A: I earned my BA in Studio Art but quickly realized the museums were not right for me. I returned to school to get my MS in College Student Personnel and then completed my doctoral course work in this same field. After 10 years in Higher Ed (most recently as Dean of Students at Polytechnic University) I left and became Director of the A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE Institute at the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). I stayed 18 years there, ultimately becoming the Senior Associate National Director & Chief Operating Officer of the ADL, before leaving to become COO of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF (USF). Three weeks after I arrived at USF, the CEO was offered a job with the Gates Foundation, leaving me as Acting President & CEO. One year later, after an international search, the Board appointed me President & CEO.

A: Vision, Organization, Humor

A: I am inspired by every child that I meet and by the fact that each and every day 22,000 children die of causes that we know how to prevent, but aren’t. Knowing this fact motivates me to work until the day that zero children die of causes we can prevent.

A: I mentor two younger women formally and numerous others on a “drop-in” basis. It is rewarding because it forces me to reflect on the wisdom my experience has given me and to challenge the assumptions I make each day. I learn as much from those I mentor as I hope they are learning from me!

Mentoring makes me challenge the assumptions I make each day.

A: After an exhaustive argument with school administrators in which I claimed I was old enough, ready enough, and mature enough, I was allowed to graduate from high school at the age of 16 (a year earlier than I should have). I headed off to college ready to make my mark only to quickly learn that my 16 years had not yet equipped me with all I needed to live and be happy amongst a group of 18 to 21 year olds. I dropped out 3 weeks later – exactly one day after the final day to get a full refund of the tuition my father had dearly paid. I had grown up in a home where the only question related to my going to college was “where” not “if.” I came home embarrassed and chagrinned and was forced by dad to immediately enroll in the local community college where there was still one day left before registration closed. I flourished there. I truly found out who I was and I learned a big lesson – that you can endure a failure, survive the embarrassment and move on to success!

A: It often prioritizes itself — it seems my calendar is filled up and I try my best to meet the demands it puts before me. BUT – and this is a big one – my family always comes first!

A: I am definitely guilty of this… I am so overdue for a slew of medical appointments! I would never let my kids or my husband let everything else come first and I am not at all sure why I let myself do it, but I do!

A: So many places: New Zealand because I spent my honeymoon there; Scotland because my husband and I went there on our first trip together when we were dating; Puerto Rico because it was the first place we took our children on a “real” vacation; Vietnam because it captured my heart the first time I went and I have gone back 4 or 5 times; Haiti because I went shortly after the earthquake and again several months later and was awed by the resilience of the people who survived the quake and held it together in the wake of all that they faced; all places in Africa where UNICEF works because I see the children and feel their needs.

A: The most honest answer I can give to this question is “some days better than others!” I do my best – I often fail at it – but I tell my family how much I love them, I thank my husband for his support and enablement of my life, and I let my job know – everyone from my chairmen to my assistants – that my family comes first.