Jerri DeVard | BECA Founder & CEO

“I created this alliance because it did not exist and was so desperately needed. To achieve meaningful corporate diversity, we need less rhetoric and more allies, action and accountability.”

Jerri is the Founder and CEO of BECA, an alliance made comprised of global C-Suite member executives and designed to champion inclusion at the corporate leadership level. It provides a vibrant forum for collaboration and networking, while also creating opportunity, access and skill building that helps to build the next generation of C-Suite executives.

She is the former Executive Vice President and Chief Customer Officer of Office Depot, Inc., where she led e-commerce, customer service, marketing, data & analytics, communications, and events. She previously served as the company’s Chief Marketing Officer and brings over 40 years of marketing and leadership experience at global brands.

Prior Office Depot, Jerri was CMO at ADT and EVP & CMO at Nokia, based in Helsinki and London. She held senior marketing roles at Verizon, Citibank, Revlon, Harrah’s, the NFL, and General Mills (formerly Pillsbury).

Jerri has received numerous honors, with recent recognitions including the 2023 ADCOLOR Lifetime Achievement Award, induction into the 2024 American Advertising Federation Hall of Fame, and the 2025 Clio Lifetime Achievement Award.

She holds an Economics degree from Spelman College and served on the Board of Trustees, and earned her MBA from Clark Atlanta University Graduate School of Business. Jerri currently serves on the boards of Cars Commerce, Dow, Root Insurance and Under Armour, and previously held board roles with Belk, Gurwitch Products, ServiceMaster, Tommy Hilfiger, and the PepsiCo Advisory Board.