Building Corporate Culture Around Social Responsibility

The Presidents' Forum of Metro Washington
November 20, 2008

Barbara Krumsiek
Chairman, CEO & President
Calvert

Speaker Biography:
Barbara J. Krumsiek is Chair, CEO and President of Calvert Group, Ltd., a leading investment management and mutual fund firm headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland. Calvert manages approximately $16 billion in assets across 41 mutual funds, including award-winning fixed income portfolios, and a full family of equities funds including nationally recognized socially responsible mutual funds. Ms. Krumsiek’s career in the investment industry spans three decades. Before joining Calvert as CEO in 1997, Ms. Krumsiek was a Managing Director at Alliance Capital Management LP in New York City where she was responsible for mutual fund and variable insurance product lines representing over $17 billion in assets.

At Calvert, she has presided over a period of dramatic growth and increased visibility both within the socially-responsible investment sector and in the financial services industry as a whole. Under her leadership, the firm has achieved significant revenue growth and sales have grown seven-fold. Calvert’s presence among individual investors, advisors and retirement plans, including 401(k) plans, has expanded dramatically.

Ms. Krumsiek has led Calvert in several important initiatives pertaining to advancing women and minorities in business. In 2004, with the support of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Calvert created the Calvert Women’s Principles, a code of corporate conduct focusing on gender equality and women’s empowerment. Also in 2004, Calvert created, and called on companies to adopt, model charter language for corporate nominating and governance committees focused on attaining diversity in corporate board rooms. These initiatives were recognized in June 2007 when Barbara accepted the “Women of Concern” award from Concern Worldwide for ‘developing innovative and precedent setting initiatives that strive to empower women worldwide.’

Throughout her career, Ms. Krumsiek has been recognized as a pre-eminent business leader. In May, 2008, Barbara Krumsiek was honored with both the Latino Economic Development Corporation, LEDC Award and the Leadership Greater Washington, Cafritz Foundation Founders’ Award for Leadership & Community Service. In 2007, Washingtonian Magazine included her among the “150 Most Influential People in Washington D.C.” In 2006, she was named one of “Washington DC’s 100 Most Powerful Women” for the third time by Washingtonian Magazine and one of the “Top 100 Maryland Women” by the Daily Record. In 2005, she was awarded the Athena Award by the Women’s Business Owners of Montgomery County. She was named one of 50 “Women Who Mean Business” in Washington D.C. by the Washington Business Journal in 2004.




Ms. Krumsiek served as the 2007 Chair of the Greater Washington Board of Trade, Washington D.C.’s regional Chamber of Commerce. She is on the board of the Economic Club of Washington, D.C., and the Federal City Council. In 2007 she joined the board of PEPCO Holdings, Inc.

Ms. Krumsiek’s community involvement is extensive. She is Vice-Chair of the Board of The Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation, and serves on the Council for the Future of Courant at New York University’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. In addition, she is on the Board of Goodwill of Greater Washington, and the Trickle Up Program in New York City.

Graduating Phi Beta Kappa with honors from Douglass College, Rutgers University, Ms. Krumsiek received a Bachelor’s degree in mathematics. She received a Master’s degree in mathematics from the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University. In 2000, the Rutgers University Alumni Federation added her to the Hall of Distinguished Alumni, and in that same year, Douglass College and the Associate Alumnae named her to The Douglass Society. In May, 2002 Georgetown University awarded Ms. Krumsiek the Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, Honoris Causa, citing her work in advancing the critical dialogue regarding the role of business in society.

Ms. Krumsiek, a native New Yorker, resides in Bethesda, Maryland with her husband, Bart Leonard, and their two daughters.

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