When Catalina Sierra Mejía was asked to become assistant treasurer at O-I, the world’s largest manufacturer of glass containers (including alcohol, food, and pharmaceuticals), she knew she could put her skills to work. She had done so much transformation in previous financial planning roles within O-I that she was excited about the opportunity to bring her skill set to another role.
“My treasurer at the time asked me what I thought needed to happen, and I told her that we had an opportunity to reshape our organization and have a global approach,” Catalina says. “With her support, we were able to go through that transformation.”
Working through 2023, Catalina helped transform the treasury organization into a globally integrated model, establishing specialized global “towers” that enhanced consistency, visibility and alignment across the business: a global debt and capital markets tower, a global treasury operations tower, and an accounting tower, supported by a new global process owner role focused on transforming and standardizing the underlying processes. The redesign improved visibility, standardized processes globally, and enabled the organization to operate with greater consistency across regions. This new architecture also allows the team to leverage delivery centers and centers of excellence more effectively and to see and move cash as one connected system.
The Joy of Building Teams
Today, Catalina is VP and treasurer at O-I, having proven herself, as she’s done time and time again at O-I and other companies, in her twenty-six-year career. Proving herself in this particular case, she admits, wasn’t a simple process.
“When you are a transformational leader—and I don’t even like to use that word because of how watered down it has become—but when you are set on challenging the status quo, you are going to find your biggest challenges in people who don’t like change. People like being in their comfort zone, and I understand that. Not everyone perceives a stretch opportunity as just that.”
Catalina, whose career has spanned from her native Colombia to Brazil to the US, says that being the one doing the pushing can be challenging, especially as a woman whose questioning, detail-driven style can be perceived differently than a male peer asking the same questions. For her, the emerging results and the value of a more modern, globally integrated treasury model are high points of her last couple of years at O-I.
But the most meaningful moments are the ones where she sees people grow into the best versions of themselves.
“I love creating high-performing teams, and I do have high expectations, but I’m also going to give you the tools you need to succeed. There is nothing more gratifying to me than building a team and, after a year or two, seeing it performing at an entirely different level than it was before.”
Her development style is deliberately stretching. She will push you, especially new leaders, continually questioning whether what works today will be enough tomorrow. She believes comfort zones are dangerous and sees part of her job as pushing people just beyond what feels easy so they can discover new capabilities. At the same time, she emphasizes that this challenge is grounded in heart—she wants people to feel supported even as they’re held to ambitious expectations. Maybe that’s why she jokingly refers to her leadership style as “part mom.”
“What has always impressed me most about Cata is her ability to remain calm under pressure while staying focused on solutions and results,” says Reuben Daniels, Global Head of Investment Banking, Chatham Financial. “She listens carefully, learns quickly, and brings people together around a common objective. Those qualities have enabled her to build strong relationships and become an exceptional leader.”
Advertisement
Raising Students of the World
There is another part of Catalina that is important to understand. She, her husband, and children didn’t intend to stay in the US.
“The idea was that I’d have a temporary assignment for two years and then we’d go back home,” the treasurer says. But then COVID hit, and everything changed. Because of that, Catalina and her husband have had to double down on ensuring that their now-teenagers feel rooted in more than US-centric culture.
“If my kids are going to speak with an accent, I’d rather it be their English,” the VP says. The mother also gently went to war with her kids’ school district when she wanted her children to work through the school’s AP Spanish program. Sure, they speak it natively, but how many English classes do native speakers take? She won the battle.
Fundamentally, Catalina is determined for her children to understand that, for all its size and influence, the country where they have grown up is not the only way of seeing and experiencing the world.
“I was just talking with my daughter about how air conditioning is not really a thing outside of the US,” Catalina says. “I just want them to both appreciate the amenities that we have here, but also understand there are so many different ways to live.”
This passionate mothering seems to, in part, come back to that idea of challenging the comfort zones of people Catalina cares about. When she looks back, she sees how embracing life’s curveballs as opportunities and putting all of her passion and love into it, has shaped her journey. What she has learned from experience she now seeks to pass on to those close to her.
“I do feel that was my approach to life. I didn’t have a specific career plan —instead I just took every opportunity I was given and put all my passion and hard work into it. That is my advice to others.” Catalina says.
Chatham Financial is a leading independent capital markets advisor, helping organizations around the world navigate complexity and achieve better financial outcomes. For more than three decades, Chatham has partnered with companies across industries to develop strategies that support financial stability, improve decision-making, and align risk management programs with broader business objectives. Combining deep market expertise with an independent, client-focused approach, Chatham delivers practical solutions tailored to each organization’s unique needs. Chatham is proud of its partnership with O-I and recognizes Catalina Sierra’s leadership in advancing the company’s treasury and financial objectives.
