Sandra Phillips is senior vice president, general counsel and chief legal officer at Toyota Motor North America (TMNA), with responsibility for the company’s Legal, Sustainability and Regulatory Affairs, Social Innovation, Corporate Shared Services, and Compliance and Audit functions, as well as Toyota de Mexico. 

In these roles, Phillips helps Toyota navigate significant business and legal challenges while supporting its expansion as a global mobility company, one that is an industry leader in autonomous, connected and sustainable vehicle technologies. She also provides strategic guidance in areas such as global mobility transactions, cybersecurity, complex litigation, information technology and crisis management. Phillips serves as an advisor to the TMNA Executive Committee and is a member of the company’s global leadership team. She is a past chair of the TMNA Management Committee, which is responsible for setting mid- to long-term business plans and driving opportunities to increase competitiveness and support mobility transformation. 

Previously, Phillips was group vice president, general counsel, chief legal officer, and chief diversity officer at TMNA. In this role, she was instrumental in launching Toyota’s largest-ever philanthropic initiative, Driving Possibilities, a $110 million commitment to career readiness and community enrichment designed to improve access to high-quality STEM education for all. As Chief Diversity Officer reporting to the CEO, Phillips worked closely with Toyota’s external Diversity Advisory Board and was responsible for advancing its long-standing commitment to diversity and inclusion through enriching work environments, employee experiences, the marketplace, and our society. Thanks in part to her vision and leadership, Toyota was recognized in Fair 360’s Top 50 Companies for Diversity list for 16 consecutive years, ranking in the top five every year since 2022. Prior to joining Toyota in June 2012, Phillips held roles leading litigation management and strategy at global law firms and at Pfizer, Inc. 

As a change agent and ally, Phillips has been widely recognized for her contributions, including being named as one of Automotive News’ “100 Leading Women in the North American Auto Industry” and “Automotive News All-Stars”. In addition, Black Enterprise recognized her as one of its “75 Most Powerful Women in Business” (2017), and “Most Powerful Women in Corporate America” (2019). Most recently, Phillips was honored with the “Black Enterprise Lifetime Diversity Crusader Award” (2023) and Woman of the Year Award by The National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers (2023). 

Phillips is an independent director for MSA Safety, Inc., where she chairs the Nominating and Governance Committee and is a member of the Audit and Law Committees, and The Chemours Company (retired). She serves on the board of trustees for the University of Texas Law School Foundation, the board of directors for the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the Southern Methodist University Tate Lecture Series, and is a co-founder of the Center for Women in Law at the University of Texas. Phillips is a member of the Executive Leadership Council, the Dallas Assembly and the International Women’s Forum. She holds both a Bachelor of Journalism degree and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Texas at Austin. 

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