Cathy L. Lanier, the first female Chief of Police with the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia (MPDC), heads one of the ten largest departments in the country. Lanier joined the MPDC in 1990 as a foot patrol officer. Within six years she was promoted to Lieutenant. Subsequently, she advanced to Inspector and placed in charge of the Department's Major Narcotics Branch/Gang Crime Unit. In April 2006 she became the Commander at the Office of Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, Office of the Chief of Police in MPDC, overseeing, among other things, the bomb squad and the emergency response team. She is a true role model. She overcame significant obstacles by raising herself from being a high-school dropout and unwed mother to obtaining advanced academic degrees from Johns Hopkins University and the Naval Postgraduate School. She completed a Masters in Security Studies; her thesis was Preventing Terror Attacks in the Homeland: A New Mission for State and Local Police. She also attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and is a graduate of the FBI's National Academy and the University of the District of Columbia.

Ethel and Marlo McGuire are the first mother-daughter FBI’s Special Agents. Special Agent Ethel McGuire, in addition to being an Assistant Special-Agent-in-Charge, is Executive Manager of the Counterterrorism Branch of the FBI Field Office in Los Angeles. She manages six supervisors, overseas Special Agents and task force officers of three resident agencies and manages six squads within the Los Angeles Joint Terrorism Task Force. Ethel was a teacher in Memphis, TN and a retail executive manager for Target, before joining the Bureau. She has been there more than 20 years. Special Agent Marlo McGuire is in the FBI Field Office in Oakland, CA, where she discusses case developments with colleagues and supervisors, talks to confidential sources, conducts investigations, gathers evidence and assists in the prosecution of cases. Marlo’s decision to follow mom into the Bureau occurred when she participated in an internship program at a FBI field office during high school.

Teresa C. Chambers was the first women to be named to the post of U.S. Park Police Chief and the first woman to head a federal police agency. Prior to that, she was Chief of Police of the Durham, NC Police Department. Chambers worked for 21 years for the Prince George’s County Police Department in Maryland, beginning as a Police Cadet in 1976. She brings strong academic credentials to the job, holding a Masters Degree in Applied Behavioral Science from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude. An advocate of thorough police training, Chambers has completed courses at the FBI’s National Executive Institute and the FBI’s National Academy, as well as the Chiefs Program of the Maryland Police Training Commission. Her accomplishments include development of a Special Investigations Division, designed for rapid deployment to areas needing increased police presence, resulting in a reduction in violent and property crimes. However, in 2003 Chief Chambers was fired for stating that the lack of employees and resources made the parks unsafe. She is now Chief of the Riverdale Park Police Department.

Gayle Moore, Vice President, Director of Corporate Security, is the head of the MGM Studio’s Security Services. Early in her career, she worked with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) as a Special Agent. Later, she joined the Secret Service and stayed there for the next 20 years. Her protection duties included covering many foreign dignitaries and Presidents Ford and Clinton. Moore was also assigned to criminal investigations in the Treasury. She did Protective Intelligence work – the art of profiling a mentally ill person who makes threats against the President, dignitaries or movie stars. Her last few years with the Secret Service were served in L.A. where she supervised 12 Special Agents assigned to the Bank Fraud Squad. In August of 2002, Moore retired from the Secret Service to start a new phase in her career – head of security for MGM Studios.

Beth Arthur, of Arlington County, VA, is one of only about 30 women sheriffs across the country. Throughout her career, Arthur has tackled issues in corrections and jail management that overlap women’s issues surrounding equal opportunities, health and safety and women’s interaction with their children. She instituted a program called “Read Me a Story” that allows women to read books on tape to their children. She also opened the detention area to contact visits between inmates and their children during the winter holiday season and on Mother’s Day for those charged with or convicted of nonviolent crimes. In 2002, Arthur was named one of three “persons of vision” by the Arlington Commission on the Status of Women. To protect all inmates, but primarily women, she instituted training programs for staff on sexual misconduct as well as a zero-tolerance policy of sexual conduct between staff and inmates.

