Diversifying Corporate America
Age: 38
Senior Director, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Organization: McDonald’s USA
As the first in her family to attend law school, Suheily Natal Davis has a passion for encouraging inclusion, fostering mentoring relationships, and having candid conversations on race, class and gender in corporate spaces. Throughout her entire career, Suheily has worked to advance opportunities for women of color and other underrepresented groups.
In her current role she partners with McDonald’s U.S. leadership team to drive strategic diversity initiatives. Suheily has been with McDonald’s since 2014. Prior to stepping into her current role, Suheily was General Counsel for McDonald’s Latin American Markets and before that worked as Senior Counsel on McDonald’s Global Labor & Employment team. She received her undergraduate degree in Journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her JD from DePaul University College of Law.
Suheily was born in Puerto Rico and moved to Chicago when she was three years old. Growing up, Suheily spent the school year on the South Side of Chicago and her summers in the mountains of Puerto Rico. This upbringing allowed her to grow up bilingual and truly bicultural — both experiences shaping her perspective and who she is today.
In addition to the Illinois Equal Justice Foundation where she co-chairs the grant committee, Suheily currently serves on the Board of Directors for the National Employment Law Council and on the DePaul University College of Law Alumni Diversity Council.
Suheily and her husband, George, also keep busy with their own non-profit, The Perfect Cadence, which provides support for Chicago-area families expecting babies and experiencing financial need. The couple live on the West Side of Chicago with their two children, William and Marley.
Words of wisdom: “If you admit your mistakes, they become part of your past. If you deny your mistakes, they become part of your future.” – Wise words from my mentor, the late Rafael Medina.
