Betsy D. HolDen Betsy Holden has been Ceo of the largest food company in north america. she also has been a strategy and marketing consultant during her 35-year career. an innovative marketer with a track record of building brands, businesses and people, she broke barriers as one of the first female Ceos of a major company. Holden has proven herself a strong champion for advancing women in the workplace, with a long history of philanthropic leadership.
Betsy was born in texas and grew up outside of Pittsburgh, Pa. as a young woman she was a strong student and a leader in extracurricular activities, with a passion for education and the arts. she attended Duke university and graduated summa Cum laude and Phi Beta kappa with a degree in education. she earned her master’s from northwestern university and taught school for three years. While teaching, she freelanced as a product developer for Playskool toys, which fueled her interest in business. she returned to northwestern’s kellogg school of management for her mBa, where she met her husband, arthur. she was named class valedictorian and outstanding marketing student.
During Betsy’s 25-year consumer goods career, she progressed through various line management positions. of note, she was kraft’s first female VP of marketing. in this role, her team won the Chairman’s award for best business results. as President of kraft’s pizza business, she turned the unit into the company’s fastest growing business with the introduction of Digiorno Pizza, which became a billion-dollar retail brand. in 2000, Betsy was named Ceo of kraft foods north america and in 2001, Co-Ceo of kraft foods, inc., a $30 billion company with 90,000 employees. Betsy championed the transformation of kraft with the successful $18 billion acquisition of nabisco and the spin-off of kraft from altria. under her leadership, kraft received numerous marketing, new product and customer awards and was an industry leader in developing and advancing women.
as a senior advisor to mckinsey & Company since 2007, Betsy has helped clients across industries drive superior results
Laureates 2016
"Dream big and take responsibility for creating your own future." — B. D. Holden
through strategy, marketing, innovation and board effectiveness initiatives. Betsy currently serves on the boards of Diageo, PlC; Western union, and time inc. she is also on the Duke university Board of trustees and the kellogg school of management global advisory Board.
Betsy has a long history of philanthropic leadership. she has been a champion for Junior achievement. under her leadership, kraft had more Ja volunteers than any other Chicagoarea company. she also has served as President of the off the street Club for 20 years, raising funds to expand facilities and programming for inner city youth. she has spent 10 years as one of the founding directors of Chiarts, helping to build the school into a premier public performing arts high school. she also serves on the boards of ravinia and the museum of science and industry and is a member of the economic Club and the Chicago network. Betsy and her husband arthur, Ceo of the Pharmaceutical Biomedical research Consortium, have two adult children.
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