2. Loretta Franks, global chief data and analytics officer, Kellogg Company

Describe your career to date

I studied economics, physics and maths as a student, so I am a proud female in STEM. After studying economics at university, I started my career at Kellogg Company as a finance analyst, getting fantastic experience through several different roles, while also qualifying as a chartered accountant.

After a number of years, staying within the finance function, I entered into project and programme management, gaining breadth in experience across process and system transformations, organisational redesigns as well as an opportunity as the finance cutover lead for Kellogg Europe for the acquisition of the Pringles brand, back in 2012.

In 2015, I became a mum for the first time, and I took time away from my career to focus on my family. I returned to an opportunity to move into my first global role as the global process owner for finance and accounting, leading a team of over 100 finance professionals across the world, providing services to all our regions. It was in that role that I got experience in managing large outsourcing partner contracts, leading diverse teams, driving global standardisation and optimisation and delivering critical service and value for our organisation.

Following time in our global business services function, the opportunity arose to lead our largest programme in the data and analytics space implementing leading cloud technology and driving a transformation across our business, in partnership with our network of champions, delivering improvements across people, technology, process and data. This led to the role I am in today, as global chief data and analytics officer.

I am privileged to lead a team of industry leading talent, that is passionate about data and is a change enabler for our organisation. I learn from my team every day and am inspired by the diverse skills and experiences that they bring.

I am incredibly proud of my career to date. I am enjoying my learning journey, both professionally and personally, and look forward to continuing to develop, grow and lead this team to drive value for our company.