Mattel appoints Karen Ancira as chief people officer

Global toy and family entertainment business Mattel has appointed Karen Ancira as its new executive vice president and chief people officer, effective this month.

Ancira will report to Ynon Kreiz, chairman and chief executive officer of Mattel. In her new role, she will focus on building progressive workplace cultures, fostering organisational development and effectiveness, and spearheading diversity, equality and inclusion initiatives.

Ancira joins Mattel after 11 years at Yum! Brands. Prior to this she was chief people and culture officer at KFC in the US and previously for KFC in the UK, Ireland, Australia, Latin America and the Caribbean. From 2005 to 2012, Ancira served in HR leadership positions at PepsiCo in Monterrey, Mexico, creating and overseeing HR programmes across Mexico, Latin America and the Caribbean.

During her tenure at Yum! Brands, Ancira developed a global leadership and character-building programme that was implemented across the entire portfolio. She also led the end-to-end HR agenda for the employee base, the US organisation through a leadership transformation, achieved 100% parity in gender pay for the US, and was instrumental in crafting and launching its transformation strategy.

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Ancira said: “Mattel’s iconic portfolio is matched only by its passionate and committed global workforce. I have long admired the values of the organisation and identify deeply with the purpose behind its brands, and its relevance and importance to society. It is an honor to join this world-class leadership team to lead and enhance Mattel’s thriving culture and develop new people and culture programmes to help everyone succeed in this next exciting chapter for the organisation.”

Kreiz added: “Karen is an exceptional leader with a proven track record of cultivating purpose-driven, values-based human resources organisations and programs for major consumer brands globally. We look forward to the impact Karen will make to further inspire and engage our high-performing and collaborative workforce at Mattel.”