Nationality: Filipino/American | Year of birth: 1970
Michelle Weese is Head of Corporate Affairs for Novartis, leading a function that brings together the company’s Global Public and Government Affairs, Communications & Engagement (including Patient Engagement), and Global Health & Sustainability teams. In this role, she is responsible for strengthening the company’s corporate brand and positioning, stakeholder engagement, and trust and reputation.
The power and promise of our brand is clear and inspiring, and I’m energized to collaborate with our teams to shape the next era of our corporate story and engagement together.
Michelle joined Novartis from Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), where she has served as executive vice president, corporate affairs, since 2021. In this role, she led efforts to strengthen the company’s brand and reputation through strategic communications, patient advocacy, government relations and policy, and ESG. Before joining BMS, she served as general secretary for North America at Danone from 2019 to 2021, where she led strategic corporate functions including legal, regulatory and compliance, corporate security and competitive intelligence, government and public affairs, communications, community affairs, scientific affairs, and sustainable development.
Prior to this, she was CEO of private consulting firm strat-igence, which she founded in 2009, working with a range of clients from the biopharmaceutical and consumer packaged goods industries on issues such as crisis management, corporate affairs, and corporate transformation. Between 1999 and 2009, she held positions of increasing leadership responsibility in corporate affairs at Mars, Inc., including serving as global head of communications. Michelle is a member of the board of directors of Krispy Kreme, Inc. in the US.
She earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism from Georgia State University. Michelle is married with three children, and spends most of her free time at baseball and softball fields watching her kids play ball.
