BUSINESS
bachelor’s and master’s degrees than men, we occupy a very small number of leader- ship positions, relative to our numbers, at our nation’s businesses. The financial services industry has fewer women at the top than nearly any other. Less than 18 % of corporate officers and board of direc- tors at Fortune 500 financial services firms are female. Meet Eileen McDonnell. As the first
& W
female president of 163-year-old Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company, she holds one of the coveted executive seats. She pursued a career in financial services with eyes wide open. The opportunity to earn a good living working at something she enjoyed was clear. However, Eileen never focused on the challenges of being an ambitious woman amid a male-domi- nated business nor did she try to fit in with the boys. “To be successful, you first have to be authentic to yourself,” she says. From the beginning of her career, Eileen made choices that put her in control of her own destiny including her work and per- sonal life.
Eileen graduated from Molloy College
with a degree in mathematics and com- puter science then earned an MBA in fi- nance and investments at Adelphi Univer- sity. She spent a brief time at the now defunct Wang Laboratories then moved to AXA/Equitable. It was at Guardian Life Insurance Company where Eileen began to hone in on life insurance and very quickly advance her career. By 27, Eileen was a vice president. By the time she was promoted to se-
nior vice president at Guardian, Eileen’s responsibilities expanded considerably. She directed strategic planning for the company’s individual insurance products and managed the distribution network of 3,000 agents. During this time, her father
40 PROFESSIONAL WOMAN’S MULTICULTURAL MAGAZINE FINANCE
Eileen McDonnell, First Female President of 163-year-old Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company
hile American women make up 52% of the population and hold more
became gravely ill. Shrewd financial planning allowed Eileen to quit her job to take care of him. She used the cash value of a whole life insurance policy and sav- ings to fund her absence from work. A week after her father died, MetLife
hired her and made her president of its subsidiary, New England Financial, with- in six months. Somewhere during that same period, Eileen made the decision to adopt. She didn’t have a biological child and had been privileged to enjoy the love of her own big extended family. Eileen wanted to share that love with a child of her own. The adoption process would require
time away from her job. And, she knew that once she had her daughter she’d want to take off from work so that they could get to know each other. Eileen again left her job and tapped her insurance and sav-
CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF DIVERSITY
ings to pay for the choices she made. Dur- ing her time away from the corporate world, Eileen formed her own consulting business and taught at The American Col- lege so that she’d still be connected should she want to return to the insurance busi- ness.
Now as president of Penn Mutual and a
member of its Board of Trustees, Eileen is in charge of one of the biggest life insur- ance companies in the country. She man- ages every aspect of day-to-day opera- tions for the company that provides life insurance and annuities. She is a chair- man of the Board of Hornor Townsend & Kent, serves on the Board of Managers of Janney Montgomery Scott LLC and on the Pennsylvania Trust Company Board of Directors, all wholly-owned subsidiar- ies of Penn Mutual. Eileen also serves on the board of di-
WWW.PROFESSIONALWOMANMAG.COM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84