GEMI Announces 2013 Board Of Directors: Neville Dias, Carnival Corporation & plc, to Chair GEMI

WASHINGTON, Jan. 10, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Global Environmental Management Initiative (GEMI) has announced its new Board of Directors for 2013.

Bill Gill, GEMI's outgoing Chair and the new Chair Emeritus of the GEMI Board of Directors, who is the Assistant Vice President Environmental Affairs, Smithfield Foods, Inc stated, "It is my pleasure to announce that GEMI has elected as its Chair for 2013 Neville Dias, Director, HESS Management System, Carnival Corporation & plc.  Neville's leadership and counsel will be a tremendous asset to GEMI in 2013."

"GEMI has a truly exceptional and dedicated Board of Directors and membership, and I am honored to have been elected by them and look forward to serving as GEMI's Chair in 2013 to continue GEMI's mission of being an organization dedicated to business helping business achieve environmental sustainability excellence," stated Dias. 

Mr. Gill added, "In addition to Neville's leadership role as the 2013 Chair of GEMI, we are very pleased to announce four new members joining the Board in 2013: Kelly Harvey, BNSF who will be the Finance Chair; Sabrina Watkins, Conoco Phillips, who will be the Senior Advisory Council (SAC) Chair; Bob Toy, Union Pacific who will be the Membership Chair; and, David Jacoby, Scotts Miracle-Gro who will be the Benchmarking Chair."

The GEMI Board of Directors for 2013 includes:

Chair: Neville Dias, Director, HESS Management System, Carnival Corporation & plc
Vice Chair: Lori Williams, Business Strategy Advisor, FedEx Corporation
Finance: Kelly Harvey, Manager of Planning and Sustainability, BNSF Railway
Solution Tools Work Group Chair: Steve Shedroff, HSE Data Systems Leader, Procter & Gamble
Membership: Bob Toy, Director of Environmental Sustainability, Union Pacific
Communications: Heather Tansey, Sustainability Manager, 3M
Benchmark: David Jacoby, Director, EHS, The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company
Senior Advisory Council (SAC): Sabrina Watkins, Manager, Sustainable Development, Conoco Phillips
Chair Emeritus Bill Gill, Assistant Vice President Environmental Affairs, Smithfield Foods, Inc.

Steve Hellem, Executive Director of GEMI stated, "For more than 20 years, GEMI members have been willing to provide their EHS and sustainability executives their insights and guidance to lead the organization.  Neville Dias and the new GEMI Board, will ensure that GEMI continues to be an organization that provides an opportunity for leading companies to work together, learn from each other and develop environmental sustainability tools that can be applied and used around the world. 

GEMI members include: 3M; Abbott; Ashland Inc.; Biogen Idec; BNSF Railway Company; Carnival Corporation & plc; ConAgra Foods; ConocoPhillips; Eni spa; FedEx; Halliburton; Johnson & Johnson; Johnson Controls, Inc.; Kraft Foods Inc.; Legrand; Merck & Company, Inc.; Occidental Petroleum Corporation; Perdue Incorporated; Phillips 66; The Procter & Gamble Company; Scotts Miracle-Gro; Sealed Air Corporation; Smithfield Foods, Inc.; Southern Company; and Union Pacific Railroad.

For more information about GEMI please visit GEMI's website at www.gemi.org .

For More Information Contact:
Amy Goldman, GEMI, 202-296-7449

SOURCE Global Environmental Management Initiative