August 26/Food & Farm Week -- Diamond Foods Inc.  announced that Linda Segre has been appointed to the newly created position of senior vice president of corporate strategy and communications.

Segre brings more than 20 years of senior executive and management consulting experience to Diamond Foods. She most recently served as a managing director at Google.org, the corporate philanthropy organization of Google Inc., where she oversaw the climate change and global development initiatives and managed all operational aspects of the organization. Prior to that, she was a vice president, officer and director at The Boston Consulting Group, a global management consulting firm, where she focused on clients in the consumer goods and financial services sectors, and she served as the managing director of the San Francisco office from February 2001 until September 2005.

She first joined The Boston Consulting Group in 1987 and worked in a number of roles with increasing responsibilities until she became a vice president in May 1995. From 1981 until 1985, Segre was a touring golf professional in the U.S., Europe and Asia. She holds a B.A. from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

In this role, Segre will report to Steven M. Neil, executive vice oresident and chief financial and administrative officer. "Linda's broad management experience and strategic orientation makes her a natural fit for this role, which will encompass corporate communications, investor relations, business development and strategic planning," said Neil. "Given our long-term growth plans, now is the right time to bring in someone with Linda's capabilities."

"We are very pleased to welcome Linda Segre to the Diamond Foods leadership team," said Michael J. Mendes, president and CEO. "Linda brings a robust skill set that augments and complements our current executive team. Her work ethic, passion for driving growth and continuous improvement within organizations makes her an ideal fit with Diamond's management culture."

From the August 31, 2009, Prepared Foods E-dition