Shayron Barnes-Selby
Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, Primo Water Corporation

Shayron Barnes-Selby was appointed Vice President of Government Affairs and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Programs in February 2019. Ms. Barnes-Selby led the projects to achieve Carbon Neutral certification and the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) certification for Primo Water North America (PWNA) operations. Under Shayron’s leadership, in 2020 PWNA, achieved Carbon Neutral® certification under The CarbonNeutral Protocol, an international standard administered by Natural Capital Partners. Also, in 2020 and 2021, with Shayron’s leadership and guidance, PWNA completed the AWS-certification requirements for the company’s four (4) owned spring water sites in the U.S.

While Shayron continued to work on Primo Water’s ESG efforts and its government affairs in North America, she also started work in a collaborative partnership with the HR team at PWNA, in the development and implementation of a diverse, equitable and inclusive community of Associates. Having worked for Primo Water Corp., and its predecessors for more than 29 years, in various leadership roles, Shayron was uniquely suited to share her work and life experiences that helped to create a safe space for others to share their truths, experiences and concerns. Shayron saw this initiative as the foundation to create a link to the external social dialogue that has an internal effect on her colleagues at Primo Water.

Prior to these appointments, Ms. Barnes-Selby served in various leadership roles at DS Services of America, Inc., a Primo Water Corporation subsidiary, including as Vice President, Government Affairs and Quality Services from May 2014 to February 2019.

Today, Shayron’s role at Primo Water is multi-functional. She has a foot in government affairs, regulatory compliance, legislative monitoring, environmental sustainability, and DEI; not to mention a mentor to many PWNA Associates. Her passion has always been quality assurance and quality control, and that’s how she got her start in the bottled water industry in 1986 as the quality assurance manager for a small family-owned company (Alamance Foods/Triton Water Company) in Burlington, North Carolina.

What Shayron does today is the sum-total of all the work and experience she has amassed over the past 36 years. Her technical background in quality assurance and quality control serves her very well in understanding pieces of legislation that could impact PWNA – from packaging to identifying contaminants, monitoring source waters and finished products.

Ms. Barnes-Selby has represented and promoted the interest of PWNA with regulators and legislators at the state and federal levels and ensured that PWNA met or exceeded all applicable bottled water regulations.

Ms. Barnes-Selby has for many years been an active advocate on behalf of the bottled water industry. She has been a fixture at the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) Capitol Hill events, meeting with elected officials to educate them about bottled water industry issues. In addition to her federal work, Ms. Barnes-Selby addresses industry issues at the state and local level.

In 2006, Shayron was awarded the IBWA Directors’ Award for her advocacy efforts and commitment to the bottled water industry and IBWA. In 2014, Ms. Barnes-Selby was the first recipient of a new advocacy award created by the association to recognize an IBWA member or nonmember whose advocacy efforts have had a positive impact on the national and global conversation about the larger public policy issues important to the bottled water industry. During the 2014 IBWA awards ceremony, this award was officially renamed the IBWA/Selby Advocacy Award (affectionately referred to as “The Selby”).

In 2016, Ms. Barnes-Selby was elected by the membership to serve as IBWA chairwoman. She was the second woman to hold this position in the trade association’s 60+ year history. Shayron is currently a member of the IBWA Board of Directors and Executive Committee. She has also served on various IBWA committees, most notably the Government Relations Committee, of which she was the co-chair for many years, and the IBWA Political Action Committee Board. Shayron has also served as co-chair of IBWA’s technical and education committees. She has given freely of her time to IBWA, often participating as an instructor for IBWA’s popular Certified Plant Operator educational study session, which is held every year during the IBWA Business Conference and Trade Show.

Ms. Barnes-Selby was inducted into the IBWA Hall of Fame during the IBWA annual business conference and trade show on November 14, 2018.

Ms. Barnes-Selby holds a B. A. in Biology and a minor in Chemistry, from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNC-G); and a Master of Education (M. Ed) in Public Health from UNC-G.