Women We Admire is pleased to announce The Top 50 Women Chief Commercial Officers of 2024. Today’s business climate is increasingly reliant on advanced technology and innovation, requiring C-suite executives to stay ahead of the curve to ensure their teams, companies, and organizations continue to thrive. Chief Commercial Officers play a pivotal role in driving growth, expanding markets, and shaping strategic direction, making them indispensable leaders in navigating this evolving landscape.
First, we honor Johanna Mercier, Chief Commercial Officer of Gilead Sciences. Mercier is responsible for the global commercialization of all the company’s medicines. Under her leadership, Gilead works to ensure that patients around the world have access to the company’s transformational medicines.
We also congratulate Laura Shannon, Chief Commercial Officer of IQVIA. With over 29 years of experience in the biopharma industry and 17 years at IQVIA, Shannon has held various leadership positions, playing a key role in the company’s growth and success.
Lastly, we recognize the career of Kathryn Kaminsky, US Chief Commercial Officer at PwC. A 31-year veteran of the firm, Kaminsky leads PwC’s go-to-market strategies across the US and Mexico, focusing on driving growth and delivering distinguished client service.
Please join us in celebrating the accomplishments of The Top 50 Women Chief Commercial Officers of 2024.
1. Dounia Senawi
Chief Commercial Officer, Deloitte
Dounia Senawi is a principal for Deloitte Consulting LLP and the US Chief Commercial Officer. Deloitte is a professional services network that provides audit, consulting, financial advisory, risk advisory, tax, and related services to select clients1. In her role, Senawi leads the go-to-market efforts for Deloitte US Ecosystems & Alliances. She is responsible for driving growth by accelerating and innovating Deloitte's US collaborations with the world’s leading technology organizations across their consulting, advisory, tax, and audit services.
Senawi connects business strategists, technologists, designers, engineers, creatives, storytellers, and architects who shape strategy, spark progress, unlock insights, build value, elevate experiences, create client solutions, and optimize operations. She believes that bringing unparalleled expertise, earning trust, and exceeding expectations are the three hallmarks of maximizing each client’s return on investment. Senawi guides her teams with purpose, partnership, and positivity, and regularly speaks at forums on sales, marketing, and customer transformation.
Senawi is passionate about talent development, especially women in technology, and takes advantage of every opportunity to encourage and support the professional growth of her colleagues and team. Born to immigrant parents and of Chaldean descent, she cares deeply about diversity, equity, and inclusion and serves on the steering committee for Deloitte’s Middle Eastern North African and Allies Community. Senawi graduated from Michigan State University with an undergraduate degree in business administration.
4. Vanessa Nikaitow
Managing Director & Chief Commercial Officer, Banking Americas HSBC Securities (USA) Inc.
Vanessa brings over two decades of experience to her role as Chief Commercial Officer for Global Banking Americas at HSBC. She began her early work with the firm in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where she is originally from. Currently, Nikaitow oversees a wide array of responsibilities, including business development and strategic execution. In her role, she works closely with the Head of Global Banking to drive revenue through effective market positioning, and new business opportunities. Nikaitow also plays a key role in ensuring they have a high-performing and competitive team through enhancements in organizational design and setting performance expectations.
Nikaitow held several other key positions at HSBC, including head of business development for North America, where she played a strategic and operational role in driving effective business growth plans and fostering a collaborative, high-performance culture.
As head of cost, investment, and governance in the Americas, Nikaitow led budget planning and cost management efforts across Global Banking and Markets, optimizing resources, streamlining processes, and ensuring effective governance to support organizational objectives. Her career trajectory within HSBC has seen her take on diverse roles across various geographies, cultivating a comprehensive understanding of the industry, and establishing herself as a seasoned professional. Her experience also includes regional leadership roles, such as chief of staff at HSBC Mexico, where she oversaw technology and operations services for Global Banking and Markets in Latin America.
