Dana McNabb

Dana McNabb is chief executive officer elect of General Mills, the Minneapolis-based packaged food group, taking the role at the start of 2027 after being named by the board on 30 September 2026. She is currently the company's chief operating officer and a member of its board of directors, and will be the first woman to lead General Mills. McNabb is a brand and general management operator who has run the company's largest businesses on both sides of the Atlantic.

McNabb has spent 27 years at General Mills, joining the company in Canada in 1999. She was appointed chief operating officer in 2026, with oversight of all four operating segments and the central functions. Before that she was group president of North America retail from 2024, adding responsibility for North America pet in 2025. Her earlier roles include chief strategy and growth officer, group president of the Europe and Australia segment, president of the United States cereal operating unit, and vice president of global marketing at Cereal Partners Worldwide, the joint venture between General Mills and Nestle, based in Switzerland. She was elected to the General Mills board of directors in 2026.

Career History

• Chief Executive Officer elect, General Mills (from 2027)
• Chief Operating Officer, General Mills (2026 to present)
• Group President, North America Retail and North America Pet, General Mills (2024 to 2026)
• Chief Strategy and Growth Officer, General Mills
• Group President, Europe and Australia, General Mills
• President, United States Cereal operating unit, General Mills
• Vice President, Global Marketing, Cereal Partners Worldwide

She holds a bachelor's degree in commerce from the University of Ottawa and an MBA from London Business School.

What Dana McNabb brings to the chief executive role at General Mills: twenty-seven years of operating experience across the company's cereal, pet, international and retail businesses, and direct ownership of the two segments that will decide whether the group returns to volume growth. Her route through global marketing and brand general management rather than finance matches the problem the board has defined, which is demand rather than cost.