Originally Posted by Nasty

Pretty much the only way these organizations can get a good ceo, if they want a real leader, they need to pay the going rate and this woman probably pays for herself again and again. If the ceo was a dude, it would probably be even more, she has some pretty solid cred's

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.

Along with overseeing responses to several high-profile disasters, McGovern has initiated steps to invigorate the $3.3 billion organization, including dramatically reducing its deficit and streamlining its operations.

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. She was also executive vice president for the Consumer Markets Division at AT&T, responsible for AT&T?s $26 billion residential long-distance service 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 both the Hartford Financial Services Group and DTE Energy.

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