Nikaitow is deeply committed to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in the organization, being actively involved in various initiatives, and advocating for equal opportunities and representation. She is also passionate about the role she plays as a mentor to several individuals in the organization looking for guidance to help them thrive in their careers. Currently, Nikaitow is based in New York City, where she resides with her husband and their three-year-old son.
7. Kim Hartwell
SVP & Chief Commercial Officer, Corning
Kim Hartwell is the SVP and Chief Commercial Officer of Corning. She first joined the team in 2011 as the senior vice president of global customer experience.
As a decisive, results-oriented, and innovative leader with extensive global experience in publicly held and privately owned businesses ranging from $40 million to $21 billion in revenue, Hartwell is valued for her ability to develop and execute strategies that drive market-leading revenue and profit growth. She is adept at opening new revenue streams and sales channels, leveraging unique programs and offerings, and building cross-functional, high-performing global teams by developing internal resources and hiring critical talent.
Previously, Hartwell was a VP of global sales and marketing at ADC. Before that, she was a VP of marquee accounts at Emerson Electric. Earlier in her career, she worked with Reliance Comm/Tec as a product manager. Hartwell earned an MBA in Marketing and Finance from Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University and an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering, biomedical engineering, and mathematics from Vanderbilt University.
9. Sarah Salati
Chief Commercial Officer, National Grid
Sarah Salati joined the National Grid Ventures (NGV) US Northeast team as its Chief Commercial Officer (CCO). National Grid Ventures (NGV) is the non-regulated division of National Grid plc, one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the world. Salati stepped into the NGV role from the New York Power Authority (NYPA), where she served as the executive vice president and chief commercial officer.
As the CCO and a member of the NGV leadership team, Salati is responsible for developing new growth business opportunities, overseeing commercial development opportunities for its generation assets, and current and future partnerships in transmission, including the existing New York Transco partnership. She also leads the development of NGV Northeast's business strategy and strategic stakeholder management.
While at NYPA, Salati’s responsibilities included managing wholesale and retail commercial operations, including oversight of $2 billion in annual revenues from NYPA’s power-generating assets through wholesale energy trading and contracting. She also led NYPA’s integrated customer solutions, consisting of customer-sited distributed energy resource advisory services, turn-key energy efficiency project implementation, digital building energy management services, and electric vehicle charging infrastructure implementation. Additionally, she led NYPA’s grid-scale business development team focused on bulk transmission and storage projects. Her tenure at NYPA, built on her work at the AES Corporation, where she held positions in the US and Europe in various commercial, strategic, operational, and transformational roles.
11. Liz Cope
Chief Commercial Officer, Confidential
Liz Cope is the Chief Commercial Officer of Confidential, the foremost provider of exceptional HR solutions. They offer contract, temporary, and permanent placement solutions for roles in finance and accounting, technology, marketing, and creative, legal, administrative, and customer support.
Cope has 19 years of experience. She is a purpose-driven CCO, CMO, and VP of sales, thriving in environments where brands strive daily to reach their highest potential. Before joining Confidential, Cope was a chief marketing officer at the Center for Creative Leadership. Before that, she was a director of sales and business development at Train Technologies. Earlier in her career, she worked with Owens Corning as a strategic marketing leader.
Cope is the founder of Bloomsky Farm, a flower farm dedicated to bringing connection and care to the lives of the elderly and vulnerable through locally grown cut flowers. She also serves as an executive sponsor for the Wellbeing Employee Resource Group and has chaired the Asian Employee Resource Group. Cope graduated from Rollins College with an undergraduate degree.
12. Johanna Mercier
Chief Commercial Officer, Gilead Sciences
Johanna Mercier serves as Gilead’s Chief Commercial Officer, with responsibility for the global commercialization of all the company’s medicines throughout the product life cycle. Under her leadership, Gilead works to ensure that patients around the world have access to the company’s transformational medicines. Gilead Sciences, Inc. is an American biopharmaceutical company that focuses on researching and developing antiviral drugs.
