Our Advisors
Marie Pillai
Marie Pillai is an accomplished Finance and Investment Professional with over 30 years of experience delivering fiduciary oversight and bottom-line results. She retired in November 2019 as the Chief Investment Officer and Treasurer at General Mills. In her role as the CIO, Marie oversaw General Mills’ over $11B retirement plans and benefits portfolio encompassing overfunded Pensions, 401k, Healthcare and Foundation assets. As a Global Treasurer she managed the liquidity and cash management policy and optimized the capital structure for the company improving cost of capital and credit profile in the wake of several transformative acquisitions. Before General Mills, Marie worked in similar leadership positions at Siemens (US Region) and Procter & Gamble enabling her to develop strategic, functional and global perspectives across multiple sectors.
Marie holds several board positions including the Investment Committee of Catholic Community Foundation, Investment Advisory Board Member at University of Minnesota and the Investment Committee of the Bush Foundation. She is a Founding Member of the Center for Board Certified Fiduciaries. Marie earned a Bachelor’s degree from St Xavier’s College, India, an MBA from Case Western University, OH and a Master’s in International Economics from Temple University, PA. She was also a Candidate in Wharton’s Finance Ph.D. program for 2 years.
Marie lives in Minneapolis with her husband.