About

Elisabeth White is responsible for legal matters in her position as legal counsel at Diageo, the global leader in alcoholic beverages with over 200 brands, old and new, large and small, global and local. Diageo Australia produces, distributes and markets some of the world’s best-known premium alcoholic drinks brands including Bundaberg Rum, Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff, Captain Morgan, Bailey’s, Don Julio and Tanqueray. In her role, White focuses on commercial outcomes, and seizes every opportunity to improve and drive change within the in-house community and in the business. A nominator highlights that ‘her broad impact includes working closely with the sales team across Australia to achieve sustainable growth, partnering with marketing on “cool in culture” advertisements, working on the latest tender for a new manufacturing supplier, and training staff in our distillery in Bundaberg. She is known to not just focus on the legal issue, but how the issue forms part of Diageo’s wider business strategy’. White is directly accountable to provide legal advice on new products and strategic projects. She drives continuous improvement initiatives across all legal process in Australasia and in the global legal team. She communicates effectively across all levels of the Diageo global business to ensure that all local business needs are met and stakeholder expectations are adequately clarified, aligned and met. White is recognised for creating and leading a culture of compliance in Diageo. Prior to joining Diageo, she was an in-house lawyer at PriceWaterhouse Coopers, where she supported the various business units and corporate functions to provide advice on legal, regulatory and risk issues. White has also worked at law firms DibbsBarker and Mills Oakley.