Bio

Maria del Carmen Santos or Mary Carmen, as she is more commonly known, is a Dominican legal professional with over 20 years of experience in corporate and commercial law, 17 of which she has spent at Gildan Activewear. In her current role as Contracts and Commercial Legal Manager, she oversees legal matters related to the company’s operations in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, leading the structuring, negotiation, and execution of a wide range of agreements, including infrastructure, energy, leasing, and services contracts.

Her work is particularly critical in high-risk jurisdictions like Haiti, where she has played a central role in safeguarding operations and mitigating legal and reputational risk in the face of political, economic, and security challenges. She is known for her ability to adapt complex legal frameworks to on-the-ground realities, always balancing risk management with practical, forward-looking solutions.

Mary Carmen’s approach to legal practice is deeply rooted in collaboration. She believes that interpersonal relationships are fundamental to reaching successful outcomes, both within her organisation and with external stakeholders. Her ability to build trust, navigate opposing interests, and bring people to the table has been key in resolving conflicts, negotiating win-win solutions, and moving projects forward even in the most complex of scenarios.

She also actively supports the company’s corporate social responsibility and compliance efforts, particularly in promoting contractor accountability and sustainable practices aligned with international labour standards.

On a personal level, Mary Carmen is a proud mother of two. Her eldest son is on the autism spectrum, and this has deeply shaped her perspective, reinforcing her belief in the power of inclusion, empathy, and advocacy. She was actively involved in the preparation, review and supporting the passage of autism protection legislation in the Dominican Republic and continues to champion the rights of people with disabilities in both her personal and professional life.

What are the most significant cases, projects or transactions that you and/or your legal team have recently been involved in?

This past year has been intense, to say the least! I’ve worked on high-impact negotiations and contract restructurings for one of the region’s largest textile manufacturers, with operations across the Dominican Republic and Haiti, two very different landscapes with their own unique challenges and conditions. Much of my work has centred around large-scale manufacturing commitments, services and infrastructure agreements, and strategic partnerships, all under dynamic, high-risk conditions and duress, such as we have seen in Haiti for these past five years. I’ve had to align legal protections with operational realities, often rewriting key terms to address reputational, financial, and force majeure risk, while safeguarding business continuity in very unpredictable economical, security, political environments.

How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crisis to ensure the organisation’s resilience?

In these very unstable settings, whether due to political unrest, supply chain disruption, or security threats, my focus is to stay ahead of risk and try as best as possible to mitigate it. I build contingency into contracts, simplify exit mechanisms, and ensure we’re contractually protected without closing the door to ethical engagement. I work closely with our internal teams, helping to translate the business strategy into legal terms that remain flexible yet enforceable. In these cases our work as legal counsels isn’t just about compliance, it’s about protecting people, reputation, and long-term viability of the business as a whole.

Given the current geopolitical shifts and growing uncertainties around international free trade, has your company’s risk profile evolved, and are you taking measures to address these challenges?

Absolutely. We’ve seen firsthand how quickly the landscape can change. As a multinational company with operations in countries directly impacted by the ongoing “tariff wars,” we’ve had to reassess our exposures on multiple fronts. The combination of geopolitical tension, trade volatility, and regional instability, along with the complexity of operating in areas affected by these tax impositions, has pushed us to rethink how we structure risk. That includes the intrinsic challenges of doing business in regions where supply chains are fragile and conditions can shift overnight. I’ve been actively involved in reworking key agreements to build in more agility: shorter terms, rolling volume reviews, clearer force majeure protections, and layered dispute resolution frameworks, while also advising our business teams on the best and safest course of action. Legal’s role has definitely evolved, we’re not just managing risk anymore, we’re helping design how the business stays responsive, resilient, and ready for what’s next.

What is a cause, business or otherwise, that you are passionate about? Why is this?

For me, this one is deeply personal. I’m the mother of a beautiful, loving autistic child, and that journey changed everything. It opened my eyes not only to the everyday challenges families like mine face, but also to how much work there is to be done when it comes to legal protections, inclusion, and access, more so in this country and countries like mine. That’s why I got involved in the legal efforts behind the push for autism legislation in the Dominican Republic, Law 34-23 for the Attention, Inclusion and Protection of People within the Autism Spectrum. Being part of the team that helped move that law forward has been one of the most meaningful things I’ve done in my career. It reminded me that the law is not just about contracts and compliance, it’s also about dignity, visibility, and giving people a real chance. I fight for Alejandro every day, and through that, I’ve found a cause that’s bigger than me, using my voice and my profession to make things better for him, and for so many others walking the same road.