Career
Jill Barad graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature and Psychology from Queens College, City University of New York, Queens College in New York City, New York. In college, she worked in cosmetics sales and then became brand manager for the full line of Coty Inc., Coty products. After moving to Los Angeles, she was an account executive for the Max Factor, Max Factor brand at Wells, Rich, Greene/West advertising agency. She started working at Mattel as a product manager in 1981 and was named CEO and Chairman of the Board in 1997. Barad was one of four women to lead a Fortune 500 company at the time. She helped transformed Mattel from a toy company into a premier global family products company. Under her leadership annual sales rose from $200 million to $2 billion. In 1998, Mattel acquired Pleasant Company, the maker of the American Girl line of dolls, for $700 million. On behalf of Mattel, Barad donated $25 million to University of California, Los Angeles, UCLA to rebuild its Children's Hospital in 1998. The facility is now named the UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital, Mattel Children's Hospital. She resigned from the company in February 2000 under pressure from investors following disappointing earnings, largely a result of the acquisition of The Learning Company (formerly SoftKey), The Learning Company. She received almost $50 million in golden parachute, severance pay. Barad has served on several corporate boards, including Microsoft, Bank of America and Pixar, Pixar Animation Studios. She was a member of the UCLA Executive Board for the Medical Sciences and the UC Health Services Advisory Committee. She was the Vice Chairman of Town Hall Los Angeles, on the board of fellows of Claremont University Center and Graduate School, trustee emeritus of the Queens College Foundation, and a board member of Girls, Inc., Girls, Inc. She was also chairman of the executive advisory board of the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation, which she co-founded.Personal life
Barad is the daughter of Hollywood director Larry Elikann (1923–2004). Jill and her husband Tom continued their philanthropic efforts at UCLA and The Barad Family Children's Bone Marrow Transplant Unit is named after them in the Mattel Children's Hospital.References
1951 births American chief executives of manufacturing companies American women chief executives Businesspeople from New York City Mattel people Living people Queens College, City University of New York alumni 21st-century American businesswomen 21st-century American businesspeople {{US-CEO-stub