Carrie Jones-Barber is the CEO of Dawn Foods, a global leader in bakery manufacturing and ingredients distribution. Under her leadership, Dawn has grown into a multi-billion-dollar enterprise while remaining rooted in the family company’s values—placing people and customers at the heart of everything it does.
She became CEO in 2006 after holding a variety of leadership roles across the organization. She began her career at Dawn as a sales representative, later spearheading business development in the UK, and served as chief information officer from 1997 to 2001. As president of Dawn International from 2001 to 2006, she led the company’s global operations through a period of transformative growth and profitability.
Today, Jones-Barber leads nearly 4,000 team members worldwide. Her deep experience across regions and functions gives her a unique global perspective on the interconnectedness of teams, customers and suppliers—and the role trust plays in building lasting partnerships.
She earned her bachelor of business administration from Western Michigan University and her MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. She currently serves on several corporate and nonprofit boards, including the Board of Directors for Land O’Frost and the Advisory Council for the Haworth College of Business at Western. She is also a member of the American Bakers Association, where she is on the Board of Directors, as well as the Society of Bakery Women and the President's Leadership Council for Search for Common Ground.
A recognized advocate for leadership and inclusion, Jones-Barber has spoken at the Forbes Global CEO Conference and numerous university and industry events to inspire the next generation of business and bakery professionals. She received WMU’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2018 and was honored by MichBusiness as a member of the 2021 Women Workplace Leader listing, by DBusiness Magazine with a 2021 Powered by Women Award and by Linkage with the 2022 Women in Leadership Executive Impact Award. She is also an active member of Business Leaders for Michigan.