Heidi Brock to join AF&PA as president, CEO

The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA), Washington, has appointed Heidi Brock to serve as its new president and CEO. Brock currently serves as president and CEO of the Washington-based Aluminum Association. Her final day working with the Aluminum Association is Aug. 16.

In the new position, Brock is succeeding Donna Harman, who announced her intention to retire earlier this year after 12 years serving as AF&PA’s president and CEO. According to a news release from AF&PA, Brock brings extensive experience to the position, having served as CEO of the Aluminum Association for almost eight years and having worked for nearly 20 years as a senior executive for one of the paper and wood products industry’s largest companies. 

“I look forward to leading the American Forest & Paper Association, a notable manufacturing trade association representing an industry that is unquestionably committed to significant sustainability goals and targets,” Brock says. “I am excited to return to the industry at a time when the association will be updating its outstanding work ‘Better Practices, Better Planet 2020,’ developed under Donna Harman’s leadership. This work is one of the most extensive sets of sustainability goals established for a U.S. manufacturing industry. In addition, I look forward to working with the highly regarded team at AF&PA on its robust public policy agenda.”

“On behalf of the AF&PA board, I am very pleased to welcome Heidi back to the paper and wood products industry and to the helm of AF&PA,” says Greif CEO and AF&PA Board Chair Pete Watson. “Her extensive industry and public policy advocacy experience make her the ideal person to lead our industry into the future. Heidi has demonstrated association leadership and achieved significant public policy outcomes for the manufacturing sector during her career. I know she will build on the legacy of successful fact-based advocacy of Donna and the entire AF&PA team.

“Heidi is a consummate professional and an extraordinary leader,” Watson continues. “I know she will help AF&PA staff and members continue to speak with one voice to achieve successful outcomes in the federal, state and local policy realms. Her knowledge of the industry’s commitment to sustainability initiatives and her leadership skills will help the industry build on its solid foundation and bring new ideas forward to address important issues well into the future.” 

Brock announced she will be resigning from her position at the Aluminum Association to transition to AF&PA. According to a news release from the Aluminum Association, its board of directors has begun a search for Brock’s successor. 

“Over nearly eight years as president and CEO, Heidi has grown the Aluminum Association’s value proposition and membership. Today, the association is speaking with a strong, united voice across the aluminum value chain and is a recognized leader on critical issues including sustainability and trade,” says Michelle O’Neill, Alcoa senior vice president for global government affairs and sustainability and chair of the Aluminum Association. “Heidi has provided dynamic leadership that has produced real results for our members. On behalf of the Aluminum Association’s board of directors, I thank her for her outstanding service to our association and our industry.”

Since joining the Aluminum Association in 2011, Brock has significantly grown the organization and set new membership records, the Aluminum Association reports in a news release announcing her resignation. The association now represents more than 120 member companies across the full aluminum value chain, and those companies produce 70 percent of all aluminum and aluminum products shipped in North America. Under her leadership, the Aluminum Association also led two successful trade enforcement cases and highlighted industry leadership on sustainability.  

Under Brock’s leadership, the Aluminum Association strengthened its advocacy mission and role as the key policy voice for the aluminum value chain in the U.S., AF&PA reports in a news release. Under her leadership, the organization launched the Aluminum PAC, collaborated with Congress on the creation of the Aluminum Caucus and significantly increased the engagement of member companies with government stakeholders. In addition, the association recently led two significant and successful trade enforcement cases for the industry while also achieving record membership levels. 

“Heidi’s impact extended throughout the Aluminum Association as she assembled and led a terrific team of staff and partners that proved to be highly effective,” says Marco Palmieri, senior vice president and president, Novelis North America, and first vice chair of the Aluminum Association board of directors. “She also brought the industry together to strengthen our collective voice and use it to achieve greater things than we could have as individual businesses. The momentum she created during her tenure will help make this a smooth transition and ensure the Aluminum Association can continue to serve its members effectively for years to come.”  

“I am grateful for the outstanding engagement and support I have received from the leadership, members and staff of the Aluminum Association for the past eight years,” Brock adds. “Working together, we have contributed to the growth of the U.S. aluminum industry and strengthened the communities in which it operates. It has been a privilege to serve in this role, and I will miss working closely with the exceptional team at the Aluminum Association and the wonderful representatives of our member companies. Given their talent, commitment, and strong industry story, I have every confidence in the association’s continued success.”

Before joining the Aluminum Association in 2011, Brock served as vice president of federal and international affairs for Weyerhaeuser, where she was an active member on AF&PA committees. During Brock’s 18 years at Weyerhaeuser, she worked as vice president for e-business, director of strategic planning and manager for government affairs. Brock also sits on the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and ASAE Foundation boards of directors, the U.S. Chamber’s Committee of 100, as well as the board for DC Central Kitchen. In 2018, she was awarded the CMA Leadership Award to recognize her work to promote sustainability and manufacturing while chairing the National Association of Manufacturers’ (NAM) Council of Manufacturing Associations.