Carlos Cordeiro is the first independent director appointed to U.S. Soccer's Board of Directors.

The three "independent director" positions were created at last year's AGM, when the organization's Board of Directors was reduced from 40 to 15. Cordeiro was appointed in a vote of U.S. Soccer's membership at its Annual General Meeting held last weekend in Los Angeles. The move to add independent directors is part of an effort to add new leaders with skills and backgrounds beyond the scope of the board's soccer executives.

The Indian-born Cordeiro has more than 20 years of experience providing strategic and financial advice to corporations, financial institutions and governments around the world. In 2000, he was named among the Top 100 Most Influential Hispanics.

Cordeiro was most recently a partner and managing director of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. He served on the board of the New York 2010 Olympic bid committee.