Joher Akolawala is SSVP Finance, Special Projects and Cost Excellence at Mondelēz International. He is responsible for leading the company’s Information Technologies & Solutions and Business Process Excellence Organization. He was appointed to his role in October 2015 after successfully leading the company’s Margin Improvement efforts while driving the Cost Excellence agenda.

Before rejoining Mondelēz International in June 2014, Joher held a wide range of senior leadership roles in Finance and Strategy at Kraft Foods since 1991. He was instrumental in the spin-off of Kraft Foods from Mondelēz International in 2012, leading the seamless separation of the North American IT infrastructure and enterprise applications for the two companies. At Kraft Foods, he was CFO of the Grocery and Foodservice business units (2009-2014); he led the global finance and strategy teams in Corporate Planning and Supply Chain (2006-2009); and he drove business initiatives and projects across Kraft’s international businesses based in London, Italy and Miami (2000-2005).

Joher began his career as an engineer in India and holds an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of South Carolina. He is fluent in multiple languages and is a strong supporter of continuing education, especially for underprivileged children. He is the President of the Chicago chapter of Pratham USA and has served on the BoD of the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management (2013-2017)