Mercier joined Gilead in 2019 after 25 years at Bristol-Myers Squibb, where she served in several executive leadership positions, including head of the US business and head of the European region, gaining broad experience across geographies and in all aspects of the commercial business. In her time there, she successfully evolved the culture and drove strong commercial execution with double-digit growth and multiple launches that changed the standard of care in melanoma and renal cancers.
Mercier holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of Montreal and an MBA from Concordia University. She currently serves on the board of directors of Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. and the University of Southern California’s Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics. She also serves on the board of directors of Arcus Biosciences, Inc. in connection with its partnership with Gilead.
13. Renae Leary
Chief Commercial Officer, Element Materials Technology
Renae Leary is the Chief Commercial Officer of Element Materials Technology, a company that provides testing, inspection, and certification solutions. Element is a global Testing Inspection and Certification (TIC) company headquartered in London, specializing in materials testing and the provision of certification schemes in building materials, aerospace, transportation, health sciences, oil and gas, and fire protection.
As CCO, Leary joined the Operating Board, with responsibility for leading the commercial strategy to drive accelerated growth and ensure that customers’ voices remain central to Element’s strategic and operational decision-making processes. She leads the central commercial excellence team and focuses on enhancing sales force efficiency, whilst spearheading global strategic account management programs, nurturing brand development, and driving best-in-class marketing and pricing strategies.
Leary brings a wealth of experience from her previous position as chief commercial officer at Ansell, a world leader in health and safety protection solutions across healthcare and industrial sectors. During her tenure at Ansell, she led global commercial efforts and was a member of the Executive Leadership Team. With over 25 years of global experience spanning roles at Ansell, Johnson Controls, and Tyco, Leary is well-equipped to lead Element’s commercial endeavors. She graduated from UNSW with a Master's degree in Commerce and Marketing and from The Australian National University with an undergraduate degree in Asian studies.
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18. Cindy Reiss-Clark
Chief Commercial Officer, West Pharmaceutical Services
Cindy Reiss-Clark is the Chief Commercial Officer of West Pharmaceutical Services. She first joined the team in 2018 as VP and general manager of global biologics. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells containment and delivery systems for injectable drugs and healthcare products.
Reiss-Clark is an accomplished business leader recognized for inspiring and empowering others to stretch beyond their comfort zone and imagine what is possible. She is driven by a purpose and belief that people want to contribute to something meaningful, something bigger than themselves. A philosophy that she has modeled throughout her 20-plus years in the life science industry, focusing on making a difference in people's lives.
Previously, Reiss-Clark was an SVP of global marketing at Lonza. Earlier in her career, she worked with SAFC as a business development manager. Reiss-Clark earned an undergraduate degree in biochemistry from The University of Kansas.
19. Sue Quense
Chief Commercial Officer, AVEVA
Sue Quense is the Chief Commercial Officer of AVEVA, a British multinational information technology consulting company that provides engineering software solutions. It offers design, engineering, operations, data management, digital transformation, cloud services, and subscription solutions.
Quense has over 35 years of experience in the industrial technology space and has extensive knowledge of her customers’ challenges. As CCO, she leads the commercial organization, which includes the Global Sales and Customer Success teams. Her focus is growing their business through acquiring new customers, helping current customers use more of their portfolio, and assisting their customers with the adoption of their Software as a Service offering.
Quense began her early work in industrial automation at Bailey Controls (now ABB), and after gaining expertise in industrial systems, she shifted her focus to sales. She first joined AVEVA (then OSIsoft) in 2000, selling the AVEVA PI System to customers in multiple end markets in the eastern United States. She later assumed responsibility for the northeast US sales team. Then her role grew to include eastern Canada, and ultimately, she became the VP of North American sales. As the head of OSIsoft’s largest region, Quense was instrumental in the acquisition of OSIsoft by AVEVA in 2021. After joining AVEVA, she was responsible for driving the sale of all operations products in the Americas, and in 2021, she became head of the Americas region. Quense graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering.
