Kathryn McLay Named New Chair of the U.S. Chamber’s U.S.-Mexico Economic Council

Washington, D.C. - The U.S. Chamber's U.S.-Mexico Economic Council (USMXECO) is pleased to welcome Kathryn McLay, President and CEO of Walmart International, as chair of the USMXECO and U.S. co-chair of the U.S.-Mexico CEO Dialogue.

"The U.S.-Mexico Economic Council is fortunate to count on Kathryn's leadership. Kathryn brings decades of experience in the retail industry including her current role where she oversees Walmart Mexico and Central America, one of the largest employers in North America," said Neil Herrington, U.S. Chamber Senior Vice President and Head of Americas. "Walmart's strong commitment to Mexico demonstrates the company's dedication to strengthening the U.S.-Mexico bilateral relationship, advancing Mexico's economic development, and fostering resilient supply chains across North America. These are objectives the CEO Dialogue has prioritized for more than a decade."

"The U.S.-Mexico commercial relationship is one of the largest in the world, and the U.S.-Mexico Economic Council (USMXECO) is a critical business advocacy organization dedicated to strengthening the US-Mexico relationship. Walmart has millions of associates and customers in United States and Mexico, and a strong, stable US-Mexico relationship is important to our company," said McLay. "I am thrilled to join as Chair and look forward to representing the more than 80 member companies in the Council, as well as working with our Mexican counterparts to promote economic development, innovation, and prosperity for both nations."

As President and CEO of Walmart International since fall 2023, McLay leads a team of more than 500,000 associates serving 80 million customers per week across 18 countries. Under her leadership, Walmart International has become a growth engine for the enterprise while innovating to provide the best value and convenience for customers and members all over the world. Prior to this role, she was President and CEO of Sam's Club, a members-only warehouse club and division of Walmart Inc. During McLay's nearly four-year tenure at Sam's, revenues grew by 43 percent to $84 billion in fiscal year 2023, and the clubs added millions of new members. She has held several leadership roles at Walmart since joining in 2015 as vice president of U.S. Finance & Strategy. McLay's first role was driving the transformation of the Walmart U.S. business through oversight of a set of strategic, cross-functional initiatives. In 2016, she moved to Supply Chain, where she redesigned the way product moved from supplier to shelf, created an integrated end-to-end Walmart U.S. supply chain and led operations of the imports and reverse networks. In 2018, she was named executive vice president of Neighborhood Markets for the Walmart U.S. business, where she led nearly 700 of the small-format stores across the country.

The USMXECO, under the corporate leadership of Walmart and vice chair Martinrea, will continue to be an anchor in the bilateral relationship, working with both governments to boost economic growth and increase trade and investment between the United States and Mexico.