Irene Natividad

President, GlobeWomen Research & Education Institute (USA)

As President of GWREI, Irene Natividad convenes women leaders annually for 35 years at the Global Summit of Women on best practices in advancing women’s economic progress; conducts research resulting in 35 reports on women directors globally over the past 29 years through Corporate Women Directors International; convenes senior executives on practical strategies for advancing workplace diversity at the annual Colloquium on Global Diversity; and integrates economic equity issues in international forums including APEC, T-20, W-20, G7 Advisory Council, U.N. and World Bank meetings. She has served on numerous boards of directors and advisory boards of nonprofits such as the Global Economic Symposium (Germany), the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD -U.S.) and the National Museum of Women in the Arts (U.S.). In addition, she was a Commissioner on NACD’S National Commission on Board Diversity and on corporate advisory boards for Cigna, Wyndham International, and L’Oreal. In 1994, she was appointed a Board Director of Sallie Mae, a Fortune 100 company, by President Clinton, where she served for 8 years. Her recognition includes being awarded a 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award in Public Service by Pres. Biden; a 2021 Legion d’Honneur by decree of Pres. Macron for her global work on behalf of women, the “Trailblazer” Award by the Huffington Post in 2015, selected a “Women Worth Watching” by Diversity Journal in 2012, and named one of the “100 Most Powerful Women in America” by Ladies Home Journal.