20. Denise Costello
Chief Commercial Officer, Americas, SGK
Today, Denise Costello is the Chief Commercial Officer of Americas of SGK, a global packaging and brand experience company. From idea to implementation, they deliver packaging solutions and brand experiences that give brands the freedom to speak louder, scale faster, and grow stronger.
Known for being authentic, accountable, collaborative, and empathetic, Costello’s leadership style has earned her the trust and enthusiasm of clients, team members, and industry colleagues. As a seasoned senior executive, her background includes experience in mergers and acquisitions, sales and operational leadership, growth strategies and solution development, managing strategic alliances, leading market verticals, and P&L accountability.
Before this role, Costello worked at RR Donnelley & Sons for 15 years as the group senior vice president, where she was responsible for a three-year retail market growth plan and established and executed strategic and tactical global business plans to deliver revenue growth. She also worked at Merrill Corporation as VP of national sales and was the founder, CEO, and president of Costello & Associates. Costello received a BS in Finance from Butler University and an MS in Business Management and Organizational Behavior from Indiana Wesleyan University.
22. Linda Smith
Chief Commercial Officer, Sirva
Linda Smith has been the Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) at Sirva since April 2012. SIRVA, Inc. (formerly Allied Worldwide), based in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois, is a privately owned American moving industry holding company that resulted from the merger of Allied Van Lines with North American Van Lines.
As CCO, Smith is responsible for driving the global growth strategy for the company. Most recently, she was named Sirva’s chief commercial and strategy officer, expanding her responsibilities to align the company’s direction with changing market needs. Her commitment to understanding customers and the industry drives her ability to improve, change, and grow the services and technology offerings. She has global leadership responsibility for market-facing teams, including strategic services, business development, global marketing, and new product offerings.
Smith began her career at Xerox Corporation in Rochester, NY, where she held marketing and sales roles of increasing responsibility, and running businesses with a focus on profit and loss. Smith is accomplished in customer-driven approaches to business challenges that enable growth. She also had a distinguished career as vice president of global services and vice president of field sales operations with Ricoh Corporation, headquartered out of Tokyo. Smith holds an MBA and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management from the Rochester Institute of Technology.
23. Ying McPherson
Chief Commercial Officer, Unifi
At Unifi, Ying McPherson is the Chief Commercial Officer and is responsible for the commercial strategy and development at Unifi. Unifi Inc. is a multi-national company that manufactures and sells innovative synthetic and recycled products made from polyester and nylon.
In addition, McPherson also leads demand and resource planning, enterprise data analytics customer solutions, and marketing departments. She was most recently the chief strategy officer responsible for corporate development and the overall strategy of the company. Her specialties include strategy, financial planning and analysis, mergers and acquisitions, commercial and pricing analytics, and supply chain.
McPherson began her career at PriceWaterhouseCoopers and spent the next seven years in investment banking, joining SunTrust Robinson Humphrey (now Truist) and Citizens M&A Advisory. Before joining Unifi, McPherson held several leadership positions at WestRock, including corporate development, finance, supply chain optimization, and commercial analytics McPherson earned a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Finance from Goizueta Business School at Emory University.
25. Kathy Thomson
Chief Commercial Officer, Kimball Electronics
Kathy Thomson is the Chief Commercial Officer of Kimball Electronics, a global, multifaceted manufacturing solutions provider recognized for its reputation of excellence. They are committed to a high-performance culture that values personal and organizational commitment to quality, reliability, value, speed, and ethical behavior.
Thomson is an accomplished executive with a proven track record of driving revenue growth, innovation, and transformation in the manufacturing industry. With a deep understanding of complex challenges and highly competitive environments, Thomson has built a reputation as a strategic leader and P&L owner. At Kimball Electronics, Thomson spearheaded the company’s impressive revenue growth, increasing it by over 70% in just four years. She also played a pivotal role in driving profitability, achieving a 20% increase through the creation of value-added services and the establishment of a strong front-end team.
