The Personality of the Year Award has been discerned annually since 1951 to honour individuals widely recognised as having made particularly distinguished and inspirational contributions to the fields of roads and transport. Over the years, the award has distinguished some of the world’s most influential transport personalities for their commitment to promoting the development of road networks that enable access and sustainable mobility for all, IRF’s own mission. 

In presenting the award at the closing of the IRF Annual Conference 2022, Anouar Benazzouz, President of the International Road Federation, paid tribute to Mrs Anderson stressing “ (…) with her work, with her passion and her commitment to sustainable mobility, to innovation and to partnerships, she truly embodies IRF’s mission, vision and values”.  The IRF recognition is the latest in a long line of international distinctions gained by Mrs Anderson within and outside the transport sector. It recognises her contribution to Holcim’s decarbonisation, the digitalisation of their transport operations, the road safety program, and the development of the women truck drivers programme.

Thanking IRF for this prestigious acknowledgment, Mrs Anderson commented “IRF’s collaborative approach to solving some of the most pressing challenges the road and transport sectors face is truly the only way forward to provide adequate answers to people’s needs, to the planet’s needs and to our economies’ needs”.  “I am also particularly grateful to the IRF for furthering the cause of women in this industry where we – the women – remain extremely scarce while representing one of the greatest opportunities of the industry” she added.

A Mechanical Engineer from INSA Lyon, France, Magali Anderson, has spent her 30-year career over four different continents. She was appointed as a member of the Group Executive Committee and Chief Sustainability Officer of Holcim (then LafargeHolcim) in October 2019. In March 2021, the Group announced the expansion of Magali Anderson’s role to Chief Sustainability and Innovation Officer, putting sustainability at the core of its innovation pipeline. Magali joined LafargeHolcim as Group Head of Health & Safety in October 2016. Magali started her career as a field engineer on offshore oil rigs in Nigeria. She spent 27 years in the Oil and Gas industry, mainly with Schlumberger, holding operational line management positions like CEO Angola and Region Head Europe. During her career she also held several functional roles, including Vice President Marketing & Sales, Vice President Shared Services Organization for the Europe and Africa region and Global Head of Maintenance. 

Mother to two daughters, her passion has long been the cause of women in the industry.