Rafael Diaz-Granados

Member

Chief Executive Officer, Board Director & Leadership Consultant

Rafael Diaz-Granados is an accomplished Fortune 10 Senior Executive, experienced in leading multi-billion dollar country P&L’s, and growing, restructuring and optimizing international businesses. Leveraging his legal, operations and management background, Rafael has consistently driven transformational change in key operating units. He has a strong customer-focus, addresses changing customer demands and delivers high-performance financial and business team results. After spending 2015 investing in early stage companies, providing operating advice in the private equity space and guiding entrepreneurial leaders in strategic business development, he currently helps Spencer Stuart clients solve their most pressing leadership needs.

From 2000 to 2014, Rafael transformed several General Electric business operations. He forged cultures of excellence, with strong internal and external partnering, as well as deploying new operating models to successfully lead in both growth and challenging business conditions. Most recently, as Global Simplification Leader for GE Healthcare, Rafael and his team drove the transformation of GE’s $18 Billion Healthcare business, instituting a completely new organization structure, operating mechanisms, processes & tools to streamline operations and position the business for further growth and profitability, all while reducing costs by over $1 Billion.

Prior to this, Rafael served in regional and country leadership roles, as Chief Commercial Officer, GE Latin America based out of Brazil, as President and CEO, GE Spain and Portugal, based in Spain, and as President and CEO, GE Mexico, based in Mexico. He grew Latin America industrial revenues by $3.6 Billion, 35% CAGR ‘10-‘12, and sourced $25 Billion incremental key account opportunities for the region by creating multi-industry offerings and developing new geographies. In Spain, he protected $3 Billion in annual revenue, stabilizing operations in a tough economic environment, and maintained Spain as top 10 market for GE. In Mexico, Rafael led 10,000 direct employees and delivered $2.5 Billion in sales (15% revenue CAGR ’06-’09) and $2 Billion in exports annually.

Rafael currently serves on the Board of PREPA in Puerto Rico ($3 Billion annual revenue) and during his tenure with GE, he held concurrent Board Director and Board Committee roles guiding strategy and governance at private companies and not-for-profit organizations in the US, Europe & Latin America, including serving in Board and committee roles for a $4 Billion General Electric joint venture and two regulated financial entities. Prior to GE, Rafael focused on law at O’Melveny & Myers in NY and Covington & Burling and the US Securities & Exchange Commission in DC.

Rafael is passionate about education and the success of Hispanic executives and has volunteered as a leader with ALPFA, Junior Achievement, HACR and The Alumni Society.  He currently serves as Vice-Chairman of the Board of the Latino Corporate Directors Education Foundation.  He holds a JD from Georgetown University and a BA in Economics from Harvard University. He resides in Hopkinton with his wife Sonja and their three children.