Our Leaders

Shane Grant is our Group Deputy CEO, CEO Americas and EVP Dairy, Plant-Based and Global Sales. Shane oversees North America and Latin America and is responsible for the Global Dairy and Plant-Based category, as well as Global Customer & Commercial Leadership. Since joining Danone in May 2020, he has also served as Executive Vice President & CEO, Danone North America. He assumed the additional role of interim co-CEO, Danone, in March 2021. 

Before joining Danone, Shane spent almost 20 years with The Coca-Cola Company, where he held various leadership roles of increasing scale in category leadership, commercial and general management before being appointed President of the Still Beverages business unit for Coca-Cola North America. Early in his Coca-Cola career, Shane also held brand and category leadership roles across Australia and New Zealand. Before joining Coca-Cola, Shane worked for Unilever, where he held customer leadership, supply chain and brand management positions. 

Shane is a native of New Zealand and holds Business and Arts degrees from the University of Auckland. He has lived in North America since 2005. He serves on Board of Directors of lululemon; FMI, the Food Industry Association; the Consumer Brands Association; and American Beverage Association. Shane is also a Member of World 50.

As Chief HR Officer for North America, Silvio leads a dedicated team of HR professionals with a focused mission: to foster and cultivate a dynamic, inclusive, and high-energy work environment for Danone's operations in the United States and Canada.

Silvio embarked on his journey with Danone in 2011, when he joined as HR Director in Brazil. His career took an international turn in 2016 when he relocated to White Plains, N.Y., to spearhead HR business services for North America. During this time, he played a pivotal role in managing HR operations and orchestrating the HR integration of WhiteWave Foods with Danone in 2017. Subsequently, he assumed global HR responsibilities for Danone’s Early Life Nutrition business, based in the Netherlands, where he showcased his strategic HR expertise on a global scale and led the Global integration of ELN and AMN businesses into Specialized Nutrition Division. In 2019, Silvio returned to the United States to assume the role of Chief HR Officer for North America. 

Prior to joining Danone, Silvio held prominent HR roles at renowned organizations including Kraft, LVMH Wines & Spirits, International Flavors and Fragrances, and Mondelēz International.

Silvio’s roots trace back to Brazil, where he earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees in business administration and human resources from Escola Superior de Administração e Negocios and Fundação Getulio Vargas respectively, solidifying his commitment to the HR field.

As President – Chief Commercial & Customer Officer, Kristina Cole is responsible for driving sales and revenue for Danone North America across all classes of trade including foodservice and e-commerce. Kristina leads a commercial/sales team of passionate Danoners focused on revenue growth and category and commercial strategy – all aligned with Danone’s mission of bringing health through food to as many people as possible. 

With more than 30 years experience in the consumer packaged goods industry, Kristina joined Danone (then WhiteWave Foods) in 2008, where she held several sales leadership roles including President of Vega, President/General Manager of Danone’s away-from-home business. Prior to joining Danone, Kristina held various topline sales leadership positions at Conagra Brands. 

Kristina also serves as the Executive Sponsor of Danone’s LIFT (Leading and Inspiring Female Talent) Employee Resource Group (ERG), where she helps foster diversity and inclusion by creating an environment where women at Danone can flourish through inspiration and empowerment. She has also been recognized as a Dress for Success Honoree, which honors women who embody the organization’s mission of providing job access, career advancement and financial wellness for women. 

Kristina earned a bachelor's degree in finance from California State University in Fresno, California, and currently lives in Colorado.

Takoua Debeche has served as Chief Research & Innovation Officer, North America since 2017. Takoua has developed a world-class research and innovation (R&I) function at Danone North America, which has been at the forefront of health and nutrition innovation through the development of a unique and on-trend portfolio of plant-based and dairy products. 

Takoua began her career as a scientist at the Nestle Research Center in Lausanne, Switzerland, after which she served in various leadership positions within research and development (R&D) or at the interface between R&D, business and operations functions across Europe, Africa and the Americas. 

Originally born in France, Takoua holds a master’s degree in biotechnology engineering from Université de la Méditerranée in Marseille, France, and a PhD in molecular biology, enzymology and biochemistry from Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique in Reims, France. She currently lives in Colorado.

Nancy Dowling has served as General Counsel and VP, Public and Scientific Affairs for Danone North America since 2021. Nancy joined Danone in 2006 and has served in various global roles including General Counsel Specialized Nutrition based in Amsterdam, and Global General Counsel of Essential Dairy and Plant-Based Products with teams based in Paris and New York.

Before starting at Danone, Nancy worked for Sears Roebuck and Company and World Kitchen in Chicago. She started her career at The Procter & Gamble Company, where she worked as Senior Counsel supporting the business in a variety of roles and prior to that as a litigator at Keck, Mahin and Cate in Chicago.

Nancy currently sits on the board of the Danone North America business, Danone’s Global Legal and Compliance Board, and is on the boards of the Westchester County chapter of the American Heart Association and the Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution.

Nancy earned a bachelor’s degree in art from the University of Chicago and her law degree from the University of Florida. She currently resides in New York.

John Fidanza has been Danone’s SVP, Danone Business Services Americas since 2023. In this role, which includes oversight of teams across both North America and Latin America, John leads critical support functions and end-to-end processes for the organization including record to report, invoice to cash, procure to pay, employee services and master data management. 

With a Danone career spanning more than 20 years, John has served in various finance, business planning and business services roles since joining the company in 2003. Prior to Danone, John worked for KPMG in audit and assurance and for Diageo in financial planning and analysis.

John is originally from New York. He earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, CT, and also has earned his CPA certification.  He currently lives in Connecticut.

