Gary R Baker
A person gains lots of perspectives over a 40 year career. It is now my pleasure to provide a range of services in
a mix of areas where I have particularly enjoyed working...
About me
Originally from California, I've spent nearly half of my adult life in Sweden. I'm fully fluent in Swedish and enjoy dual citizenship. I've been fortunate to have worked for some of the world's most respected companies such as EY, PDI/KornFerry, Deloitte and John Deere, in two of the world's most dynamic markets and societies, Sweden and California. I am a "builder" by nature and have started numerous new departments or initiatives as a business representative in multi-stakeholder collaborations involving the private, public and NGO/nonprofit sectors. At the organizational level, I have hands-on experience with sustainability, regulatory compliance, marketing and communications, talent management, sales and manufacturing. I now bring these perspectives to my board roles and consulting engagements, which facilitate my ability to consider "the big picture" impacts when faced with new challenges, and to see opportunity where others may not.
GOVERNANCE has been a core component of my career, and even my life. Leadership roles come easily for me and I enjoy moving a company or organization towards, and through, change. My interest in law has led me to work with regulatory compliance and risk management frameworks developed by COSO and the OECD. At present I serve on the board of Svenskar i Världen (Swedes Worldwide), which works to promote and preserve the rights of the esimated 660 000 Swedes who live overseas. From 2017-2020, I served on the board of Italy's Source International, twice winner of the prestigious Intel Environment Tech Award, of which I became aware during my work with conflict mineral regulations at EY Sverige AB. Starting in 2013, as Vice Chairman of AmCham Sweden, I co-founded Tillsammans Mot Korruption together with Sweden's Institutet Mot Mutor and Transparency International, bringing together some 20 entities in an anti-corruption initiative to heighten awareness in Sweden.
DIVERSITY became a focus area for me in 1989 working in the multicultural Silicon Valley. During the 1990s I started departments at two California banks and a consulting practice for Deloitte & Touche. Although our overall goal was regulatory compliance with anti-discrimination laws in lending, it was agolden opportunity to find the business case for working with different cultures and to forge partnerships with government agencies, NGOs and other banks. In Sweden I've been engaged by 60+ clients to promote the organizational benefits of managing diversity from market- or society-driven perspectives. My Power of 10 Diversity Management Handbooks are available globally in either print or as e-books. In 2013, I co-founded int-Link, Partners for Responsible Sourcing in cooperation with the Internationella Företagarföreningen i Sverige (IFS), the US Embassy and AmCham.
