Lenny-Pessagno joins Albemarle as a prominent leader in her field, with over 25 years of international business and trade development experience as a former member of the Senior Foreign Service.
Prior to her appointment with Albemarle, she served as a commercial diplomat in multiple U.S. Embassies, including as Regional Counselor for Commercial Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia, where she was responsible for the development of U.S. commercial strategy and export related programs in five Andean countries. Previously, Lenny-Pessagno served as Counselor for Commercial Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Santiago, Chile, where she excelled in advocating for U.S. firms and assisting them to close deals and grow their market share. Lenny-Pessagno also drove policy and regulatory changes and supported U.S. firms to develop the largest solar energy plants in Latin America, resulting in a dramatic increase of renewables in the Chilean power grid. Lenny-Pessagno's wealth of experience will build upon Albemarle's continued global sustainability efforts.
"We are pleased to welcome Ellen to Albemarle," said Eric Norris, Albemarle's President, Lithium. "Ellen's extensive experience in building collaborative partnerships with public and private constituencies within Chile will strengthen our growing footprint in the country and allow us to execute our corporate strategy in a manner consistent with our Core Values and shareholder expectations."
Lenny-Pessagno's global career also includes diplomatic assignments at the U.S. Embassies in Madrid, Spain, and Buenos Aires, Argentina; the U.S. Consulate General in Monterrey, Mexico; and in the U.S. Department of Commerce in Washington, DC, and Houston, Texas. She holds a BS in Business Administration from Wake Forest University and a Master's Degree in International Commerce and Policy from George Mason University. In 2017, she participated in the top Senior Executive Management program in Chile, at the ESE Business School of the University of Los Andes.