Nissan Americas has appointed Chandra Vasser to the new position of Vice President and Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer.

In this newly created role for Nissan’s Americas region, Vasser will lead the company’s strategy to expand Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) across business functions. She will also be in charge of developing partnerships and plans to share their DEI commitments with employees, customers, and the community.

Vasser is a Nissan veteran, having worked at the car manufacturing firm for the past 17 years. She first joined in 2004 and soon progressed in roles in the finance and purchasing functions. She is also a member of Nissan’s Diversity Advisory Council.

Before her latest appointment, she was a finance director for several sales and marketing functions in Nissan’s US business operations. She also previously worked as director of purchasing for several functional areas, including leadership of supplier diversity. Under her leadership, Nissan was recognised as the “2016 Corporation of the Year” by the TriState Minority Supplier Development Council (TSMSDC).

Vasser has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Tennessee State University, an MBA from the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University, and recently completed the McKinsey Academy’s Black Executive Leadership Program.

Jérémie Papin, Chairperson, Nissan Americas, said: “Taking actions to strengthen our focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion is a critical part of the culture change that we’ve committed to with our Nissan NEXT transformation. Chandra brings great experience to the role and will drive how we value equity and inclusion with all of our stakeholders, including employees, customers, dealers, and suppliers.”