Luciana Pellegrino, general manager of the Brazilian Packaging Association (ABRE), has stepped into the role of president of the World Packaging Organisation (WPO), during the board meeting this November, held in Cape Town, South Africa.
The first woman to assume the role, Pellegrino was elected in May this year, unanimously, at a meeting during interpack. She will replace the Australian Pierre Pienaar that has been ahead of WPO for two consecutive terms.
Active in the packaging industry since 1996, when she began her journey in the sector at Bryce Corporation USA, Pellegrino graduated in Business Administration, with a specialisation in Environmental Science. Recently she achieved a Masters in Board of Directors Governance. For more than 20 years, Pellegrino has been the general manager of ABRE, which is itself a long-time member of the WPO. Prior to assuming this role as president of the WPO, she was senior vice president marketing.
Pellegrino said, “It is a great honour to be elected by the WPO Board as president. In the last 20 years I dedicated to support and strength the WPO because I really believe this organisation has an extremely important role and a positive impact in the global packaging community. We will continue all the well succeeded projects and actions conducted by Pierre Pienaar in the last years and go beyond.”
One of Pellegrino's stated goals as president is to get the WPO closer to strategic market matters and packaging and consumer goods companies. “This connection with the industry will allow us to harmonise a global vision for the sector, always aiming to strengthen the sector and give power to the members to act positively in their countries.
“As president, and working closely with WPO’s board members and secretariat, I aim to strengthen WPO’s strategic partnerships with international bodies, to increase the participation at global events, conferences and trade shows, raising the voice of the packaging industry, and at the same time explore different key topics for the organisation and for the sector such as governance, technology and innovation.”
