Shari Redstone (LAW’78,’81) (left) and Karen Lynch (Questrom’99) are among the world’s most powerful women, according to Forbes magazine. Photos by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP and courtesy of Karen Lynch

Accolades

BU’s Most Powerful Women, and Other Forbes Influencers

Shari Redstone, Karen Lynch among eight alumnae making magazine’s year-end power lists

BU’s alumnae boast two of the world’s most powerful women. Shari Redstone (LAW’78,’81), chair of media behemoth Paramount Global, and Karen Lynch (Questrom’99), CEO of health services chain CVS, made the Forbes 2023 Power List of 100 female movers and shakers globally.

Their recognition is part of a trifecta for the University: five alumnae were included among the magazine’s year-end 50 Over 50, and one earned her way onto its 30 Under 30 compilation. The former “are changing the world,” according to Forbes; those on the latter list check such boxes in their industries as “funding, revenue, social impact, scale, inventiveness, and potential.”

“The 2023 Power List was determined by four main metrics: money, media, impact, and spheres of influence,” Forbes writes. “For political leaders, we weighed gross domestic products and populations; for corporate chiefs, revenues, valuations, and employee counts were critical. Media mentions and social reach were analyzed for all. The result: 100 women who are shaping the policies, products, and political fights that define our world.”

Redstone, who made the Forbes 50 Over 50 list in 2022, “is the first woman to have such a large stake of a U.S. media business, controlling a $30 billion media empire,” the magazine notes. It cites her role in the 2019 $12 billion merger of CBS and Viacom, as well as her hand in toppling a media superstar: “A CBS suit against Ms. Redstone over control of the company was dismissed in May 2018 as CBS Chief Leslie Moonves (Hon.’06) was ousted due to sexual misconduct.” She is the daughter of the late media mogul Sumner Redstone (Hon.’94), who endowed the annual College of Communication Sumner M. Redstone Film Festival and gave $18 million in 2012 for the School of Law’s renovation and expansion, creating the law school addition named for him.

Lynch, a fixture on annual power lists, has led CVS’ 300,000 employees since Feburary 2021. Last year, she “spearheaded acquisitions of primary care provider Oak Street Health and home healthcare specialist Signify Health for $10 billion and $8 billion, respectively,” Forbes writes. It also cites her membership in elite organizations, such as the Business Roundtable and the World Economic Forum Global Coalition for Value in Healthcare Executive Board. 

The Five 50 Over 50 Terriers:

Gina R. Boswell (Questrom’84) is CEO and board director of Bath & Body Works, the personal care and home fragrance company she has grown during her watch. “The retailer now sells a line of men’s grooming goods that has helped the company expand its market share in a $6 billion category,” Forbes notes, and last fall, Boswell launched BBW’s first-ever line of laundry detergents. She’s accustomed to corporate leadership: before joining BBW, she led Unilever’s North America and UK businesses. 

Tracy Anne Marek (CGS’90, COM’92) is the person you can thank if you’re enjoying watching figure skating this winter. In December 2022, Marek was named the first woman CEO of US Figure Skating, the sport’s US governing body, on the strength of a robust résumé in athletics. She’d worked for 19 years for the ​​NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers, ultimately as chief marketing officer, and was the branding architect when that city hosted the 2022 NBA All-Star Game, reaping a $300 million bonanza in economic development. The BU community saw her sports sense first: she covered sports for the Daily Free Press.

Colleen A. Kelly (Questrom’85) has rare courage, having left three decades in corporate marketing and advertising for the care economy: she’s now CEO of Concern Worldwide US. Under her leadership, the humanitarian nonprofit raised, in just the last year, $1.2 million to help victims of the Ukraine war, more than $500,000 for Turkish and Syrian earthquake relief, and $99 million in new funding from the United States Agency for International Development. This played to her management experience at New York ad agency Triptent, where she supervised campaigns for Bank of America, Mitsubishi, Expedia, General Motors, DirecTV, and TGI Friday’s.

Sarita Aggarwal Mohanty (CAMED’98) is just the second CEO to lead California-based SCAN Foundation. The nonprofit works to better elder care on various fronts, from policy advocacy to its investments and grants. SCAN hired Mohanty on the strength of her work at Kaiser Permanente, the largest managed care organization in the United States. As Kaiser’s vice president of care coordination for Medicaid and vulnerable populations, she oversaw the creation of Thrive Local, a network of health systems, government agencies, and community groups providing such necessities as housing, food, and utility service.

Judy A. Smith (CGS’78, COM’80), “one of the world’s most recognized crisis management experts” as Forbes puts it, inspired the creation of Olivia Pope, protagonist of TV’s Scandal. No wonder: she’s founder and CEO of Smith & Co., which provides strategic counseling, branding, media relations, and other services for governments, Fortune 500 companies, and celebrities. She brought serious cred to the business world, having served as deputy press secretary and special assistant to President George H. W. Bush. Among her firsts: first Black woman to give a White House press briefing and first Black woman to be executive editor of American University’s Law Review.

30 Under 30:

Hannah Rose Olson (SHA’17) made the 30 Under 30 list for cofounding software firm Disclo, which helps employees disclose disability and obtain accommodations at work, an endeavor born of personal experience: Lyme disease cost her her first job, at a design company, after graduation. “She co-launched Chronically Capable in 2019,” writes Forbes, “now one of the largest disability-oriented recruiting platforms in the world,” before starting Disclo, which “supports some 30,000 workers with job accommodations at companies as large as Kraft Heinz.” The start-up has received $6.8 million from such major investors as Y Combinator, Bain Capital Ventures, and General Catalyst.