Lisa Wardell is a business executive with more than 25 years of experience managing business strategy, operations, finance, and mergers and acquisitions, while driving shareholder value, stakeholder engagement and company mission.
Lisa currently serves as Executive Chairman of Adtalem Global Education Inc. (NYSE: ATGE), a leading healthcare education company, after her successful five-year run as the company’s president and CEO (2016 – 2019) and then CEO and Chairman (2019 – 2021). During her tenure as CEO, Wardell oversaw the strategic repositioning of Adtalem’s portfolio, successfully acquiring and integrating companies in Adtalem’s financial services vertical, and leading turnarounds and divestitures of Adtalem’s non-core assets. Through her commitment to high performance and positive social impact, Lisa’s leadership has resulted in superior outcomes for Adtalem’s students and significant value creation for shareholders and has positioned the company for long-term growth.
Under her leadership, gender and ethnic diversity has increased at the Adtalem board to 67%. Wardell has also led the higher education sector in implementing new standards in transparency and financial literacy, and in cultivating quality partnerships to fill critical global workforce needs. Prior to her current position with Adtalem, Wardell was executive vice president and chief operating officer for The RLJ Companies. Prior to joining The RLJ Companies, Lisa was a principal at Katalyst Venture Partners, a private equity firm that invested in start-up technology companies, and a senior consultant for Accenture in the organization’s communications and technology strategic services practice.
Lisa earned her bachelor’s degree from Vassar College and her law degree from Stanford Law School. She earned her MBA in finance and entrepreneurial management from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Lisa serves on the board of American Express (NYSE: AXP) and G-III Apparel Group, Ltd. (NasdaqGS: GIII). She serves as a vice chair on the executive committee of The Business Council, and as a vice chair of the Kennedy Center Corporate Fund. A fierce advocate for diversity and inclusion and access to education at scale across diverse communities, Lisa also is a member of the board of the Economic Club of Chicago, the Executive Leadership Council, CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion and the Fortune CEO Initiative. Lisa has been featured on CNBC and Cheddar as well as in The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Business Insider, Black Enterprise, and other publications.
