Betsy Holden is a Senior Advisor with McKinsey & Company, where she works with clients across industries on strategy, marketing, innovation and board effectiveness initiatives. She has 35 years of marketing and general management experience and was formerly Co-CEO of Kraft Foods and CEO of Kraft Foods North America. In addition to her CEO role at Kraft, Betsy held the positions of President, Global Marketing and Category Development; Executive Vice President of Operations, R&D, IT; plus multiple division president and line management roles.
Ms. Holden graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Duke University with a B.A. in education. She earned a M.A. in education from Northwestern University and a M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, where she was named valedictorian.
Ms. Holden serves on the boards of Diageo PLC, Western Union, Time, Inc., and the Kellogg School of Management Executive and Global Advisory Boards. Betsy also is a Senior Fellow of the Kellogg Innovation Network, President of the Board of the Off the Street Club, serves on the Boards of the Chicago High School for the Arts, the Museum of Science and Industry, and Ravinia Music Festival. She is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago, the Commercial Club of Chicago, and the Chicago Network.
Ms. Holden and her husband, Arthur Holden, have two children: Andrew T’11 and Julie T’13.
Ms. Holden was elected to the Duke University Board of Trustees in 2011 and currently chairs the Human Resources Committee and serves on the Executive Committee and Undergraduate Education Committee. She previously served on the Institutional Advancement Committee and the Committee on Honorary Degrees.
Ms. Holden was a member of the Trinity Board of Visitors from 2003-2011, and served as its chair in 2009-2011.