Kelly Baker

Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer

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Kelly Baker is executive vice president, chief human resources officer of Thrivent, a Fortune 500 diversified financial services organization.

In her role, Baker is responsible for providing strategic human resources advice and enterprise support for talent acquisition, benefits and compensation, organizational design, diversity and inclusion, and workforce culture and effectiveness. Under her leadership, Thrivent is making strategic talent and resourcing decisions that help the organization meet the needs of current and future clients.

Prior to joining Thrivent in 2021, Baker was executive vice president and chief human resources officer for Pentair. Before that, she served in various human resources roles at General Mills, including vice president of HR for the U.S. segment. She also led Global Diversity & Inclusion during her time at General Mills, strengthening diverse representation among the company’s leaders.

Baker has a bachelor of business administration in accounting from Howard University and earned an MBA from the University of Michigan’s Stephen M. Ross School of Business. She serves as a board member of the Children’s Theater Company of Minnesota, where she has chaired the Diversity and Inclusion committee for the last several years. She also serves as a non-executive director of Ferguson PLC.

She lives in Golden Valley, Minnesota, with her husband, John, and her teenage son.