Myrtle Potter, recognized as one of America's foremost health care leaders and innovators will be a featured speaker at our networking event in San Francisco on January 13th; Myrtle will share her thoughts on Leadershp and the lessons she has learned during her career. Named as one of the "25 Most Influential African Americans in Healthcare" (2010) by Black Health Magazine. To attend the event and meet Myrtle register at http://the-global-leader.eventbrite.com/.She founded Myrtle Potter & Company, LLC in 2005 and currently serves as CEO and President. As a trusted voice in healthcare, Myrtle has dedicated three decades of service and leadership to America's most successful global life science companies. She has leveraged her vast experience operating large pharmaceutical and biotechnology businesses to better serve the needs of health care companies, consumers and patients worldwide.
Myrtle was president and chief operating officer of Genentech, Inc., from 2000 to 2005, where she helped steer the company through one of the most successful periods in its history. Genentech achieved record sales and earnings growth during each of the five years she led the company, and under her leadership the company launched seven breakthrough molecules including Avastin, the world's first antiangiogenesis product for the treatment of cancer.
Prior, Myrtle was president of Bristol-Myers Squibb's $4 billion, 3,500-person U.S. Cardiovascular/Metabolics business. Under her leadership this business was the largest, fastest growing and most profitable of all of the BMS divisions. This business also launched three new products including the blockbuster Plavix.
Before working for Bristol-Myers Squibb, Myrtle worked at Merck & Co., Inc. for fourteen years. During her tenure at Merck, she established the new pharmaceutical company, Astra/Merck, Inc. that later merged with Zeneca to form the company now known as AstraZeneca. Following that initiative, she directed the marketing of the blockbuster prescription drug Prilosec and set it on course to become the largest selling pharmaceutical product in the world at that time. Her last position at Merck was as vice president of an $800 million U.S. business unit.
Myrtle currently serves on the board of directors of Medco Health Solutions, Inc., 3G BioTech, LLC, and Everyday Health, Inc. Formerly Myrtle served on the boards of Amazon (2004 to 2009) and FoxHollow Technologies/Ev3 (2006-2007). She also served on the Dean's Advisory Board of the Stanford Business School (2006 to 2010) and on the Citizen's Financial Accountability Oversight Committee of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
Myrtle is a sought-after speaker and is represented by the Washington Speakers Bureau. She speaks frequently to business, academic and consumer audiences on healthcare, life science and leadership topics. She is also an on-air business contributor to the NBC television network including CNBC and MSNBC.
Myrtle's business and healthcare leadership has been hailed by America's most influential business publications. She was named by Black Health magazine as one of the “25 Most Influential African Americans in Healthcare” (2010), recognized one of "50 Directors Under 50" by Directorship Magazine (2008) and featured in BusinessWeek as "An Entrepreneur to Watch" (2007) and in The Wall Street Journal as one of its "50 Women to Watch" (2004 and 2005). Myrtle has been profiled in The Harvard Business Review article "What Great Leaders Do" (2005) recognized by Black Enterprise Magazine as one of the "75 Most Powerful Blacks in Corporate America" (2005) and honored by Ebony magazine as one of "15 at the Top in Corporate America" (2004). She was also listed in FORTUNE Magazine's "Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Business" (2003 and 2004) and "Most Powerful Black Executives in America" (2002), and named as one of TIME Magazine's "15 Young Global Business Influentials" (2002), as one of Forbes Magazine's "Magnetic 40" (2001) and as Woman of the Year by the Healthcare Business Women's Association (2000). Myrtle has also been referenced in more than 20 business and leadership books including, The 100-Mile Walk - A Quest to Find the Essence of Leadership by Sander and Jonathan Flaum (2006); The One Thing by Marcus Buckingham (2005) and The Cycle of Leadership by Noel Tichy (2004).
Widely recognized for her community service and leadership, Myrtle has been hailed as an "Everyday Icon" by Glamour Magazine (2009), "Woman of Distinction" by the Girl Scouts of America of Greater New York (2009), "Woman of the Year" by Legal Momentum, the legal defense fund for the National Organization for Women (2007) and "Woman of the Year" by the American Diabetes Association (2006). Myrtle has also received the Girls Scouts of America's highest honor by being named its "National Woman of Distinction" (2004).
In 2002, Myrtle created a charitable fund to consolidate the many aspects of her philanthropic work aimed at advancing the status of women and children. In addition to supporting numerous non-profit organizations, she is actively involved as a mentor with the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Peninsula.
Myrtle is a graduate of the University of Chicago.