ANDREA JUNG

Andrea Jung was born in 1959 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Her family moved to Wellesley, Massachusetts, when she was only two years old. Jung's mother was born in Shanghai and was a chemical engineer; her father was born in Hong Kong and was an architect. She attended Princeton University and earned a bachelor of arts degree in English literature in 1979, graduating magna cum laude. She had gotten a job at Bloomingdale's as a manager in training, and she saw the position as giving her the edge she would need to make it in the field of law. She did so well at Bloomingdale's that she moved to a job at the I. Magnin stores. From there she became the executive vice president in charge of merchandising for women's apparel, cosmetics, and accessories at Neiman Marcus. Jung started working for Avon Products, Inc., as a consultant in 1993 and was hired as president of the product marketing group for U.S. operations in 1994. She became the first female CEO in Avon's history in 1999, and became chairwoman of Avon in 2001 until 2012. In April 2014, she became president and CEO of Grameen America, a nonprofit microfinance organization founded by Nobel Peace Prize winner, Muhammad Yunus. Jung has two children: Lauren from her first marriage, and James from her second.

"If you have a deep, deep passion for whatever it is that you do, you will excel."