Trinidad-born executive and UWI graduate Muhammad Abdullah appointed to lead Mountain Arctic Pacific USA region at The Coca-Cola Company.
“My time at UWI laid the foundation for how I think, lead, and collaborate,” says Muhammad Abdullah. That foundation has served him well. Abdullah, a graduate of UWI St Augustine’s Department of Management Studies within the Faculty of Social Sciences, has been appointed as Vice President and General Manager of the Mountain Arctic Pacific (MAP) USA territory at The Coca-Cola Company, one of the largest beverage brands in the world.
In his new role, he will oversee the company’s largest US region by geography, spanning territories over 19 states from Washington to Colorado to Utah, Hawaii and Alaska. His appointment marks not only a personal milestone but a regional one.
Mr Abdullah started his career as a research assistant at UWI, then enrolled in the Management Trainee programme at Mittal Steel in Point Lisas before leaving to pursue an MBA in International Management at the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona. Since then, he served for seven years at Johnson & Johnson, and the past 18 years at The Coca-Cola Company.
He has led teams in multiple countries, and most recently, was the head of the 24-country Caribbean region, where he attracted major investments to the region, led multiple community initiatives, and executed on a strategy that he dubbed “The Caribbean We Deserve”.
Of his UWI experience, Abdullah says, “It wasn’t just about the academics. It was the environment - the diversity of thought, intellectual rigour, and shared sense of possibility - to leave things better than we found them.
“I’m proud to be a UWI alum,” he says. “It’s part of my DNA, and I carry that with me into every room I walk into.”
