Andrea Jung (; born September 18, 1958) is a Canadian-American executive, non-profit leader, and prominent women's-issues supporter based in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. In April 2014, she became president and CEO of

Grameen America Grameen America is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit microfinance organization based in New York City. It was founded by Nobel Peace Prize recipient Muhammad Yunus in 2008. Grameen America is run by former Avon Chairman and CEO Andrea Jung. The organization ...

, a

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

microfinance Microfinance consists of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses (SMEs) who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; saving ...

organization founded by

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

winner,

Muhammad Yunus Muhammad Yunus (born 28 June 1940) is a Bangladeshi economist, entrepreneur, and civil society leader who has been serving as the Chief Adviser of Bangladesh, Chief Adviser of the Interim government of Muhammad Yunus, interim Yunus ministry, g ...

. From 1999 until 2012, she served as the first female CEO and chairman of

Avon Products Avon Products, Inc. ( ) is an Anglo-American multinational company selling cosmetics, skin care, perfume, and personal care products. It is a multi-level marketing company based in London. In 2020, Avon had annual sales of $9.1 billion worldwid ...

, Inc., a

multi-level marketing Multi-level marketing (MLM), also called network marketing or pyramid selling, is a controversial and sometimes illegal marketing strategy for the sale of products or services in which the revenue of the MLM company is derived from a non-salarie ...

company. Jung was also the first woman to serve as Chairman of the Cosmetic, Toiletry & Fragrance Association, and Chairman of the World Federation of Direct Selling Associations. Jung received the 2010 Clinton Global Citizen Award for her leadership of the Avon Foundation for Women and other public-private partnerships to end violence against women and to stem the breast cancer epidemic. Under her leadership, the Avon Foundation for Women raised and awarded nearly US$1 billion to support health and empowerment causes, becoming the largest women-focused corporate

philanthropy Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

around the world. After resigning her CEO role at Avon, Jung continued as chair of Avon's board of directors through the end of 2012 and then as a senior advisor to Avon's board through April 2014.

Early life

Jung was born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Ontario in 1958 and raised in

Wellesley, Massachusetts Wellesley () is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Wellesley is part of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The population was 29,550 at the time of the 2020 census. Wellesley College, Babson College, and a campus of M ...

. As a child, she studied the piano and took lessons in Mandarin on Saturday mornings. Her mother is a Shanghai-born amateur pianist. Jung's father is a Hong Kong-born retired architect, formerly a partner at TRO Jung Brannen, who also taught at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

. Jung graduated magna cum laude with an A.B. in English from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

in 1979 after completing a senior thesis titled "The Fiction of

Katherine Mansfield Kathleen Mansfield Murry (née Beauchamp; 14 October 1888 – 9 January 1923) was a New Zealand writer and critic who was an important figure in the Literary modernism, modernist movement. Her works are celebrated across the world and have been ...

: Reconciliation of Duality." She is fluent in

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

. Her brother, Mark Jung, also graduated from Princeton University and went on to become co-founder and CEO of

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

which he continued to run after its acquisition by

NewsCorp The original incarnation of News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp. and also variously known as News Corporation Limited) was an American multinational mass media corporation founded and controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Formerly inc ...

Career

Jung was executive vice president of

Neiman Marcus Neiman Marcus is an American department store chain founded in 1907 in Dallas, Texas by Herbert Marcus, his sister Carrie Marcus Neiman, and her husband Abraham Lincoln Neiman. It has been owned by Saks Global, a Corporate spin-off, spin-o ...

, responsible for all of women's apparel, accessories, and cosmetics. Before that, she was senior vice president, general merchandising manager, for I. Magnin. Jung joined Avon Products, Inc. in 1994 as the company's president in its product marketing group. She became president of global marketing in 1996 and executive vice president/president of global marketing and new business in 1997. Her responsibilities at that time centered primarily around market research, joint ventures and strategic planning. She then became president and chief operating officer, with responsibility for all business units of Avon worldwide. She has been on the company's board of directors since 1998. In November 1999, Jung was promoted to chairman of the board and chief executive officer. In December 2011, Avon announced that it had initiated a search for a new chief executive with Jung helping to choose her replacement and continuing as chairman of the board for the next two years. Avon faced several controversies at the time of her resignation. The company's stock had dropped 45 percent in 2011. Avon's third quarter earnings report stated that sales targets would be unattainable and disclosed that there were two ongoing SEC inquiries. Net income in the third quarter fell to $164.2 million, or 38 cents a share (below analysts' estimates of 46 cents a share), from $166.7 million, or 38 cents, a year earlier. The results marked the fourth time in five-quarters that profit trailed analysts' projections. There was also a three-year probe into an alleged bribery of foreign officials has already caused the dismissal of four Avon executives. Jung was named one of ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' magazine's 100 Most powerful women in 2004. In 2009, Forbes ranked her the 25th most powerful woman. In 2012, she was named in the list of the worst 5 CEOs of 2012 by

Bloomberg Businessweek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'' (and before that ''Business Week'' and ''The Business Week''), is an American monthly business magazine published 12 times a year. The magazine debuted in New York City in Septembe ...

. In 2014, Andrea Jung became president and chief executive officer of a non-profit organization,

. This organization, founded by

, a Bangladeshi economist, "provided assistance, often in the form of microloans, to women looking to start small businesses."

Boards

* Jung has been on the board of directors of

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

since 1998. * Jung was on Apple's board of directors in 2008 and 2009, and rejoined the board in 2011, where she remains. * In 2013, Jung became co-founder and chair of the board for Venly, a Cambridge, Massachusetts distributed resource software and services firm that trains recent graduates and returning veterans to be community social media consultants for local businesses. * In February 2013, Jung was nominated as a member of the supervisory board of

Daimler AG Mercedes-Benz Group AG (formerly Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler, and Daimler) is a German multinational automotive company headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of the world's leading car manufacturers. Daimler-B ...

, part of the company's plan to increase female representation. * In May 2018, Jung joined the board for

Wayfair Wayfair Inc. is an American e-commerce company based in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts that sells furniture and home goods online. Formerly known as CSN Stores, it was founded in 2002, and currently offers 14 million items from more than 11,000 gl ...

, an American e-commerce company that sells industrial cabinets, furniture and home-goods. * In February 2021, Jung joined the New Jersey Council on the Green Economy. * Jung has been the vice chair, senior independent director, and chair of the compensation committee at the global consumer goods giant

Unilever Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...

since 2021, three years after she first joined its board.

Personal life

Jung has been married twice. Jung's second ex-husband, Michael Gould, was the CEO of

Bloomingdale's Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain founded in 1861 by Joseph Bloomingdale and Lyman Bloomingdale. It was acquired by Federated Department Stores in 1930, which purchased the Macy's department store chain in 1994, ...

, the first company she worked for after college. Jung has two children, an adopted son James "Jamie" Gould with her ex-husband Gould, and a daughter Lauren Christensen from her first marriage.

References

External links