Logout

General Mills

CEF Lead Executives

MARY JANE MELENDEZ
Chief Sustainability and Global Impact Officer
Mary Jane stewards the company’s global impact efforts, working closely with Supply Chain, Sourcing, Operating Units, Finance, ITQ and other key business leaders to develop, coordinate and execute programs to achieve company wide targets. Mary Jane is responsible for advancing collaboration and integration across the enterprise to drive change by promoting environmentally and socially responsible practices across the entire value chain, from farm to fork and beyond. Her role combines accountability for taking care of our planet and nourishing our communities to amplify the impact of General Mills as a global force for good. Mary Jane recently received the Hendrickson Medal for Ethical Leadership from the Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota for her leadership in employing ethical approaches to solve business, community, and planetary challenges. Mary Jane earned both her MBA and bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN. She currently serves on the boards of the Ecosystems Services Market Consortium and the Saint Paul and Minnesota Foundation.

Item Link List Item 1

Latest Sustainability Reporting

2024 Global Responsibility Report

(April 2024)

Highlights

Through 2023, reduced total value chain GHG emissions by 7% (2020 baseline) and reduced Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 12% compared to 2022 (and 51% compared to 2020).
Over 500,000 acres engaged in regenerative agriculture programs, more than halfway to the company’s 2030 commitment.
1 in 10 products in its North American portfolio is now certified organic or made with organic ingredients.
80% of eggs purchased for global operations are cage-free or free-range.
Sourced 97% of renewable electricity for its global operations.
93% of packaging was recyclable or reusable (by weight).
Exceeded its target to reach 25% minority representation in the U.S. workforce.
For the first time ever, the company reached gender parity at the Director level, and increased female representation at the Officer level by 4% since 2022.
Spent $521 million with minority-owned suppliers in 2023.

Recent News

2024

NEWSWEEK / STATISTA — Published its America’s Most Responsible Companies 2025 list, ranking 600 U.S. companies (out of the 2,000 largest publicly traded companies) on ESG performance. The analysis is based on 30 key performance indicators along with consumer reputation. Merck scored #1, with 97.83 points (out of 100). CEF members in the top 50 include: General Mills (#2), Applied Materials (#4), HP (#6), Mastercard (#7), Hewlett Packard Enterprise (#9), Ecolab (#12), Analog Devices (#13), Qualcomm (#29), Cisco Systems (#31), Visa (#33), CBRE (#35), Apple (#42), and General Motors (#50). (Dec 2024)

PR »

Blueprint for Implementing a Leading Climate Transition Action Plan (Ceres) — This resource for companies to develop and implement leading climate transition action plans focuses on six action areas: setting goals and science-based targets, decarbonizing the business, ensuring a just transition, advocating for public policy, supporting integration and accountability, and tracking and reporting progress. The report also provides case studies of transition planning from companies including CEF member General Mills. (June 2024)

PR »

Committed to no deforestation in the company’s supply chains for the palm, cocoa, and fiber it sources by 2025. These ingredients make up 14% of ingredient- and packaging-derived greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, much of which come from land use changes. (April 2024)

PR » EDIE »

Joined CEF in January!

2023

GENERAL MILLS / WALMART — Announced a collaboration to advance regenerative agriculture across 600,000 acres (243,000 hectares) in the U.S. by 2030. (This represents the approximate number of acres General Mills engages to source key ingredients for products sold through Walmart and Sam’s Club.) The program will provide financial assistance to local organizations in the Northern and Southern Great Plains to develop regenerative agriculture education and coaching resources. (October 2023)

PR » ESG TODAY »

2022

Guidehouse Supplier Leadership on Climate Transition (Supplier LoCT) project — Added nine global brands to the project, expanding from three founding members—Mars, PepsiCo (CEF member), and McCormick & Company—to 12 with the addition of Atlantic Packaging, The Coca-Cola Company, The Estée Lauder Companies, General Mills, Keurig Dr Pepper, Mondelēz International, Nestlé, Restaurant Brands International, and Yum! Brands. Founded in April 2021, the consortium is working to accelerate action among suppliers towards net-zero emissions. (April 2022)

Design For Good — A new global nonprofit alliance of companies and institutions committed to harnessing the power of their design communities to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Founding partners—which include CEF members General Mills, McKinsey & Company, Microsoft, PepsiCo along with Logitech, Nedbank, Nestlé, Philips, and the Royal College of Art—will allow their 5,000+ designers to work together to research, design and develop open-source products and services that measurably advance the UN SDGs. Each year, Design For Good will focus on one UN SDG—with Goal 6 (clean water and sanitation) the focus this inaugural year. The most promising new solutions each year will be awarded funding for accelerated scaling and implementation for global benefit. (April 2022)

2021

geoFootprint (Quantis) allows companies and supply chain stakeholders to visualize (in high resolution) and simulate key commodity crops' environmental footprints and gain insights relevant to the apparel, chemicals, cosmetics, biofuels, and other bio-based industries. The tool was created in collaboration with 25 public, private, and academic partners, including General Mills, Mars, Nestlé Research, Unilever, and WBCSD. (February 2021)

MORE » MORE 2 »

A major new coalition, “America is All In,” launched to mobilize bold climate ambitions nationally and uphold the federal government’s commitment to climate action—specifically to cut U.S. emissions in half or more by 2030 and reach net-zero by 2050. Co-led by UN Special Climate Envoy Michael Bloomberg, the coalition effectively merges We Are Still In and America’s Pledge and is the most expansive effort ever assembled to support climate action in the U.S., involving U.S. businesses, cities, states, tribal nations, schools, and faith groups, health care organizations, and cultural institutions. Large companies involved include: 3M, Adobe, Amazon, Apple, ADM, Autodesk, BASF, Best Buy, Cargill, Carrier Corporation, The Clorox Company, Coca-Cola, Danone N.A., Dell Technologies, Dow Inc., DSM N.A., DuPont, eBay, Edison International, Facebook, Gap, General Mills, Google, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HP, Inc., IKEA U.S., Johnson & Johnson, Johnson Controls, Kellogg Company, LafargeHolcim, Levi Strauss & Co., L’Oréal, Mars Incorporated, McDonald’s, Microsoft, Mondelez International, National Grid, Nestle, NIKE, Novozymes, PG&E Corporation, PepsiCo, Salesforce, Siemens, Sony Corporation of America, Starbucks, Steelcase, Target, Tiffany & Co., Trane Technologies, Verizon, VF Corporation, Walmart, and Waste Management. (February 2021)

2020

A group of 17 global consumer goods brands, retailers and manufacturers — including CEF members General Mills, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, and Unilever — have joined the Forest Positive Coalition of Action, an initiative to “engage and collaborate with producers, suppliers and traders, as well as governments and civil society, to advocate for forest positive solutions.” The coalition is led by The Consumer Goods Forum. (September 2020)