  
|
 |
Eileen McDonnell, M.B.A. '87
|
Eileen McDonnell, M.B.A. '87
Founder and CEO, Exec MPower Consulting
Former President, New England Financial, a subsidiary of MetLife, Inc.
Breaking through the Glass Ceiling
Favorite class:
Organizational Development
Adelphi family ties:
"Two of my sisters, Theresa and Barbara graduated from Adelphi, and my niece is thriving in her first year at the University."
Greatest career achievement:
Becoming the first woman to hold top executive positions in several companies that were over 150 years old.
Advice for new college graduates:
"An advanced degree is a must."
"You have to be willing to work smart, work hard, and do what others won’t," says Eileen McDonnell. In 2003, Ms. McDonnell was driving home on the New York State Thruway when she received an unexpected call. She had been hand-picked to become the first female president of New England Financial, a company that had just lost most of its senior executives, and faced a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation.
Undaunted, Ms. McDonnell took over the insurance company with $1 billion in annual revenue, and quickly developed and implemented a turnaround strategy that resulted in a $46 million reduction in losses. When she left in 2005, New England Financial was integrated as a viable division of its parent company, MetLife.
Prior to heading up New England Financial, Ms. McDonnell was the first female senior vice president of Guardian Life Insurance, where she oversaw $14 billion in assets, and annual revenues of $2.5 billion. She was responsible for the firm’s first interactive Web site, as well as the implementation of its first multi-lingual call center, and the development of a market segment for women.
One of the hallmarks of her career has been the ability to revitalize large sales forces. In the late 1980s, she became the youngest vice president in the history of the Equitable Life Assurance Society. At age 27, she oversaw over 3,000 field representatives and a sales region with over $3 billion in annual sales.
The daughter of an elementary school principal, Ms. McDonnell has always valued education in all forms. "I was fortunate to have found many people whom I admired, and who would teach me," she says. Among her proudest accomplishments, Ms. McDonnell cites maintaining strong relationships with former employees whose careers she has impacted.
She was also responsible for the creation of the "Girls Going Places" scholarship program while at Guardian. Designed to support young women with an interest in math, science, and business, the program continues to award $30,000 in annual prizes to girls ages 12 to 18.
In 2002, Ms. McDonnell was named to Crain’s New York Business "Forty under Forty," and in 2005 was named Advocate of the Year by Long Island Women’s Agenda. She was also named "Woman of the Year" by the Boy Scouts of New York City. Ms. McDonnell is a member of the Board of Trustees of Molloy College, where she earned her bachelor’s degree.
Ms. McDonnell lives in Rockville Centre, New York with her daughter Claire, whom she adopted from Siberia, Russia. She now serves as a management consultant to the financial services industry.
Contact
For additional information about alumni benefits and services, please contact:
The Office of Alumni Relations
Adelphi University
Levermore Hall, Room 205
1 South Avenue
P.O. BOX 701
Garden City, NY 11530-0701
p - 516.877.3470
f - 516.877.6890
e - alumni@adelphi.edu
|
|
