Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden and WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert featured as our keynote speakers at the first virtual, two part Women In The Forefront event in the history of the luncheon.
The first woman and first African American to lead the national library, Dr. Carla Hayden was nominated to the lifetime position by President Barack Obama on February 24, 2016, and she was sworn in as the 14th Librarian of Congress on September 14, 2016. She began her career with the Chicago Public Library as the young adult service coordinator from 1979 to 1982 and as a library associate and children’s librarian from 1973 to 1979. Dr. hayden became Deputy Commissioner and Chief Librarian of the Chicago Public Library from 1991 to 1993. She served as president of the American Library Association from 2003 to 2004. Prior to her latest post, from 1993 to 2016, she was CEO of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1995, she was the first African American to receive Library Journal’s Librarian of the Year Award in recognition of her outreach services at the Pratt Library.
The first-ever Commissioner of the WNBA, Cathy Engelbert is responsible for setting the WNBA’s vision and overseeing the league’s day-to-day business and basketball operations. Previously, Engelbert was the first female CEO of Deloitte from 2015 – 2019, where she led more than 100,000 professionals. A strong supporter of diversity and inclusion, Engelbert was the first woman to serve as chair of the Catalyst Board. A veteran of the Fortune Most Powerful Women stage, Engelbert was listed as one of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women for four consecutive years. She is ranked on Glassdoor’s annual Employees’ Choice Awards honoring the 100 Highest-Rated CEOs, among Crain’s 50 Most Powerful Women in New York and just recently, was selected as one of Crain’s Notable Women in the Business of Sports.