John E. Page

John Page is Senior Corporate Vice President, Chief Corporate Social Responsibility and Legal Officer of Golden State Foods Corp. (GSF). John has over 25 years of practicing as an attorney, both as outside and in-house counsel, and has litigated and tried numerous cases, including successfully arguing before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. John is also admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court. Joining GSF in 2004, John is responsible for all legal, governance and compliance matters for the company. Additionally, John provides executive leadership for GSF’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts, which include environmental initiatives, diversity efforts, and community involvement.

John has actively engaged in diversity efforts throughout his career, demonstrating his on-going commitment to achieving equal opportunity and fair treatment for all workers. Currently serving on GSF’s Diversity Council, John works to ensure that workplace accountability practices are in place, equipping the company with the tools needed to sustain a safe, diverse and inclusive environment. An advocate and practitioner of enhancing business development and legal training for minority attorneys, John has provided business opportunities to capable attorneys of color and non-minority attorneys who have committed to staff matters with a diverse slate of minority and non-minority professionals. For his commitment, John received the ACC-SoCal Profiles IN Diversity Award, and the ACC Matthew J. Whitehead, II Diversity Award, the Association of Corporate Counsel’s highest honor for diversity in the profession.

In addition to spearheading various diversity efforts, John successfully leads all corporate social responsibility initiatives for GSF, connecting the company’s CSR activities to a larger strategic vision through programs that engage employees, protect the environment and better the lives of people. Embracing responsibility to future generations, John ensures that sustainable practices are at the heart of GSF’s business, including efforts to reduce carbon emissions, minimize energy and water consumption, and limit waste production. John has also been a strong supporter of the GSF Foundation, a non-profit organization established by the company to improve the lives of children and families in need, including serving as a member of its board of directors.

John has been honored for his leadership a number of times and served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Tuskegee University from 2015 to 2019. He has also served as 2014/2015 Chairman of the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) Board of Directors, and as President of the National Bar Association. The Orange County Business Journal named him their inaugural General Counsel of the Year; and in 2010, John received the National Bar Association’s highest award, the C. Francis Stradford Award, for his service to the NBA and to the legal profession. In 2011, the African American Managing Partner Network honored John with the Corporate Counsel Pathfinder Award.

He is a member of the ACC SoCal Chapter, and served as a board member for the New Jersey ACC Chapter, the NBA Board of Governors, the California Association of Black Lawyers, the Education Law Center in Newark, New Jersey, the New Jersey Commission on the Discrimination in State Government Contracting, and the New Jersey Attorney General’s Task Force on Use of Deadly Force. He also served two terms as President of the Garden State Bar Association and served three years on the New Jersey District X Ethics Committee.

Finally, John is a mentor to law students and is deeply committed to our youth, being involved in organizing “Journey To Attorney” which aims to invite, inform and inspire today’s youth to consider positive choices for the future including one that leads to a career in law.

A native of Brooklyn, New York, John is a 1987 cum laude graduate of Pace University, receiving a B.A. in Political Science and minor in History. While attending Pace, he was selected to serve as a member of the Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society. John received his Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1990, where he was an editor of the University of Pennsylvania Law Review.