Didi Caldwell
President + CEO
As president and CEO, Didi sets the strategic direction of the firm. Her focus is ensuring GLS lives up to its mission to match companies and communities for mutual, sustainable prosperity. Under her leadership, GLS has become a world leader in site selection and incentive negotiation services and has been named to the Inc 5000 Fastest-Growing Companies list twice.
Didi has dedicated more than two decades to guiding companies on their location strategy, with an expertise in large manufacturing and heavy industrial projects. While working as an intern for Fluor Daniel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, she had a chance encounter that would change the direction of her career forever. After seven years as a Principal with Fluor, Didi led the spin-out of the site consulting practice to what is now Global Location Strategies.
She is a proud member of the prestigious Site Selectors Guild, the only association of the world’s foremost professional site selection consultants. Didi was the first female chairperson of the organization and has held various leadership roles, currently serving as Chair of the REDI Sites initiative. Her achievements include being named one of the 50 Most Influential People by Greenville Business Magazine, receiving the GroundBreaker Award from GroundBreaker Carolinas magazine, and being recognized as one of the Women of Influence by SC Biz News.
Didi holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Clemson University and an international MBA from the University of South Carolina’s prestigious Darla Moore School of Business. Didi speaks Spanish and is a proud citizen of both the United States and Australia. She is married to Eduardo and together they have four children, Ricardo, Gabriela, Gabriel, and Jonas. When not traveling around the world for work, she spends her time traveling around the world for pleasure, catching as many baseball games and long, scenic runs as possible.
A World-Renowned Industry Insider
Didi Caldwell is one of the world’s most authoritative site selection and incentive negotiations experts. A self-proclaimed “accidental entrepreneur,” Didi Caldwell has scaled her company from a traditional site selection firm to a location strategy powerhouse.
Didi is routinely invited to speak at major industry, energy, and economic development conferences and is frequently sought out for her expert commentary by major news media outlets. She is available for speaking engagements and thought leadership pieces by request.