Pilar Cruz

Ensuring that the United States’ largest private company, operating in over 70 countries with more than 160,000 personnel, meets its sustainability goals is a challenge. But Pilar Cruz has proven she is the right person for the job at food and beverage multinational Cargill since her role as chief sustainability officer was created in 2021.

A Bogotá native, Cruz says her quest for sustainability stems from witnessing the violence in 1980s Colombia, where she earned appreciation for eliminating waste and guaranteeing food security. “I always had that desire to pursue a career that would allow me to do good for other people while at the same time protecting the planet,” she says. 

Cruz’s career at Cargill spans more than two decades, but since she became the company’s first Latina executive team member, Cargill has made huge strides: in 2023 alone, it pioneered the first zero-emission fully electrified pusher boats and barges for inland shipping, restored 9 billion liters of water and promoting regenerative agriculture practices on millions of acres of farmland worldwide, and exceeding its 2025 carbon emission reduction targets for its operations —and Cruz hints that they even exceeded it further this year. Her commitment to sustainability also extends outside Cargill, working with other businesses to decarbonize supply chains, and participating at global fora like the World Food Programme. 

But Cruz asserts that it’s not her job alone. “Sustainability is everybody’s role,” she says, and dispels notions that big business and environmental protection can’t marry. “I think it’s possible to do good by doing great.”