Siobhan Reardon

Siobhan Reardon (nee O’Loughlin) became the seventh president and director of the Free Library of Philadelphia in September 2008—the first woman ever to serve in this capacity in 114 years.

Previously, Siobhan was executive director of the Westchester (NY) Library System, a 38-member cooperative library system. While there, she launched a public relations and branding program, increased county support by 45 percent, and implemented technological enhancements. Prior to that, she was deputy executive director of the Brooklyn Public Library, serving as chief operating officer of the nation’s fifth largest library system.

Her accomplishments include tripling the size of the Library’s Foundation, spearheading a $15 million capital campaign for an auditorium and plaza for the Central Library, and strengthening the government relations function. She also served as acting executive director and director of finance.

Siobhan began her library career at New York Public Library in several finance roles. She holds a B.A. from SUNY Purchase, an M.A. from Fordham University, and an M.L.S. from the Palmer School of Library Science at Long Island University.

One of nine children in a fourth generation Irish-American family, Siobhan says her parents made sure the family remained closely tied to their heritage. “Growing up with a name like Siobhan O’Loughlin, it was pretty clear that I was Irish,” she jokes.

Her name aside, Siobhan describes her connection to her heritage as something deeper. “I think being Irish comes from within,” she says. “There is a deep sense of pride in culture and a very strong connection to family.”

A strong connection to family has been a constant theme in Siobhan’s life. She credits her parents, especially her mother, as her greatest inspirations in life.

“They believed that a good education is the best investment parents can make in their children,” she explains. Siobhan’s love of learning and stories, which have served her well in her professional career, are traits that she describes as part of “the essence” of the Irish people.

“Being Irish is a beautiful thing,” she says thoughtfully. “The Irish are always looking for the joy in things.”

Sister Kathleen Keenan

This year’s devastating earthquake in Haiti meant a personal loss for Sister Kathleen Marie Keenan, RSM, senior vice president of mission and sponsorship for Mercy Health System, the largest Catholic health care provider in Southeastern Pennsylvania.

As a decade-long member of the Global Health Ministry Board of Catholic Health East, Mercy’s parent organization, she has visited Haiti, Peru, and other developing countries where the Sisters of Mercy have a presence to set up health care teams in remote communities that have never seen a doctor or nurse.

“On my last trip to Haiti, I had a great visit with Archbishop (Joseph Serge) Miot. Less than a year later, he died in the Cathedral with 100 seminarians who were having a retreat experience. For me, these were not just faces on the media, they were people I knew,” she says.

But because of her work, many earthquake survivors received medical care from Mercy teams, some on the ground, some flown in from Mercy hospitals in the Philadelphia region.

Along with her RSM, Sister Kathleen has another set of letters at the end of her name: MBA. This native of Springfield, Delaware County, the descendant of Irish immigrants from Tyrone, has had a 40-year career of leadership in a variety of fields: As a teacher and principal of parish schools; as director of Catholic education for the Sisters of Mercy supervising 45 schools along the east coast; and finally in health care ministry for which she got an MBA in health care administration and another masters in long-term care administration to add to her masters in education administration.

Today, her job is to insure that everyone who works in a Mercy hospital understands Mercy’s mission: “to provide compassionate care and access to people living in the communities where our hospitals are located.

“We don’t turn anyone away from our hospitals, no matter their ability to pay,” she says. “We try to serve the whole person. There’s a pastoral aspect to our care. We treat the person, not just the injury—mind, body, and spirit, and their families are included in that equation. The Sisters of Mercy are unique among religious. All religious take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. We take a fourth vow—to serve the poor, sick, and uneducated. In some ways you can see I’ve lived out those vows.”

Not just in some ways.

Denise Sullivan Morrison

You can thank her for less sodium in Campbell’s Soups. For the big push by one of the nation’s largest food manufacturers to earn the right to be called “healthy.”

But in a business world rocked by negative headlines and scandal, you may want to thank Denise Sullivan Morrison for believing that integrity is the keystone of successful leadership. And for walking the talk.

“I have a firm set of values and I will not compromise them,” says Morrison, who is president of Campbell’s top profit center, Campbell USA. “If you have a reputation for high integrity, people trust you and I fundamentally believe that you can’t lead unless you have people’s trust.”

Her drive to the top (and yes, her mission is to someday become CEO of a major company) was fueled by her father, Dennis Sullivan, an AT&T executive, who took his four daughters to work long before there was a “Take Your Daughter To Work” day. “He saw the world opening for women long before it happened and spent a lot of time challenging us on things to get us ready,” she says.

The other Sullivan sisters have also made their mark: Maggie is chairman and CEO of a communications firm; Colleen is regional vice president of sales at Expedia, and Andrea is a champion show jumper who was senior VP of sales at AT&T Wireless.

For Morrison, who rose through the ranks of Proctor & Gamble, PepsiCo, Nestle, Nabisco, and Kraft Foods where she was often the only woman in sales meetings (“Sometimes it’s still that way,” she says), success isn’t entirely measured by profits and titles.

For example, Campbell’s is going healthy not just because it’s a good marketing strategy, but because Morrison thinks it’s the right thing to do. She’s a founding member of the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation, an initiative composed of manufacturers and retailers designed to combat obesity in the marketplace, workplace and in schools through communication and education.

The mentoring she’s received—from her father, from her current boss, Douglas Conant—she’s giving back through her work with Students in Free Enterprise, an organization of college students, academic professionals and industry leaders whose slogan is “a head for business, a heart for the world.”

“They take on projects that teach the principles of free enterprise and good business ethics and that do something for the community, a powerful message that I totally believe in,” she says. “One of my favorites was a group of students in Ghana who taught a village to make soap which they sell and it sustains the village.”

Underpinning Morrison’s achievements, as she’s quick to point out, is her family—her husband, Tom, an entrepreneur, and their two daughters. “I’m blessed with a wonderful home life,” she says. “I have a good balance which is important to me because if I were successful in business and had an unhappy home life, I would not consider myself successful.”