BENTONVILLE, Ark.—Walmart has appointed Sylvia Mathews Burwell president of the Walmart Foundation.
Burwell will take her post in January 2012, succeeding Margaret McKenna, who retired as of last Friday. She will assume charge over Walmart’s charitable giving efforts and its Global Women’s Economic Empowerment Initiative, as well as guiding the company’s social, environmental and economic-opportunity efforts in Africa. She will report to Leslie Dach, executive vice president of corporate affairs.
At this time, Burwell is president of global development at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She has been with that organization since 2001, also serving as chief operating officer and executive director. Before joining the Gates Foundation, she served as deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, deputy chief of staff to President Bill Clinton and chief of staff to Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin.