Cathy is a seasoned business executive with broad-based experience in regional, national and global retail and financial service organizations. She has been at the forefront of the development of a new industry (office supplies) and played a leadership role in the widely admired turnaround of a financial services leader. Cathy’s expertise lies in business leadership, executive selection and on-boarding, leadership development, business development, succession management and achieving customer service excellence. She has worked and traveled throughout the United States, Canada, Australia and England.
Cathy has served in executive positions with FleetBoston Financial, Staples and Talbots. Her focus was the acquisition, development and management of talent. Cathy was also a member of several executive leadership teams and has played a key role in the development and expansion of a variety of service businesses. She has been a consultant focusing on management development to more than 30 companies including Federated Department Stores, Wells Fargo Bank and IBM.
Cathy also has strong entrepreneurial experience. She joined Staples in its early years and was an influential executive during its rapid growth and expansion from a small regional chain to an international giant. Prior to joining Staples, she was a partner in a successful software start-up. The company produced an innovative approach to providing pharmacy customers with drug, medical and health information. After three years of rapid growth, the start-up was acquired by a Fortune 500 company.
Cathy currently lives in Boston. She has previously lived and worked in the Philadelphia area, Los Angeles and Connecticut. Cathy holds a BA from West Chester University. She has completed graduate work at Temple University and has participated in both the Strategic Human Resource Management and Service Profit Chain programs at Harvard’s Graduate School of Business. She is certified in a variety of executive assessment tools.