Sandra Phillips is a seasoned executive leader and independent director with a breadth of experience strategically managing complex corporate issues, integrating business and stakeholder relations to achieve successful outcomes. Phillips chairs the Nominating and Governance Committee and is a member of the Audit and Law Committees for MSA Safety Inc. (NYSE: MSA), a global leader in the development, manufacture and supply of safety products that protect people and facility infrastructures. During Phillips’s seven years as an independent director, MSA is successfully integrating strategic acquisitions that have enabled earnings growth in core businesses, tripling MSA’s market capitalization. As chair of the Law Committee, Phillips worked with management on the strategy to derisk legacy liabilities, eliminating the long-standing risk and positioning the company for future growth. Phillips was recently a director of The Chemours Company (NYSE: CC), a global chemistry company, and served on the Nominating and Governance and Audit Committees. Phillips has earned a CERT Certificate in Cybersecurity Oversight. WomenInc. selected Phillips as one of the 2019 Most Influential Corporate Board Directors, and in October 2024, she will receive the Distinguished Alumna Award from DirectWomen.

Phillips is Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Toyota Motor North America, Inc. (“TMNA”), where she directs strategy to help Toyota navigate significant business, regulatory and legal challenges while supporting its expansion as a global mobility company, one that is an industry leader in autonomous, connected and sustainable vehicle technologies.  She also oversees Compliance & Audit, Sustainability & Regulatory Affairs, Social Innovation (focuses on inclusive mobility, community sustainability, workforce readiness), Corporate Shared Services (people services, security and emergency management, talent mobility, vehicle services) and Toyota de Mexico (legal, human resources, accounting & finance). Phillips is a member of the North America Management Committee Steering Group, which is responsible for setting mid-to long-term business plans and driving opportunities to increase competitiveness. As the recent Chief Diversity Officer reporting to the CEO, Phillips worked closely with TMNA’s external Diversity Advisory Board and was responsible for advancing Toyota’s long-standing commitment to diversity and inclusion through enriching work environments, team member experiences, the marketplace and our society, with a focus on driving sustainability and ESG best practices.

Phillips provides strategic direction on business issues as an advisory member of the TMNA Executive and Audit Committees and the board of directors for TMNA and other North America affiliates. She is a member of the Risk Management and Compliance Advisory Committees that address high priority risks. Phillips is a member of Toyota’s Global Leadership Team (comprised of senior executives who are positioned to take global leadership roles) and has managed matters that have global implications such as high-profile global transactions, start-up formation for autonomous and connected technology, trade compliance, distressed suppliers, FCPA, litigation and anti-bribery.

Phillips played a key role in developing a successful, customer-forward resolution for one of the most significant legal, regulatory, and business risks in the history of Toyota, building effective collaborations with key stakeholders in the business, government affairs and corporate communications.  She has extensive experience in organizational restructuring and has helped lead the company in merging the sales and manufacturing organizations into one central headquarters in Plano, Texas.  Phillips has a keen understanding of organizational structures and people management necessary to bridge divergent points of view to move the organization forward in an effective and sustainable way.

As a global senior executive in Toyota and Pfizer and representing oil and gas and other Fortune 100 companies as a partner in top global law firms, Phillips has been involved in the most significant business challenges of the last twenty years. She has brought strategic vision and sensitivity to corporate vitality in resolving matters in a way that restores stakeholder confidence and allows the business to continue and thrive. Phillips understands the unique challenges faced by companies operating under corporate integrity agreements, deferred prosecution agreements, and government appointed monitors, employing sound compliance strategies to effectively manage these risks and develop sustainable business practices.

Phillips participates in several non-profit boards, including United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, University of Texas Law School Foundation Trustees, and is a Co-Founder of the University of Texas School of Law Center for Women in Law, which is devoted to the success of the entire spectrum of women in the law. Phillips has put her experience in creating organizational efficiencies to work for her non-profit boards to lead change in governance, fundraising and strategic planning.

Phillips is a leader in her profession and industries. In 2023, she was named Woman of the Year by the National Association of Minority Automotive Dealers and in 2020, ­Automotive News named Phillips an Automotive All-Star and a 100 Leading Women in the North American Automotive Industry.  Black Enterprise has recognized Phillips as one of its 300 Most Powerful Executives in Corporate America (2018) and Most Powerful Women in Business (2019 and 2017).  The Dallas Business Journal named Phillips as one of its Women in Business in 2019. In October 2018, Phillips received the Outstanding Alumna Award from the University of Texas School of Law. Phillips was recognized for her groundbreaking work in diversity and inclusion by the Brennan Center for Justice as its 2016 Legacy Award winner. In May 2017, the Burton Foundation honored her with the prestigious Legend in Law Award.

Phillips is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas School of Law and is an active supporter of these institutions.