Thomasine Kamerling, Executive Vice President, Sustainability and Communications, and a member of Huhtamaki Global Executive Team has decided to leave Huhtamaki to pursue other career opportunities.
"I want to thank Thomasine for her contribution during the last three and a half years, standing up our sustainability strategy, and paving the path to our 2030 ESG commitments to become first choice in our industry. Thomasine has also engaged actively with important stakeholders, particularly in the context of the evolving regulatory environment" says Charles Héaulmé, President and CEO of Huhtamaki.
Salla Ahonen (51) has been appointed as Executive Vice President, Sustainability and Communications and a member of Global Executive Team at Huhtamaki as of January 1, 2024. She will report to President and CEO Charles Héaulmé and will be based in Espoo, Finland.
Salla joins Huhtamaki from Neste where she has served as Vice President, Sustainability. Neste is a leading producer of sustainable aviation fuel, renewable diesel and renewable feedstock solutions, headquartered in Finland. Prior to joining Neste in 2019 she served as Senior Advisor at Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK) in Brussels where she represented and promoted the interests of Finnish industry in relevant policy initiatives, with special focus on circular economy, producer responsibility, plastics strategy, research and innovation, digitalization and trade. She has also worked as Director, Sustainability and Environmental Policy at Microsoft, and prior to that at Nokia, where she was responsible for all environmental and sustainability related policies and influencing them in the EU. Salla holds a Master of Science in Energy Engineering and Environmental Protection from the Helsinki University of Technology.
"I am pleased to welcome Salla to Huhtamaki. Salla brings to us deep sustainability expertise, with a great blend of strategic skills and operational capability. She also carries a solid experience in Public Affairs. Through her leadership experiences, Salla has demonstrated high skills in building high performance and inclusive teams and in delivering consistently strong performance. I have great confidence in the Sustainability and Communications team and its ability to substantially contribute to our 2030 Strategy under Salla's leadership," says Charles Héaulmé, President and CEO of Huhtamaki.
"Sustainability plays a key role in Huhtamaki's 2030 Strategy and its importance continues to grow. The expectations of customers and consumers as well as policy makers and legislators continue to evolve, and the entire packaging value chain is responding by shifting towards more sustainable solutions. I am excited to join Huhtamaki and continue to deliver as well as further develop on the company's sustainability ambition together with the team," says Salla Ahonen, newly appointed Executive Vice President, Sustainability and Communications at Huhtamaki.
Effective immediately, Sami Pauni, Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Legal, Group General Counsel, will have an interim role as Executive Vice President, Sustainability and Communications in addition to his current role, until Salla joins on January 1, 2024.
Following the aforementioned changes, the members of the Global Executive Team are:
Charles Héaulmé (Chair), President and CEO;
Thomas Geust, Chief Financial Officer;
Fredrik Davidsson, President, Fiber Foodservice Europe-Asia-Oceania;
Marco Hilty, President, Flexible Packaging;
Ann O'Hara, President, North America;
Salla Ahonen, Executive Vice President, Sustainability and Communications (as of January 1, 2024);
Marina Madanat, Executive Vice President, Strategy and Business Development;
Sami Pauni, Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Legal, Group General Counsel (interim role as Executive Vice President, Sustainability and Communications until December 31, 2023);
Johan Rabe, Executive Vice President, Digital and Process Performance; and
Ingolf Thom, Executive Vice President, Human Resources and Safety.
