Sandra Phillips is a dynamic executive leader, independent director and corporate governance and risk management expert advising companies in highly complex and regulated industries to improve competitiveness and achieve sustainable growth. She provides guidance on strategic planning, governance, legal/regulatory compliance, sustainability, talent development and succession planning, mergers & acquisitions, audit, crisis and risk management, cybersecurity and advanced technology.
Phillips is Senior Vice President of Enterprise Integrity, Chief Legal Officer, Chief Sustainability Officer and Corporate Secretary for Toyota NA (NYSE:TM) reporting to the CEO where she directs strategy to help support its expansion as a global mobility company, one that is an industry leader in autonomous, connected and sustainable vehicle technologies. She serves on the Toyota Senior Leadership Team, responsible for making decisions impacting operations, business planning and competitiveness. Phillips has led Toyota through its most important challenges and opportunities, often in complicated and highly visible regulatory and media environments, including crisis management events such as the unintended acceleration recalls. She directs and supports Toyota’s global efforts to strengthen carbon neutrality and multi-pathway emissions strategy, team member safety and engagement, and strong compliance, audit and ethics programs, with oversight responsibility for teams responsible for driving these objectives in the U.S. and Mexico. Phillips is a strong collaborator with a history of exceptional leadership building consensus within a highly matrixed organization, successfully managing complex global matters such as high-profile mobility transactions, start-up formation, government investigations, Federal Monitor, trade compliance, multi-district litigation, supply chain, FCPA, and intellectual property.
As a global senior executive in Toyota and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE; $64B revenue) and representing other Fortune 100 companies as a partner in top global law firms, Phillips has experience navigating the most significant business challenges of the last thirty years. She has brought innovation and sensitivity to resolving matters in a manner that sustains stakeholder confidence and allows business to thrive.
Phillips chairs the Nominating and Governance Committee and is a member of the Audit and Law Committees for MSA Safety Inc. (NYSE: MSA), a global leader in the development, manufacture and supply of safety products that protect people and facility infrastructures. During her 7+ year tenure, MSA has successfully integrated strategic acquisitions that have enabled earnings growth in core businesses, doubling MSA’s market capitalization. As past chair of the Law Committee, Phillips worked with management on the strategy to derisk legacy liabilities, eliminating the long-standing risk and positioning the company for future growth. Phillips was recently a director of The Chemours Company (NYSE: CC), a $5.8B revenue global chemistry company, and served on the Nominating and Governance and Audit Committees. During this time, Phillips worked with the board to manage a complex board level review to address compliance, ethics and internal controls matters.
Phillips serves on several non-profit boards, including United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, University of Texas Law School Foundation Trustees (Budget Committee Chair), and is a Co-Founder of the University of Texas School of Law Center for Women in Law. She has put her experience and passion to work for her non-profit boards to lead sustainable change in governance, community engagement, fundraising and strategic planning.
Phillips is a leader in her profession and industries. In October 2024, she received the Distinguished Alumna Award from DirectWomen, an organization that develops and positions women leaders for board service. In 2023, she was named Woman of the Year by the National Association of Minority Automotive Dealers and in 2020, Automotive News named Phillips an Automotive All-Star and a 100 Leading Women in the North American Automotive Industry. The Dallas Business Journal named Phillips as one of its Women in Business in 2019, and that same year, WomenInc. selected her as a Most Influential Corporate Board Director. Phillips received the 2018 Outstanding Alumna Award from the University of Texas School of Law.
Phillips is a proud graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas School of Law and is an active supporter of these institutions. She earned a CERT Certificate in Cybersecurity Oversight.