Laurel J. Richie

Laurel J. Richie is the former president of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).

She is a graduate of Shaker Heights High School. Before the WNBA, Richie served as Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Girl Scouts of the USA. Prior to working at the Girl Scouts, Richie worked at Leo Burnett Worldwide, an advertising agency based in Chicago, from 1981-1983, where she worked on a host of Procter & Gamble brands. In 1984, she moved to Ogilvy & Mather, where she spent more than two decades building brands for blue chip clients including American Express, Pepperidge Farm and Unilever, among others. She continues to work with Ogilvy as a founding member of its Diversity Advisory Board, supporting efforts to attract and retain top talent.

Richie is a recipient of the YMCA Black Achiever's Award and Ebony magazine's Outstanding Women in Marketing and Communications. In April 2011, was named one of the 25 Influential Black Women in Business by The Network Journal. Richie attended Dartmouth College.

Richie was named president of the WNBA on April 21, 2011. She assumed her role on May 16. In 2014, she was named as one of ESPNW's Impact 25. On November 4, 2015 it was announced that she would depart her post as President of the WNBA.

On November 7, 2016, it was announced that Dartmouth College appointed Richie Chair of the Board of Trustees.