Sean Connolly

President and CEO Hillshire Brands

Sean Connolly is President and CEO for The Hillshire Brands Company (NYSE: HSH).  Under Connolly’s leadership, Hillshire Brands is striving to become the most innovative meat-centric company in North America.  This innovation imperative, along with aggressive cost management and disciplined use of cash, will be keys to delivering significant shareholder value.  In advance of the unveiling of The Hillshire Brands Company, Connolly joined Sara Lee in January 2012 as chief executive officer of the North American Retail and Foodservice business.  

Prior to joining Sara Lee, Connolly served as president of Campbell North America, Campbell Soup Company’s largest division, which accounted for approximately $4.6 billion in annual revenues.  Previous Campbell responsibilities included leading the North American Foodservice Division, Campbell’s Mexico / Latin America operations and several general management roles across Simple Meals and Beverages.  Connolly joined Campbell in 2002 as vice president, Food Brands.  In his tenure at Campbell’s, he drove breakthrough innovations and improved performance into mature categories like soup, beverages and convenient meals.  Examples include: V8 V-Fusion beverages, Campbell’s Go Soups, and the expansion of Campbell’s microwavable soups and gravity-feed shelving.

Before joining Campbell, Connolly served in numerous brand management roles at Procter & Gamble for a decade.  Connolly’s P&G training provided a foundation of marketing, innovation and people management experiences that have served him throughout his career.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from Vanderbilt University, and his Master of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin. Connolly is a member of the board of directors for the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) and board of governors for the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation (HWCF).  He also serves on the GMA’s health and wellness committee.