Thomson actively contributes to the community by participating in NACD Director Roundtables and How Women Lead initiatives. She is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) and serves as a mentor to launching professionals and startup/small businesses. Before joining Kimball Electronics, Thomson was a vice president of business development at Creation Technologies. Before that, she was a director of business development at Pioneer Metal Finishing. Earlier in her career, she worked with Schneider Communications as a product manager. She has an MBA and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Marketing from Lakeland University.
28. Maria Pardee
Chief Commercial Officer, TELUS International
Maria Pardee is the Chief Commercial Officer at TELUS International and brings to the role more than 25 years of leadership experience in technology and transformation, specializing in global integration and infrastructure managed services. As CCO, Pardee advances on strategic business partnerships and upholds an impressive track record of delivering on change initiatives, transforming organizations, and creating high-performing teams that are highly effective, efficient, customer-focused, and deliver monetized results.
Before TELUS International, Pardee served as the SVP and General Manager at DXC Technology. Throughout her role, she led the digital workplace and mobility business with a focus on the transformation of employee and customer experience through innovation, garnering a $3.1 billion digital workplace business. Pardee was also a partner at KPMG, a VP at AMS/CGI, and a CIO at BT (British Telecom), where she managed over 400 million telecommunications and IT services for Fortune 500 clients while overseeing over 7,000 IT professionals focused on systems and network design.
Pardee holds a Master of Science in Telecommunications and a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs, both from the University of Colorado Boulder. She is committed to helping women begin and navigate careers in STEM, as well as community initiatives supporting education, inclusion, and political activism.
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30. Liz Peterson
Chief Commercial Officer, Clean Earth
Liz Peterson is the Chief Commercial Officer of Clean Earth, one of the largest specialty waste companies in the United States. In this role, Peterson is responsible for all commercial strategy, customer experience, sales initiatives, and sales operations.
With more than 30 years of diversified environmental services experience, Peterson served as senior vice president at Badger Infrastructure Solutions, a leading hydro-excavation provider in North America. Her comprehensive responsibilities encompassed oversight of sales, operations, safety, and customer service functions across four key regions and a network of over 140 service centers. Before this, she worked at Clean Harbors for more than two decades, holding a range of influential leadership positions, most recently as senior vice president of the East Region and vice president of US industrial services. Peterson’s impactful leadership at Clean Harbors resulted in the successful integration of more than 15 acquisitions. Her strategic vision and commercial insight contributed significantly to managing revenues exceeding $750 million.
Peterson earned an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and an undergraduate degree in sociology, and chemistry from Smith College.
32. Jennie Laar
Chief Commercial Officer, E.L.F. BEAUTY
Jennie Laar is the Chief Commercial Officer of E.L.F. BEAUTY. e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. offers vegan, cruelty-free makeup and skincare products at drugstore prices. Laar is a global sales and merchandising expert with over 20 years of experience within the specialty retail and grocery sectors. As a strategic thinker, she has a proven track record of exceeding sales targets, increasing profitability, and reversing declines. Her success is driven by a combination of creative intelligence, analytical expertise, and an instinctual ability to anticipate customer needs.
Laar began her early work in 1996 as a buyer's assistant for meat buying at Sainsbury's. From there, she went on to The Body Shop’s Americas region, before eventually rising to senior vice president of global wholesale at FORMA Brands, her most recent position before joining E.L.F. BEAUTY. Laar graduated from Nottingham Trent University with an undergraduate degree in modern European studies.
35. Suzanne McDonnell
Chief Commercial Officer, BARK
Suzanne McDonnell is the Chief Commercial Officer of BARK. BARK Inc. a dog-centric company, provides products, services, and content for dogs. It operates in two segments, Direct to Consumer and Commerce. The company serves dogs through monthly subscription services.
McDonnell is an accomplished executive leader with extensive expertise in business and marketing, specializing in brand development and business growth. She has led cross-functional teams in established companies and startups, with omnichannel expertise that includes retail, marketplaces, direct-to-consumer, and international. Her industry experience spans CPG, automotive, financial services, hospitality, technology, digital media, and pet sectors. McDonnell has held senior and C-level roles at top agencies, media companies, and in the consumer sector. For each, she has excelled at driving business innovation to realize new growth. A former IAB board member and Colgate University alumna (Economics), McDonnell is capable of managing a broad and diverse mandate and effectively leading a company to success.
