William Hale
Founder, Active Compass
Sustainable growth happens when strategy, execution, and community impact move in the same direction.
Education/Experience
William is Chief of Global Operations for Cargill’s Corporate Strategy & Development function and former Group Strategy Leader for Cargill’s Agricultural Supply Chain North America. His prior roles include Global Strategy Lead for Cargill Animal Nutrition, Business Development Leader and Commodity Merchant at Horizon Milling, and leadership positions in private and corporate aviation as Director of Marketing and Director of Distribution and Business Development, alongside experience in medical, financial, and technology industries. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems from Iowa State University (2002).
Social Accounts
Biography
William McCord Hale is a global operations and strategy leader with deep experience in complex, multinational environments. He currently serves as Chief of Global Operations for Cargill’s Corporate Strategy & Development (M&A) function, where he helps shape and execute enterprise-wide growth, integration, and transformation initiatives. Known for aligning strategy with disciplined execution, William works closely with senior leadership teams to drive clarity, accountability, and measurable results.
Since joining Cargill in 2010 as a Commodity Merchant with Horizon Milling, he has held increasingly senior roles, including Business Development Leader and Global Strategy Lead for Cargill Animal Nutrition, where he led country strategy refreshes, acquisition game-boarding, and capital planning. From 2016 to 2019, William served as Group Strategy Leader for Cargill’s Agricultural Supply Chain North America, its second-largest business, providing strategic leadership across crop inputs, grain and oilseed origination, oilseed processing and biodiesel, domestic and export trade, global cotton trading, and marine and terminal operations.
Earlier in his career, William worked in private and corporate aviation as Director of Marketing and Director of Distribution and Business Development, and also gained experience in the medical, financial, and technology sectors across businesses of varying sizes. This breadth gives him a practical, cross-industry perspective on growth, operations, and stakeholder management. In recognition of his community leadership and professional accomplishments, he was named one of Twin Cities Finest by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Minneapolis–St. Paul Magazine in 2015.
William has long been active in civic and nonprofit leadership. He has held board and committee roles with organizations such as World Savvy, the Leadership Emergence & Development (LEAD) Program, Boys & Girls Clubs of the Twin Cities, and The Children’s Home Society and Family Services, and has chaired multiple community enrichment committees in partnership with Cargill Corporate Affairs. In 2019, he was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce and has previously chaired the Government Committee for the Eden Prairie Chamber of Commerce.
Areas of Expertise
- Enterprise & business-unit strategy
- Global operations
- Complex supply chains
- M&A integration
- Capital planning
- Cross-functional leadership
- Stakeholder & community engagement
- Strategy execution & performance management
