- Strategic hire signals GM’s continued focus on sustainability despite EV market headwinds.
- Garber brings cross-sector sustainability leadership experience from Dell, McKesson, 3M, and Coca-Cola.
- GM maintains ambitious targets: carbon neutrality by 2040 and 100% renewable U.S. energy by 2025.
General Motors has appointed Cassandra Garber as its new Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO), tapping a seasoned ESG leader from Dell Technologies to steer the automaker’s environmental and social strategy. The move follows the retirement of longtime CSO Kristen Siemen in November 2024.
Garber’s appointment comes as GM remains committed to its aggressive climate goals, including carbon neutrality across global operations and products by 2040, and 100% renewable energy at all U.S. sites by 2025, expanding globally by 2035. Despite industry turbulence in the EV space, GM has upheld its 2021 pledge to eliminate tailpipe emissions from new light-duty vehicles by 2035.
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“Now I get the chance to help General Motors accelerate a zero-emissions future and drive circular-economy solutions that reduce costs and material waste,” Garber said in a LinkedIn post. “GM is helping advance the EV transition, adoption of renewable energy and much more.”
Garber steps into the role after nearly four years at Dell, where she led the company’s ESG transformation, and previously held sustainability leadership roles at McKesson, 3M, and The Coca-Cola Company.
Her leadership aligns with GM’s vision to merge profitability with purpose.
“If there’s one thing I’ve learned during my career, it’s that sustainable business is smart business,” she noted. “Reducing risk, seizing innovation and growth opportunity while delivering real and meaningful impact is where it’s at.”
Garber’s personal connection to the auto industry adds a symbolic layer to the appointment.
“I grew up with cars,” she wrote. “My grandfather owned a radiator shop in our small town of Huntingburg, Indiana… We love epic road trips with our three kids and two dogs – these adventures have led us to refer to our 2021 GMC Yukon XL as our living room on wheels.”
Her first day at GM? Earth Day.
“Sure feels like it was meant to be,” Garber said.
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