Phyllis Harris has served as General Counsel of the American Red Cross since March 2019. In this role, she leads strategic and tactical legal initiatives, providing comprehensive legal advice to the president and CEO, board of governors and various business unit executives, while managing overall legal risk and compliance for the organization. She also manages the in-house legal function, the Office of Investigations, Compliance and Ethics, and the Government Relations team.
Phyllis joined Red Cross after 13 years with Walmart, where she last served as senior vice president and general counsel of legal operations, managing a team of 70 attorneys and support staff while developing and implementing transformational legal and compliance programs.
Prior to joining Walmart, Phyllis spent two decades with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), working as the deputy assistant administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance in Washington, D.C., and as regional counsel in Atlanta. In 2001, she was conferred the rank of Meritorious Executive by President George W. Bush for sustained superior accomplishments.
Phyllis is highly active in the community. She currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Council of Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO), and previously served on the Board of Directors of the Environmental Law Institute for nine years. She also serves as the chair of the Converse College Board of Trustees and previously was a board director for the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.
