Longtime Brown-Forman executive retires; replacement named
The spirits company has named a replacement for the retiring executive. Brown-Forman has promoted Diane Nguyen to its chief people, places, and communications officer, replacing Kirsten Hawley who is retiring from the company. Nguyen has worked with Brown-Formans for 16 years and will now manage corporate communications and workplace strategy. She replaces Hawley, who has been with the company for nearly three decades. Prior to her time at Brown-forman, Nguyen worked at Colgate-Palmolive and Homecare & Hospital Management. Brown Forman is Louisville's third largest publicly traded company by revenue, reporting $4.23 billion in 2023.
Published : 10 months ago by Zak Owens in Business
The spirits company has named a replacement for the retiring executive.
Brown-Forman has a new HR leader after the retirement of the company's longtime chief people officer.
The distilling giant announced in a release today it has promoted Diane Nguyen to chief people, places, and communications officer. Nguyen has been with the company for 16 years, most recently as senior VP of human resources for Brown-Forman’s global commercial and corporate teams. In addition to HR responsibilities, she’ll manage corporate communications and workplace strategy in her new position.
She replaces Kirsten Hawley, who is retiring from Brown-Forman after nearly three decades with the company.
"I am delighted to welcome Diane to the role of chief people, places, and communications officer and to our executive leadership team," said Brown-Forman’s president and CEO Lawson Whiting in the release. "Her human resources experience, strategic talent management expertise, dedication to our culture and cross-cultural business acumen make her an exceptionally well-suited leader for this role."
Nguyen holds a bachelor’s in business from Eastern Kentucky University and an MBA from the University of Louisville. Prior to her time at Brown-Forman, Nguyen worked at Colgate-Palmolive and Homecare & Hospital Management.
Hawley has held multiple roles in Brown-Forman's HR department after starting in 1997. She was named chief HR officer in 2015.
"Kirsten has been a trusted advisor who has helped evolve Brown-Forman’s organization to thrive for the next generation. She has been instrumental in championing our values and culture, developing leaders and teams, and introducing policies and programs that have positively impacted organizational performance," Whiting said in the release.
"Among her greatest legacies are creating and implementing a people strategy that helped guide our organization through on-going global expansion, stewarding our culture during a global pandemic and its aftermath, and further strengthening our corporate brand. We wish her all the best in her well-deserved retirement."
In 2018 Louisville Business First named Hawley as Mentor of the Year in our annual Business Women First special publication.
Brown-Forman is Louisville's third largest publicly traded company by revenue, reporting $4.23 billion in 2023.