Skip to Main Content

CHROs on Boards: LeighAnne Baker on the Strategic Advantage

By Fleur Segal and Tyler P. Schuessler
October 2025

Authors

At a glance

  • The strategic, enterprise-wide lens Baker brings to every discussion offers a compelling case for why CHROs’ presence on boards is a strategic advantage boards cannot afford to overlook.
  • Baker is the ABM board’s “moral compass,” serving not just as a human resources subject-matter expert, but as a strategic voice across all topics.
  • Baker’s story is a powerful reminder of the unmatched value CHROs can bring the boardroom. From culture and succession to strategy and governance, their expertise is indispensable.

LeighAnne Baker In today’s complex business environment, boards are increasingly expected to navigate talent strategy, culture, succession and organizational transformation with precision. However, CHROs remain rare selections for boards, despite the immense value they can bring.

LeighAnne Baker, a seasoned CHRO and public company board director, has demonstrated this in her work on the board of ABM Industries, where she is chairs the Governance Committee and serves on the Compensation Committee, and Pactiv Evergreen, where she was board chair and a member of multiple board committees. The strategic, enterprise-wide lens she brings to every discussion offers a compelling case for why CHROs’ presence on boards is a strategic advantage boards can no longer afford to ignore.

We recently spoke with Baker to hear her insights on being an HR leader serving on a board. The article below summarizes some of the key lessons from our conversation.

LeighAnne Baker’s journey to the boardroom began with intentional networking and a clear value proposition. She leaned into the experience she had had as an HR leader working with boards’ governance and compensation committees. “I’d been on the other side of the table,” Baker said. “I knew what boards needed.”

CHROs bring expertise in organizational design, leadership assessment and cultural alignment that’s essential for transformation.”
LeighAnne Baker

Once she began serving on boards, Baker quickly made contributions that went far beyond functional HR experience. From CEO succession to M&A integration, Baker brought a strategic lens that helped her boards navigate complex decisions.

“Every company is constantly in flux,” Baker said. “CHROs bring expertise in organizational design, leadership assessment and cultural alignment that’s essential for transformation.”

Baker’s board service at ABM Industries and Pactiv Evergreen illustrates how CHROs can also forge their own path and make a big impact. Baker suggests the best way to clearly understand the company is by joining the audit committee. “As a new CHRO,” she said, “I always sought to quickly understand ‘where the money is made’ and I do the same on boards.”

At Pactiv, she joined the audit committee and actively worked in leading CEO transitions, negotiating executive exits and chairing the board during a major transaction. The changes she brought in helped create a smoother-running board with a much stronger culture.

Baker’s approach to board evaluations, sometimes using external facilitators, ensures accountability and continuous improvement.

“LeighAnne has become the moral compass of our board,” said ABM’s CEO Scott Salmirs. “When cultural questions arise, people look to her. She’s not just a subject-matter expert, she’s a strategic voice across all topics.”

Dave MacLennan, former chair and CEO of Cargill, similarly saw firsthand how Baker’s board service had enhanced her executive leadership at Cargill, where she served as CHRO from 2014 until her retirement in 2020.

“She always came back with ideas and perspectives that could help Cargill be better,” MacLennan said. “It’s a benefit for senior executives to get out of the day-to-day of their jobs and see governance, succession and strategy from another perspective. She was better in her role because of it.”

Board culture is often overlooked, but not by Baker. She said that her boards pride themselves on being low-ego, there for the company, not personal agendas.

She promoted annual one-on-one calls with board members to assess CEO performance and board dynamics, which enables the board to solve cultural or individual issues before they become problems.

Her approach to board evaluations, sometimes using external facilitators, ensures accountability and continuous improvement. “It’s important to hear feedback from someone outside,” she said. “It helps boards stay aligned and effective.”

LeighAnne Baker’s story is a powerful reminder of the unmatched value CHROs can bring the boardroom. From culture and succession to strategy and governance, their expertise is indispensable.

That said, it’s important for CHROs to take steps to ensure they are not being pigeonholed as “just the HR person,” rather than one who can be a key contributor on strategy, risk and major decisions.

LeighAnne Baker is a powerful reminder of the unmatched value CHROs can bring the boardroom. From culture and succession to strategy and governance, their expertise is indispensable.

“Nobody thinks of LeighAnne as a CHRO,” said Felicia Thornton, who served with Baker on the Pactiv Evergreen board. “Everybody thinks of her as a strategic board member, contributing just like a sitting CEO would.”

Despite her success, Baker acknowledges the barriers CHROs face, starting with boards’ propensity to prioritize other backgrounds when adding new board members, like finance or cyber, over human capital.

MacLennan sees this as a missed opportunity.

“Transformation, labor, succession, compensation, CHROs have perspectives on all those important priorities,” he said. "Boards can be more expansive when considering backgrounds and skills for new members. There’s room at the table and there is value because the more CHROs that serve on boards, the better CHROs will be for their employers. The boards become better, and it’s good for CHRO development.”

Authors

Related Insights