President
Women’s National Basketball Association
Laurel J. Richie has more than three decades of experience in consumer marketing, corporate branding, public relations, and corporate management, with a long track record of developing award-winning campaigns that transform brands and drive business results. As President of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), she is responsible for setting the vision for the WNBA and overseeing all of the league’s day-to-day business and basketball operations.

Prior to joining the WNBA in 2011, Richie was Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Girl Scouts of the USA, where she was responsible for Girl Scouts of the USA's brand, communications, publishing, marketing, and Web-based initiatives. She also spent 20+ years at the advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather, where she worked on a series of campaigns for prominent clients, including American Express, Pepperidge Farm, Pond’s, Huggies, and Kotex. She sat on Ogilvy New York's Operating Board and continues to serve on the agency’s external Diversity Advisory Board.

Richie's pro-bono clients have included the Museum for African Art, the Hospital for Special Surgery, and the New York City Commission on Human Rights. In addition, she has mentored young women and girls as part of Big Brothers Big Sisters, the 4A's Multicultural Advertising Intern Program, Xavier University's Youth Motivation Task Force, and the Advertising Educational Foundation.

Richie is a recipient of the Black Girls Rock Shot Caller Award and the YMCA's Black Achiever's Award, and Ebony magazine's Outstanding Women in Marketing and Communications honor. She was named to The Network Journal’s 25 Influential Black Women in Business and Ebony’s Power 100 list.

A graduate of Dartmouth College with a bachelor’s degree in policy studies, Richie lives in New York City.

1/2012