Kara Calderon is the Senior Director of ESG and Community Engagement within the Reynolds American Inc. organization (Reynolds), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the global BAT Group. She is responsible for the U.S. sustainability agenda and works cross-functionally to deliver organization-wide environmental, social and governance projects. Kara also leads Reynolds’ philanthropic giving, community investment, and employee engagement as part of the organization’s social agenda.

Over her two-decade career with Reynolds, Kara has led hundreds of employees in consumer marketing, communications, and community engagement roles both in the organization’s former Santa Fe, New Mexico office and in its Winston-Salem, North Carolina corporate headquarters.

Kara is known for her people-first mindset in her leadership style and in her commitment to making a positive impact. She is a well-known change agent both inside and outside of the organization, dedicated to creating positive change for sustainable, philanthropic, and social issues. In previous roles, her support for the organization’s commitment to reducing the health impact of its business was evident in her leadership on next-generation product initiatives focused on Tobacco Harm Reduction. Kara also actively supports and leads Reynolds’ Youth Access Prevention Programs.

As a social and cultural change agent, Kara is the Senior Champion of BUnited Employee Resource Group, whose vision is to ensure the LGBTQ+ members of the organization feel accepted and comfortable in bringing their authentic selves to work.

The Reynolds organization’s partnership with Keep America Beautiful spans 40 years, and Reynolds is an active sponsor of the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program (CLPP). Each year, Reynolds employees from across the country work together to clean and beautify their communities.

Kara holds an MBA from the Anderson School of Management at The University of New Mexico. She serves as President of the Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company Foundation and is on the Board of Advisors of the Wake Forest University Face-to-Face Speaker Forum.

Kara is married to Daniel Calderón, and they are proud parents to their two college-age children. During her free time, Kara enjoys golfing, cooking, and spending as much time in the water as possible. She is an avid scuba diver and spends her vacations picking up trash from ocean floors and protecting native fish and the environment from invasive lionfish.