The Path Less Traveled
What happens when we stop doubting that we belong in the spaces we inhabit? This question is at the heart of the I Belong speaker series presented by the聽Winston Center for Leadership and Ethics. It kicked off virtually in February with Christine Montenegro McGrath 鈥�87, H 鈥�21, senior vice president and chief impact and sustainability officer at Mondel膿z International (which brings us the Oreo cookie and other snack favorites). From her Chicago home office, she spoke to attendees via Zoom, and shared her story of following her passions鈥攁nd silencing her inner critic.
Although聽McGrath is currently a senior leader聽at Mondel膿z, she was once on a path to being a chief marketing officer. It was聽her choice instead to focus on the more creative, consumer-centric work that聽has become a defining theme of her career. Now referring to herself聽tongue-in-cheek as 鈥渢he other CEO, the chief evangelist officer,鈥� she advocates聽enthusiastically on behalf of those who might not otherwise be heard.
During her time at Boston College, McGrath held down聽work-study jobs to put herself through school while pursuing majors in both聽accounting and philosophy鈥攁 juxtaposition of order and theoretical thinking聽that she has carried throughout her work. After graduating, she secured a job聽as an auditor, but soon realized her true passion was marketing. She recalls聽walking past a conference room at her first post-graduate job. Seeing the聽company鈥檚 marketing team examining pieces of Cap鈥橬 Crunch cereal, she thought聽to herself; I want to do that.聽
To get her foot in the door, she took a finance position at聽Kraft while working on her master鈥檚 in marketing at Northwestern University鈥檚聽Kellogg School of Business at night. Her new degree helped her move into聽marketing and brand management, and in 2012, when Kraft spun off its global聽snack branch (which is now Mondel膿z), McGrath became part of one of the world鈥檚聽largest snack food companies.
During her talk, McGrath made it clear that her I Belong story and struggles go back a long way. Her father is from Bogot谩, Colombia,
and when he married her mother, who was white, friction arose in the family over her marriage to a person of color. She compared her parents鈥� story to the dynamics of West Side Story, and although she now considers herself a proud Latina woman, the cultural tension proved valuable: it steered her toward the path of fostering belonging and community for others.聽
From Outlier to Change Agent
McGrath鈥檚 time at Boston College prepared her for the聽professional world post-graduation, but the experience didn鈥檛 come without聽moments of feeling like an outsider. At times, she felt alienated from her聽classmates, in part because of her financial struggles and concerns about her聽next financial aid statement. Fast forward to May 2021: she鈥檚 walking the聽commencement stage at Boston College once again, this time to聽receive an honorary聽doctorate聽for exemplifying 鈥渢he power of聽leadership鈥� to promote change in business and society.
That work has included serving as vice president of Kraft鈥檚 Latino Center of Excellence in 2009. While focusing specifically on Latinx-geared marketing and growth, she completed a large ethnographic research project. For a year, her team studied nearly 30 Latina women from all walks of life in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Miami. They found that it was very important for Latinx people, and in particular Latina women, to feel represented when shopping for their homes and families. McGrath was able to take that data and experience back to Kraft and expand the company鈥檚 interpretation of the market.聽鈥淚 had to help the brands to see and understand the Latino聽market and why this was a good investment,鈥� she explained. McGrath noted that she also saw some of herself reflected in the experience of those women. 鈥淚nclusion聽is a key part of belonging,鈥� she said. 鈥淧eople say to me, 鈥極h, you鈥檙e not聽really a Latina, you鈥檙e fake.鈥� I don鈥檛 speak Spanish very well. But actually, I鈥檝e聽found so much connection [in] my upbringing 鈥� and the traits that I saw in my聽family sort of resonated in that experience.鈥澛�
One of her strategies for fostering self-empowerment is getting to know your inner critic鈥攖he one who questions whether you belong鈥攁nd knowing how to keep it in check. Nick McDonald 鈥�25, a computer science major, asked how exactly McGrath does this. She admitted that she still consciously works on this skill, but it helps to visualize her inner critic as a person she can see in her mind鈥檚 eye, acknowledge that critic, and put them off to the side.聽
McGrath continues to use her own empowerment to help others who may not have the same opportunities. Since 2012, she has been at the helm of a program called聽聽at Mondel膿z, which works to implement sustainable business and farming practices for cocoa farmers while fostering a sense of women鈥檚 empowerment. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about really giving women farmers鈥ccess to all the tools they need to have better incomes, better confidence, a leadership voice in their families, [and] a leadership voice in their communities,鈥� she said, seeming to draw on the business as well as the philosophical and moral perspectives learned at Boston College. McGrath, who is also vice chair of the聽, a nonprofit organization, added that the role of women
cannot be overlooked when it comes to growing a developing economy in a sustainable way.
Michaela Brant 鈥�23 is a publications assistant in the Carroll School鈥檚 communications office.