Larissa Ordoñez: Transforming The Legal Landscape

In the dynamic world of law, where complexities and difficulties abound, Larissa Ordoñez has not only navigated the challenges but has excelled, leaving an indelible mark on the legal landscape. With 25 years of experience spanning diverse roles in law, compliance, and data protection, Larissa’s journey is a testament to resilience, leadership, and the pursuit of excellence.

The Journey Unfolds

Larissa’s career in law began two and a half decades ago, with a foundation that includes a specialization and a master’s degree in civil procedure, along with other specializations and courses in contracts, compliance, and data protection. From the beginning, Larissa has been involved in demanding sectors, working for companies such as AGIP, Liquigás, Ipiranga, and IBOPE, where she gained extensive experience in various areas of law.

Larissa’s journey has led her to hold leadership positions in different corporate environments, where she has been able to apply her knowledge to solve highly complex legal challenges. Currently, Larissa is the Director of Legal, Compliance, and Data Protection for Latin America at Kantar Group. In this position, she ensures that the company’s legal operations align with both local and international regulations while upholding the highest standards of data protection and security.

The Key Inspiration Behind Joining Kantar

Larissa decided to join Kantar due to several factors. First, she was drawn to the company’s strong commitment to innovation and its use of data to generate impactful market insights. Kantar’s ability to transform data into actionable strategies that fuel business growth and innovation captivated her, and she wanted to be part of that transformative process.

Furthermore, Kantart values diversity and inclusion, which resonates deeply with Larissa both personally and professionally. She found a unique opportunity in Kantar to contribute to a work environment that not only values differences but also leverages them to drive innovation and business success.

Larissa’s Distinctive Leadership Style

Larissa’s leadership style is built on three main pillars: empathy, resilience, and effective communication. She has come to understand that empathy is essential for grasping her team’s needs and concerns, while resilience allows her to face challenges with a positive and proactive mindset. Clear and effective communication is essential for aligning everyone with the organization’s goals and objectives.

Her leadership approach has evolved through facing various challenges, including budget management, team dynamics, and the constant need to balance time, quality, and agility in project deliveries. Over time, Larissa has become more flexible and adaptive in her strategies, adjusting to meet the unique demands of each situation, while prioritizing the development and well-being of her team.

Establishing a Standardized and Flexible Compliance Framework for Kantar

Managing data compliance in a diverse region like Latin America requires an approach that combines standardization and flexibility. Larissa and her team have created a compliance framework that adheres to Kantar’s global principles while being flexible enough to adapt to the legal and cultural specificities of each country of operation. This framework is based on a set of policies and procedures implemented throughout the organization but allows for local adjustments as necessary.

Larissa ensures close collaboration not only with the legal teams in each country but also in collaboration with all areas of the company to ensure that local regulations are strictly adhered to while upholding a high standard of data protection that reflects Kantar’s values and reputation in the global market.

Tackling the Major Hurdles in Managing Cross-Border Legal Issues

Managing legal issues across 17 different countries is a complex challenge, especially when it comes to aligning local legal practices with Kantar’s global standards. One of the biggest challenges is the diversity of legal and regulatory systems that need to be considered when formulating compliance strategies and business operations.

To overcome these challenges, Larissa and her team have implemented a system of continuous communication and collaboration between the legal teams in each country. This includes regular meetings, training sessions, and workshops to ensure everyone is up to date with the latest global policies and practices. They have also developed a network of local consultants who provide insights into the specificities of each market, allowing Kantar to maintain its compliance and legal integrity in all territories where it operates. The most important point here is to understand the business and stay close to all areas, working in collaboration and cooperation to ensure the best delivery with efficiency, quality, and speed while maintaining the necessary legal security.

Distinctive Leadership Strategies for Team Guidance

The acquisition of IBOPE by Kantar was a significant milestone and required a leadership approach that could guide the team through this transition. Larissa’s primary strategy was to focus on transparency and open communication. She knew her team needed to understand the impact of the acquisition and how it would affect their roles and responsibilities. To achieve this, she promoted informational sessions and kept channels open for questions and concerns. Additionally, she created a detailed action plan that included clear goals and a timeline for integrating the two companies.

Larissa encouraged collaboration between the IBOPE and Kantar teams, highlighting the growth and development opportunities this acquisition would bring to everyone. According to her, these strategies work for ensuring a smooth transition and maintaining team morale and productivity during this period of change.

The Legal Strategy Changes to Support the Company’s Growth Initiatives

Each new market brings its own unique set of legal and regulatory challenges. To support Kantar’s growth initiatives, Larissa adapts her legal strategy to meet the specific requirements of each territory. For instance, as an expatriate in the Dominican Republic, she conducted a comprehensive analysis of local laws and regulations to ensure that all Kantar operations were compliant from the outset. Larissa collaborated closely with local legal consultants and utilized her experience in handling cross-border issues to identify and mitigate potential risks. Her approach is always proactive, aiming to anticipate problems before they occur and ensuring that Kantar can expand its operations securely and efficiently.

Creating a Balance between Legal Compliance and Business Responsibilities

Balancing legal compliance with business responsibilities is one of the most challenging aspects of Larissa’s job. However, she believes it’s possible to achieve this balance with a pragmatic approach. Her priority is to keep legal processes as simple and efficient as possible without compromising the rigor needed to ensure compliance.

To achieve this, Larissa uses technology and automation to optimize processes, allowing the legal team to focus on more complex and strategically valuable issues. Additionally, she maintains constant communication with other areas of the company to ensure that business needs are met while ensuring that all legal requirements are adequately fulfilled.

Larissa also takes pride in building a high-performing team with diverse and complementary skills that are highly aligned with the business, making a significant difference in day-to-day deliveries.