McDonnell began her early work in 1993 as an account director at Leo Burnett. From there, she went on to Saatchi & Saatchi, before eventually rising to senior vice president of discovery networks digital at Discovery Inc. her most recent role before joining BARK. McDonnell graduated from Colgate University with an undergraduate degree in economics.
36. Janet Bava
Chief Commercial Officer, Windstar Cruises
Janet Bava is the Chief Commercial Officer of Windstar Cruises. She first joined the team in 2023. Windstar Cruises operates a fleet of six small sailing and all-suite yachts visiting approximately 260 ports in 2020 sailing throughout Europe, the Caribbean, Costa Rica and the Panama Canal, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Alaska, Canada and New England, and cruising year-round in Tahiti.
Bava is a results-driven travel executive with more than 20 years of experience in delivering best-in-class, customer-centric B2C and B2B communication and commercial strategies for global travel brands. As an accomplished subject matter expert, she excels in developing integrated, personalized commercial strategies targeting the always-addressable consumer, with expertise in acquiring and retaining new customers and ensuring marketing and sales success.
Previously, Bava was a chief marketing officer at AmaWaterways River Cruises. Before that, she was a vice president of marketing at Silversea Cruises. Earlier in her career, she worked with Kramer Labs/ClickPharmacy as a marketing manager. Bava earned an undergraduate degree in marketing and international business from Florida International University’s College of Business.
37. Marcia Macphearson
Chief Commercial Officer, Imagine Pediatrics
For nearly 25 years, Marcia Macphearson has focused on executing strategic transformations and driving innovation across the healthcare ecosystem working with payers, providers, pharmacy organizations, and healthcare technology companies. She currently serves as the Chief Commercial Officer for Imagine Pediatrics, leading commercial strategy, growth, partner operations, and marketing. In this role, she is responsible for ensuring that Imagine Pediatrics' innovative care model for children with special healthcare needs is poised to improve the health and lives of as many children and their caregivers as possible.
Before joining Imagine Pediatrics, Macphearson was a partner for Oliver Wyman within their Healthcare and Digital Practices. She led the firm’s Healthcare Affordability and Quality Impact Practice, which focuses on improving outcomes for healthcare consumers by reshaping the healthcare system through new care and payment models. In addition, she has served as a member of the Independent Advisory Board for digital healthcare organizations and as a member of several women in business organizations, including the Women Business Leaders of the US Health Care Industry Foundation. She also is a member of The Economic Club of Chicago and serves on the boards of the United Way West, a chapter of United Way of Metro Chicago, and the Eagle River Community Art Warehouse.
Macphearson earned a BS in Management Information Systems from the University of Illinois, and she holds a Directorship Certification from the National Association of Corporate Directors. Currently, Macphearson lives in Chicago, Illinois, with her family.
41. Cathy Gollwitzer
Chief Commercial Officer, Golding Farms Foods
Cathy Gollwitzer is the Chief Commercial Officer of Golding Farms Foods. She first joined the team in 2021. Founded in 1972 and based in North Carolina, US, Golding Farms Foods, Inc. operates as a manufacturer of private label, branded, and co-manufactured sauces and condiments, including salad dressings, chow-chow southern relish, mustards, honey, onion steak sauces, and molasses.
Gollwitzer’s expertise includes relationship building, collaborative partnering, team building, presenting, and training. She consistently delivers immediate and ongoing results across all functions, including marketing, supply chain, operations, manufacturing, graphics, and R&D. She produces desktop top-and bottom-line results for both branded and private-label products.
Previously, Gollwitzer was a regional sales manager at Chicken of the Sea. Before that, she was a national accounts manager at Resource One. Earlier in her career, she worked with Nestlé as a district account manager. Gollwitzer earned an undergraduate degree in psychology with a focus on business education from The University of Kansas.
