Gloria Santona

Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary

Gloria Santona is the chief legal officer of McDonald’s Corporation, the world’s largest quick service restaurant company, with over 31,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries. In this role, she leads McDonald’s worldwide legal, compliance, regulatory and corporate governance functions. As part of McDonald’s senior leadership team, Ms. Santona is also actively involved in the company’s strategic direction and growth. Ms. Santona has fostered the legal department’s diversity efforts and on-going engagement in pro-bono legal services, which have garnered the McDonald’s Legal Department awards in recognition of the legal and educational services it has provided to underserved communities.

Ms. Santona joined McDonald’s as an attorney upon her graduation from the University of Michigan Law School, and subsequently held a number of management positions in the legal department. She became the company’s corporate secretary in 1996 and has served as general counsel since 2001. She is a member of the Board of Directors of Aon Corporation, serving on its Audit and Governance Committees and as Chairman of its Compliance Committee. In addition, Ms. Santona serves on the Board of the Constitutional Rights Foundation of Chicago, and as a trustee of Rush University Medical Center and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Santona is a member of several professional organizations and is a frequent speaker and panel member on a variety of diversity, legal, compliance and corporate governance topics. She was named one of the 100 Most Influential Hispanics by Hispanic Business Magazine and has received numerous awards, including the Women with Vision Award from the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois, the Excellence in Corporate Practice Award from the Association of Corporate Counsel, the Women of Achievement Award from the Anti-Defamation League and the National Hispanic Woman of the Year Award from the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation. In addition, Ms. Santona has been recognized as one of America’s Top General Counsel by Corporate Board Member magazine.