Stéphane Gayet is the Chief Financial Officer of Danone North America, leading business finance for all categories of the company in the US and Canada, together with his team of highly committed and skilled finance professionals. He is a key strategic business partner to the CEO and Leadership Team, driving the Value Creation agenda and involved in the co-creation of the multi-year strategic plan and annual operating plan as well as in-year delivery of business performance on all key metrics. 

With a Danone career of more than 20 years, Stéphane has served in a number of finance leadership roles of increasing scale and responsibility across multiple businesses and geographies. These include RBS (Regional Business Services) VP Finance Asia-Pacific Middle-East and Greater China (based in Singapore) prior to relocating to the U.S., Business Control Director for the Dairy Worldwide Division (based in Paris, France) and Finance Director for Evian-Volvic Asia-Pacific (based in Tokyo, Japan). Earlier in his Danone career, Stéphane also held several finance positions in the Water Worldwide Division and Danone Waters France (based in Paris, France). 

Stéphane is originally from Paris, France, and earned his undergraduate and master’s degrees in engineering from Ecole Centrale Paris (CentraleSupélec) in Paris, France. He also earned a master’s degree in management science & engineering (MS&E) from Stanford University in California. Stéphane currently resides in New York. 

Nandha Kumar is the Chief Information Technology and Data Officer Americas, responsible for North America and Latin America's information technology and data functions. Nandha is focused on steering strategic priorities, digitization, and capability-building while partnering across business functions to drive consistent improvement and unlock growth. 

Before joining Danone in 2022, Nandha worked in various IT & Data roles across Sales, Finance, Marketing, Manufacturing, Supply chain, Direct-to-consumer, Go-to-market, and Retail. Nandh has worked in Finance & Accounting, and Supply Chain functions to broaden his skillset and build his business experience. He has worked at Gillette, Procter & Gamble, and NIKE. Prior to Danone, most recently, he led NIKE's Digital Transformation Strategy, Delivery, and Analytics as Senior Director of Global Sourcing and Manufacturing.  

Nandha is an Executive Member of The Omniscient Grocer Council and is the Executive Sponsor of Danone’s ABLE employee resource group and Co-sponsor of DEI for IT & Data at Danone. 

Nandha is originally from Coimbatore, India, and earned his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Tamil Nadu College of Engineering in India. He earned his MBA from D'Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University in Boston. 
 

Dan Magliocco has been President, Danone Canada, Canada’s largest consumer-facing Certified B Corporation®, since 2019. Dan leads Danone Canada’s pursuit of becoming the country’s best-performing and most admired food and beverage company, guided by the company’s mission of bringing health through food to as many people as possible. Dan joined Danone in 2017 as SVP Marketing, Strategy & Insights. 

Dan has over 30 years of FMCG experience in Canada. Before Danone, Dan served as President of Mondelēz Canada from 2012-2016. Prior to that he held various senior level executive leadership roles with Kraft Foods Canada between 2001-2011, leading strategy, innovation and category businesses.

Dan serves as a board member and on the Director and Executive Committee of the Food, Health and Consumer Products of Canada Association. He also is a board member of the Dairy Processors Association of Canada and the Grocery Foundation of Canada, a retailer and manufacturer group whose mission is to raise funds in support of school breakfast programs. Dan was inducted into the Grocery Magazine Hall of Fame in 2023.

Dan was born and raised in Toronto, Canada, where he still resides. He earned a Bachelor of Business Degree from York University and his MBA from York University Schulich School of Business.

Wendy Nunnelley joined Danone North America in 2021 as Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer, leading the strategy, planning, transformation, analytics, insights, innovation, communications and sustainability agendas. Wendy is responsible for leading a large-scale transformation across all areas of the business and evolving the strategic direction of the company to enable sustained growth and value creation. 

Prior to Danone, Wendy was Global SVP of Growth and SVP of Revenue Growth Management at Diageo. Before Diageo, she held multiple commercial leadership roles over several years at The Coca-Cola Company in both the U.S. and Japan. Wendy also worked for The Boston Consulting Group in the U.S., Europe and Latin America. 

Originally from New Mexico, Wendy earned a Bachelor's Degree in Math, Economics and Managerial Studies from Rice University in Houston, and an MBA from INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France. She currently resides in New York City.

Mike Sloboda serves as Chief Operations Officer, North America, leading efforts across manufacturing, logistics, customer service, procurement, sales and operations planning, quality and food safety. Mike joined Danone in 2020 as the supply chain lead for the Vega business unit. He also worked for WhiteWave Foods as VP of Logistics from 2014-2017 prior to Danone’s acquisition of WhiteWave. 

In addition to Danone and WhiteWave, Mike held various supply chain, procurement, manufacturing and logistics roles with H.J. Heinz Company and Molson Coors Brewing Company. 

Mike is originally from Pittsburgh, PA, and earned degrees in industrial engineering and business administration from Geneva College in Pennsylvania. He currently resides in Colorado. 

Carlos Veraza serves as President and Chief Operating Officer of Danone U.S. Before moving into this role in July 2023, Carlos was President, Categories & Consumers, U.S., leading Danone North America’s Coffee House Creations, Premium Dairy, Plant-Based Food & Beverages, Yogurt and Happy Family business units, as well as our marketing services team. Carlos has played a key role in accelerating growth across the U.S. while focusing on efficiency improvement across our daily operations.

Prior to joining Danone in 2012 (then WhiteWave Foods), Carlos worked for more than 20 years in marketing and executive leadership with Proctor & Gamble, The Coca-Cola Company, Frito-Lay and Conagra Brands. 

Carlos earned an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering at Universidad Iberoamericana (Ibero-American University/UIA) in Mexico City, where he was born and raised. Carlos currently resides in New York.