Rodney Williams
Full Name
Rodney Williams
Job Title
President and Chief Executive Officer
Company
Belvedere Vodka
Speaker Bio
As President and CEO of Belvedere Vodka, Rodney Williams is responsible for the development, growth, and business vision for the brand.

Williams is leading the global launch and implementation of a new platform that imaginatively captures the essence of Belvedere’s story of Polska rye, water, and fire: Made With Nature. An ode to what made Belvedere, Williams has championed the process of transforming simple ingredients from nature into extraordinary vodka for years. Now, this anthem is codified into an exciting platform that is catching attention across industries.

Rooted in Belvedere’s best, fresh, simple approach, Made With Nature comes at a time where consumers are increasingly ready to listen to brands that embrace a natural philosophy and are purposeful in their actions to effect meaningful change. The brand that has always stood for quality, naturalness, purpose, and craftsmanship is poised for continued success under Williams’ category defying leadership.

Prior to his role at Belvedere, he was the CMO for Moet Hennessy USA's storied portfolio of iconic luxury champagne, wines and spirits brands.

Rodney's tenure at Moet Hennessy began as Senior Vice President for Hennessy, where he led the brand out of decline and into record growth with a groundbreaking new strategic platform that garnered numerous industry awards including five Gold Lions at Cannes in 2016.

Prior to that he was in the wine business where, as SVP of Classics Brands at Jackson Family Wines, he launched the most successful new product in the company’s history; and as SVP of Robert Mondavi, Constellation Brands, oversaw the turnaround of Woodbridge that resulted in nine consecutive years of sustained growth.

Before joining the wine business, Rodney headed marketing for the relaunch of the OnStar division for General Motors, including the development and launch of the award-winning $55M “Batman” advertising campaign.

His career began in brand management of Johnson & Johnson’s First Aid, Home Health Care, Sports Medicine and First Aid Kit brand teams: each with #1 share and growth rates at parity or above to its category.

Rodney sits on the board of Effies Worldwide and is a member of the Executive Leadership Council.

He earned a BA from Amherst College and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School.