, Holland, the UK and the USA. In 1983 she was appointed as Shell’s first female country chairman, in Uruguay, returning to Brazil in 1990 as Executive Vice President for Oil Products. In 1998 Karen was appointed CEO of one of Shell’s four global businesses, Gas & Power; in 2000, after her rise through the Shell ranks had been curtailed by a skiing accident, she was tasked with developing Shell’s renewable energy businesses.
Currently a Non-Executive Director of Lonmin plc, Pöyry Oyj, and E.ON AG. Karen is also a Council Member of the Anglo Netherlands Society.
Commenting on her appointment, Karen said “Few companies are more international than British America Tobacco. The fact that they scored 100% in Responsible Marketing in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index is truly admirable. Having lived and worked in many different countries I know how difficult it can be to be culturally sensitive.”
Karen, who is married with three sons, spent large parts of her childhood overseas, returning to the Netherlands to study law which she supplemented with a business degree from Michigan State University. She lives in the United Kingdom.