42. Mary Trout
Chief Commercial Officer, Candela Medical
Mary Trout has diverse and extensive work experience spanning several companies. She has been the Chief Commercial Officer at Candela Medical since November 2018. Candela’s brand values of science, results, and trust guide its commitment to safety, efficacy, reliability, and strengthening the longstanding partnerships of trust established with physicians, their practices, and the patients they treat.
Trout’s previous roles include working at AMAG Pharmaceuticals, where she progressed from being the vice president of maternal health to the senior vice president of maternal health, and then to the general manager for the Maternal Health business unit. Trout demonstrated leadership in brand strategy, sales, marketing, and key accounts, among other responsibilities. Before her time at AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Trout worked at Cord Blood Registry as the vice president of field operations. She successfully managed national operations and oversaw the expansion of the cord blood unit base.
Trout also held various roles at Immucor, Inc., including director of corporate accounts, corporate account manager, and corporate account executive. Her career began at Chiron Corporation. She attended the University of Nebraska and obtained a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences. Afterward, she pursued a Master's degree in Business Administration at CA Pacific University. She also obtained a certification as a Blood Bank Technologist from the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP).
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43. Tracie Oliver
Chief Commercial Officer, Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals
Tracie Oliver is the Chief Commercial Officer of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage, Nasdaq-listed (ticker ARWR) company developing medicines that treat intractable diseases by silencing the genes that cause them.
Oliver has over 30 years of global experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, leading both R&D and Commercial organizations. Before joining Arrowhead, she had her consulting practice, which focused on commercial and strategy development for small biotech companies. She joined Shire Pharmaceuticals in 2016 through the acquisition of Baxalta and was the global head of new product planning and device strategy. Before that, Oliver held several commercial roles at Baxter and Baxalta, including establishing a new oncology franchise and leading the North America Immunology Business Unit and Autoimmune Franchise.
Oliver began her career in the biopharmaceutical industry with positions at Johnson & Johnson as head of the Ortho Biotech Nephrology Business Unit in Canada and at Ortho McNeil Neurologics and McNeil Pediatrics in the USA. She led an internal venture that developed an allogeneic cell therapy for acute ischemic stroke. Oliver received her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, and her MBA from the Shulich School of Business at York University, Toronto.
47. Deborah Surrette
Chief Commercial Officer, Veho
Deborah Surrette is the Chief Commercial Officer of Veho. Veho's mission is to power the future of commerce by making shopping, shipping, and returns work seamlessly for everyone. Through an innovative end-to-end logistics infrastructure powered by the latest technology and designed for the needs of brands and consumers.
Surrette is an accomplished veteran in the field of enterprise software technology sales, with extensive executive experience in building and scaling sales, enablement, pre-sales, client success, and revenue operations teams. She is passionate about developing and implementing go-to-market strategies using industry best practices, innovation, and business intelligence to deliver outcomes that drive business growth and efficiency.
Surrette began her early work in 2010 as a vice president of sales at IBM. From there, she went on to Tulip Retail, before eventually rising to chief commercial officer (CCO) at GreyOrange, her most recent position before joining Veho. Surrette graduated from Rutgers University.
49. Irene McGuinness
Chief Commercial Officer, VitalSource
Irene McGuinness is the Chief Commercial Officer of VitalSource. She first joined the team in 2023. VitalSource Technologies is an education technology and digital content company founded in 1994.
McGuinness is an innovative and top-performing sales executive with multifaceted experience in market strategy, change management, recruiting and retention, data analytics, channel development, incentive management, and customer service. She has a proven aptitude for generating growth opportunities, strengthening key relationships, overseeing high-profile initiatives, and building and leading high-performing teams.
Previously, McGuinness was a chief sales officer and senior vice president at McGraw-Hill Education. Earlier in her career, she worked with Pearson as a district sales manager. McGuinness earned an MBA in Business from DePaul University and an undergraduate degree in food science from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
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