Marty Evans
As one of the country's top leaders, Marty Evans' distinguished career has combined both military service and leadership of the nation's premier non-profit organizations. During her nearly 30-year career with the Navy, Evans distinguished herself as one of only a handful of women to reach the rank of rear admiral, and gained a reputation for forging new ground for women in the military.
In January 1998, Evans assumed leadership of Girl Scouts of the USA, the largest organization representing girls in the world, with troops in every zip code of America. Evans revolutionized the 90-year old organization and modernized its vision and programs for its nearly three million young members, and increased its number of adult volunteers to nearly one million, the highest number in the organization's history. From August 2002 through December 2005, Evans was the 13th President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Red Cross, the largest and one of the nation's most distinguished humanitarian aid organizations. In 2005 alone, under Evans' leadership Red Cross volunteers and staff assisted the victims of more than 70,000 natural- and human-caused disasters, from single family fires to large-scale events including the evacuation of a major American city. Over 1.3 million families received direct emergency Red Cross assistance in the wake of the hurricanes and the flood of New Orleans. For her leadership of the Red Cross response Non-Profit Times named her "Executive of the Year" for 2005.
Evans has been honored with numerous awards and accolades, including eight honorary degrees. She was a 1979-80 White House Fellow. The White House Fellows Association awarded her the 2002 John W. Gardner Legacy of Leadership Award. In 2005 The Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute honored her with the Four Freedoms Award.