Meredith President Jo Allen Speaks to Raleigh Chamber of Commerce 

Meredith President Jo Allen was the featured speaker of the Raleigh Chamber of Commerce’s C-Suite Perspectives on June 11, 2021. Area executives share leadership lessons in the series.

Watch the C-Suite Perspectives presentation (President Allen’s presentation begins at the 13 minute mark)

Allen discussed “leadership with a small l, which she said means the “daily elements of character, decision-making, and integrity” that can support or derail a leader. 

“We all have leadership experiences and we all have leadership talents,” Allen said. “Leadership informs our decisions, our character, and our lives.”

Skills including communication, compassion, and the ability to make connections are among the qualities that leaders need, and that they look for in potential leaders.

“People are watching to see if you are someone that they want representing their company,” Allen said.   

The first alumna to serve as president of Meredith, Allen also discussed her own path to becoming a leader in higher education. She emphasized the importance of mentors along her journey from Meredith student to president. 

“Very few people in life get to actually go full circle, from having been a student at Meredith, to having traveled the world, from having had positions at other institutions, and finally to come back home to this beloved place is priceless beyond measure.”

C-Suite Perspectives is a leadership development initiative of the Raleigh Chamber. The Raleigh Chamber is the Triangle’s largest business membership organization with more than 2,200 member firms representing two-thirds of the private sector employment in Wake County. Chamber President and CEO Adrienne Cole is a 1993 alumna of Meredith College.