About

Zamira Zapata Valdés joined the world’s leading premium drinks company, Diageo, in November 2011 as legal counsel and through her ambitious nature and willingness to self-improve was promoted to vice president general counsel in 2014. Upon joining the company, she was initially based in Mexico overseeing operations in the country but is now vice president and general counsel for the Central America and Caribbean, Free-Trade Zone (FTZ) and Border business and, in addition, oversees corporate security, brand protection and the Compliance, Controls and Ethics team. In addition to her scope, she plays a significant role on the executive committee and board of directors in Diageo’s Zapaca business, a key brand for some of the companies’ markets. Throughout her professional journey, Zapata explains that her mentality has been to ‘make a significant difference by creating opportunities for myself and others to learn, grow and become a better people’. With this mantra, it is obvious that she was set to become an exceptional legal head, stating that she is now ‘more conscious of my own growth, my role as a leader and how it impacts others, which has led to a more fulfilling professional and personal experience’. A testament of Zapata’s competence as a leader is her way of making sure the members of her legal department are truly integrated in the business and give highly creative, cost-effective legal and business advice to the commercial and marketing teams where they operate. Zapata participated in the acquisition and integration of the Don Julio business and return of the Smirnoff brand and also played a key role in the corporate restructuring of the business, including assisting with the preparation and execution of all the legal and corporate documentation, allowing the Mexico business – for the first time – to declare a dividend of £19.4m. Before joining Diageo, she was the legal corporate director for Genomma Lab, a leading public Mexican pharmaceutical and personal care products company. Zapata led the acquisitions of several brands such as Teatrical, Micotez, Nasalub, Ossart, Sante, Vanart, Pomada de la Campana, Nordiko, Alert Wildroot, and X-L3 which became relevant assets of the company. Before returning to the corporate world, Zapata had a key participation in government affairs during the administration of Mexican President Felipe Calderon, where she led a big transformational project within the Ministry of Economy and the OCDE and also interacted with many stakeholders across the public and private sector during her two year tenure at the President’s Office. Zapata also has experience of working in New York as an associate at White & Case for two years and three years at the Mexico office where she gave advice to diverse multinational businesses and major commercial investment banks.