Penny Harrington spent 23 years in policing. She rose thought the ranks in Portland, OR to become the first woman Police Chief of a major city in the U.S. In her career, prior to being Chief, she filed 40 sex-discrimination complaints against Portland's police bureau, consistently winning them. Harrington was appointed Chief in January 1985, but served for only six months before resigning amid charges that her husband had alerted a suspect in a major cocaine case. In her short tenure, she reduced burglary by 8%; reduced citizen’s complaints by 30%; increased narcotics arrest by 33%; developed a plan to begin the design and implementation of a Community Policing philosophy and implemented training programs on Cross-Cultural Communications to improve relations with the minority communities. During her career, she served as director of the National Center for Women and Policing and volunteered hundreds of hours as a member of the Women's Advisory Council assisting the Los Angeles Police Commission in bringing about reform through the hiring of more women officers.

Mary Ann Viverette, of the Gaithersburg Police Department in Maryland, was appointed Chief of Police in 1986. Chief Viverette is a Past President of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), which is the oldest and largest law enforcement leadership organization with over 20,000 members worldwide. She is also a member of the Maryland Chiefs of Police Association. Viverette was Vice President of the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) in 2005 and 2006. Her Department has won the National League of Cities “Livability Award” for its citywide community policing efforts. Chief Viverette holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Law Enforcement/Criminology and a Masters Degree in Human Resource Management from the University of Maryland. She graduated from the FBI's National Academy in 1988.

Patty Jaye Garrett Patterson is the first female Chief of Police in the history of the City of Sumter, SC as well as their first African-American Chief of Police. She was the first female from Sumter City/County Law Enforcement to graduate from the FBI’s National Academy and the first female African-American Criminologist Instructor at the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy. In 2007, she became president of the National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executives (NAWLEE). She has also served as President of South Carolina Police Chiefs Association. Patterson has received numerous awards including NAWLEE/Motorola Women Law Enforcement Executive of the Year Award, The University of South Carolina Sumter Alumni Association Distinguished Alumni Award and recipient of the 1995 Strom Thurmond Award for Excellence in Law Enforcement and Police Officer of the Year. She was one of seven recipients inducted into the South Carolina Black Hall of Fame in 2002.

Caroline Hutchison joined the Carrboro Police Department in NC in 1984 and was named Chief in November 1998. She received a degree in 1981 from Duke University, graduating with honors in both sociology and Spanish. Hutchison was one of only four female recruits in a class of 26. She was the first woman Captain and is now the first woman Chief of Carrboro. She overcame a vocal cord disorder called spasmodic dysphonia that resulted in her having a weak, quivery and soft voice. Hutchison, who had been living with a female partner for a number of years, became pregnant prior to becoming Chief. Two years into her tenure as Chief, Hutchison’s family arrangements became an issue when she publicly battled to retain domestic partner benefits for her partner and their children. Her two children include a son who is her partner’s biological child and her daughter who is her biological child. 

Kudos go to several women who have achieved not only success in their own companies, but have recently been asked to serve on corporate Board of Directors. These women are just a few of the many who have been appointed in 2008.

Nina Vaca and Jacqueline Kane were named to the Comerica Board of Directors, which is headquartered in Texas. Vaca (pictured left) is CEO of Pinnacle Technical Resources Inc. and Kane (not pictured) is a Senior Vice President of The Clorox Company.

Dianna Morgan was appointed to Chesapeake Utilities Corporation Board of Directors, which is headquartered in Delaware. Morgan is a former Walt Disney World Company Executive.

Elizabeth Smith has joined the Staples, Inc. Board of Directors, headquartered in Massachusetts. Smith, who holds an MBA from Stanford, is President of Avon Products Inc.

Marissa Peterson was named to the Board of Directors of Humana Inc., which is headquartered in Kentucky. Peterson is a former Executive Vice President of Sun Microsystems Inc.

Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum was appointed to the Board of Directors of Georgia Power, headquartered in Georgia. Tatum is President of Spelman College

Kim Feil was named Chief Marketing Officer of Walgreens. Prior to her promotion, she served as Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Sara Lee North America.

Marlene Lynch Ford recently was honored as the Ocean County Women's Advocate of the Year by the Ocean County Advisory Commission on the Status of Women.

Donna Mullen Good, CEO of the Center for Women & Enterprise, has been awarded the Massachusetts 2008 Women in Business Champion by the Small Business Association.

Lisa Pierce won the 2008 ATHENA award presented by The Greater Springfield Illinois Chamber of Commerce at its 23^rd Annual Small Business Awards.