L’Oréal has announced the appointment of Rahquel Purcell as its next Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) Officer, North America, effective immediately.
In this role, Purcell will report to Alexis Perakis-Valat, CEO, L’Oréal USA and President, North America. She will continue to sit on the management committee of L’Oréal USA as well as the global leadership team of Margaret Johnston-Clarke, L’Oréal’s global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer.
“I’m honored to bring my experience leading Operations, Supply Chain and Transformation to help advance the L’Oréal culture and to connect strategy, people and execution to harness the value of difference and drive business growth,” said Rahquel Purcell. “We have phenomenal products, leading innovation capabilities and best-in-class consumer insights, and I’m eager to partner with our brands and leverage these core assets to create authentic connections with diverse consumers and communities.”
For the last four years, Purcell served as the company’s first Chief Transformation Officer in North America, an office established in 2022 to strategize, prioritize, and coordinate a high-impact portfolio of enterprise-wide transformation initiatives in the Zone. In that time, Rahquel built the function from the ground up, established a world-class team of experts, and launched new organizational capabilities.
Rahquel joined L’Oréal USA in January 2016 as VP, Supply Chain North America after a 23-year career in Supply Chain at Procter & Gamble, both in the US and in Europe. In 2017, she was promoted to SVP, Supply Chain North America and joined the management committee of L’Oréal USA. She was instrumental in the transformation and modernization of the company’s Supply Chain in the United States. In March 2020, Rahquel was appointed Chief Operations Officer, North America, which put her on the frontlines of the company’s efforts to respond to the disruptive business conditions caused by the pandemic. During this unprecedented period, Rahquel and her Operations teams successfully navigated market shutdowns, e-commerce accelerations, a global supply chain crisis and labor shortages to ultimately deliver significant growth.
“Beauty consumers, in their infinite diversity, aspire for products made for their unique needs from brands that connect to their values and identities. Our talented teams at L’Oréal are inspired by a work environment that welcomes different contributions to our shared ambition of creating the beauty that moves the world. I am confident that Rahquel’s operational expertise, business acumen and transformational leadership will help us continue to foster an innovative and inclusive culture for our teams and accelerate our progress in this high-priority area for our company," said Alexis Perakis-Valat.
Purcell moves into the Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, North America role that was previously held by Liliahn Majeed, who has decided to pursue new opportunities outside of L’Oréal after three years of dedicated service and deep commitment to the organization.
