Gail J. McGovern

President and CEO, American Red Cross

Gail J. McGovern joined the American Red Cross as president and CEO on April 8, 2008, and has taken a strong leadership role at the nation’s leading emergency response and blood services organization.

Under her direction, the Red Cross eliminated its operating deficit in 2009, has delivered a modest surplus over the past three years, and continues to pay down its debt. McGovern has also initiated extensive modernization projects at the Red Cross, including an overhaul of its IT systems, a nationwide expansion of Red Cross health and safety instruction, and the growth of the organization’s social media presence.

McGovern has overseen the American Red Cross response to multiple high-profile disasters, including the Haiti earthquake, Japan earthquake and tsunami, the record-breaking tornadoes, floods and wildfires that affected the U.S. in 2011, and Hurricane Sandy.

On March 10, 2011, she was appointed as one of 10 members on the President’s Management Advisory Board and serves as the only nonprofit leader on this White House panel.

Prior to joining the Red Cross, McGovern was a faculty member at the Harvard Business School and served as president of Fidelity Personal Investments, a unit of Fidelity Investments, responsible for half a trillion dollars of assets under management. She was also executive vice president for the Consumer Markets Division at AT&T, the $26 billion residential long-distance organization and largest business unit.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Johns Hopkins University and an MBA from Columbia University, and has since been recognized as alumna of the year from both universities.

McGovern is currently a member of the board of trustees of Johns Hopkins University and the board of directors of DTE Energy. In February 2013, she joined the board of directors of The Weather Company, which operates The Weather Channel, weather.com and other services.

McGovern was recognized by Fortune magazine in 2000 and 2001 as one of the top 50 most powerful women in corporate America.