LISA WARDELL

CHAIRMAN & CEO, ADTALEM GLOBAL EDUCATION INC.

As chair and chief executive of Adtalem Global Education, Wardell is the only black woman CEO of the nation’s 1,000 largest publicly traded companies. She had been a longtime director on its corporate board when she was chosen to be chief executive two years ago, with then-board chair Chris Begley considering her the best business leader to run the company “through this transformational period.” Her extensive finance background includes posts as executive vice president and chief operating officer of the RLJ Cos., the holding company owned by billionaire entrepreneur and BE 100S CEO Bob Johnson, and a principal at Catalyst Venture Partners. She also serves on the board of Lowe’s Cos. Inc.

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