Isabelle Deschamps
Rio Tinto
Chief Legal Officer, Governance & Corporate Affairs
Isabelle is our Chief Legal Officer, Governance & Corporate Affairs and she joined Rio Tinto and our Executive Committee in November 2021. With extensive international corporate experience, Isabelle was previously General Counsel of AkzoNobel and a member of their Executive Committee, where she was responsible for all legal, integrity & compliance, and intellectual property management, as well as company secretary. She was also a driving force behind their Diversity & Inclusion programme. Before joining AkzoNobel, Isabelle spent six years at Unilever in the UK and in The Netherlands where she had accountability for legal and compliance for its European businesses and its Food & Refreshment division worldwide. Prior to that, she led the legal and compliance activities for the Personal Care business while managing the global Intellectual Property group and spearheading legal support to e-commerce, digital and privacy. Isabelle joined Unilever from Nestlé, where she held various positions in Switzerland and globally. She started her career at a Canadian law firm in Montreal and is admitted to the England and Wales Law Society and to the Quebec (Canada) Bar. She is a pragmatic, open leader with a passion for equal opportunities, inclusion and diversity, continuous learning and a culture of integrity. She is also a strong champion of fostering a culture of integrity and encouraging people to always have the courage to do the right thing.
