Tyson Foods Inc. announced Tuesday (Nov. 27) that Sara Lilygren was recently promoted to the role of executive vice president of corporate affairs, a post previously held by recently retired Archie Schaffer.

Lilygren has served as senior vice president of external relations for more than three years, and is the ranking female at the global meat protein company than employs some 115,000 worldwide.

She joined Tyson Foods in August 2002 as director of federal government relations and ran the company’s Washington, D.C., office for seven years. Prior to that, Lilygren was a lobbyist and public relations practitioner for various food industry groups for 22 years. She moved to Tyson Foods’ Springdale headquarters in 2009 to manage external relations, which includes public relations, community relations and corporate communications departments. 

In addition to managing external affairs in her new role, she also leads the company’s charitable giving, which focuses on education and hunger relief. Tyson Foods’ goal is to make a positive contribution to the active, passionate community involved in the fight against hunger.

Lilygren serves on boards or advisory councils for the Ozark Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the Arkansas World Trade Center, the U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce and the Walton Arts Center. She earned a bachelor’s degree in foreign affairs from the University of Virginia.