U.S.-Colombia Business Council (USCBC) Welcomes PepsiCo's Athina Kanioura As USCBC Chair

Washington, D.C. - The U.S. Chamber's U.S.-Colombia Business Council (USCBC) is pleased to announce that Athina Kanioura, Chief Executive Officer, Latin America Foods and Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer at PepsiCo, will be assuming the role of USCBC Chair for the 2026-2027 period. She will succeed Chair Sarah M. Aiosa, Senior Vice President and President, Latin America, at MSD.

The Chamber and its members founded the USCBC in 2017 to strengthen commercial ties between the United States and Colombia, and it is proud to represent the top U.S. investors in Colombia.

"On behalf of the U.S.-Colombia Business Council and our members, we are thrilled to welcome Athina Kanioura as our new Chair." said U.S. Chamber Senior Vice President of the Americas Neil Herrington. "Athina is a visionary leader at the intersection of business strategy, technology, and transformation. As the leader of PepsiCo's Latin America Foods business, she is uniquely positioned to champion the bilateral commercial relationship, which now includes more than 600 U.S.-owned firms contributing over 107,000 direct jobs and 350,000 indirect jobs to Colombia. We look forward to collaborating with Athina to deepen economic ties, expand public-private partnerships, and unlock new opportunities for U.S. businesses in Colombia."

PepsiCo is one of the world's leading food and beverage companies with a significant presence across Latin America. Under Kanioura's leadership, Latin America Foods has been innovating with digital-first solutions, leveraging AI, and piloting new culinary initiatives. Her prior experience as Chief Analytics Officer and Global Head of Applied Intelligence at Accenture-where she spent 15 years driving large-scale business transformation across industries including consumer packaged goods-further underscores her ability to bridge innovation and commerce at a global level.

"I am deeply honored to assume the role of Chair of the Board of Directors of the USCBC. Colombia is a market of tremendous potential, and I am committed to strengthening the commercial and economic partnership between the United States and Colombia," said Kanioura. "I look forward to working alongside our members to drive innovation, expand investment, and foster public-private collaborations that create lasting value for communities in both countries. Together, we can harness the power of technology, data, and strategic partnerships to build a more prosperous and connected future.""

Kanioura oversees PepsiCo's operating units within the Latin America Foods Region and leads the company's global end-to-end strategy, digitalization, and company-wide transformation efforts. She is a member of the Royal Statistical and Economics Society, sits on the board of the Institute of Marketing Sciences, and holds a PhD in Econometrics and Quantitative Economics from the University of Sheffield (UK).

The USCBC, chaired by PepsiCo, will continue to bolster two-way trade ties and public-private collaboration, including advancing digital innovation, sustainable growth, and expanded investment opportunities across the bilateral relationship.