Deanna Mulligan

Deanna M. Mulligan is the Chief Executive Officer of Purposeful, where she provides strategic advisory services to CEOs and private equity-funded startups. She is the former Chair, President & CEO of The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian) and was a member of the company’s Board of Directors. She joined Guardian in 2008 as Executive Vice President to lead their Individual Life & Disability business, was named CEO in July 2011, and retired as Chair and CEO at the end of 2020. Previously, Deanna was a Principal at McKinsey & Company and held senior positions at AXA Financial and New York Life Insurance Company. ​

She currently serves as a trustee on the Board of Directors for The Vanguard Group, a position she has held since 2017, and at DuPont de Nemours, Inc., where she has served since 2021. Deanna also serves on the Board of Trustees for New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Partnership for New York City, and Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose (CECP). ​

She has also served on the Stanford Graduate School of Business Advisory Council, as Chair of ACLI, and as a director at ARCH Capital, Catalyst, and The Economic Club of New York, Named by Fortune as one of the “50 Most Powerful Women in Business” and by Crain’s New York Business as one of “The 50 Most Powerful Women in New York,” five times each. She is also the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Hire Purpose: How Smart Companies Can Close the Skills Gap. ​

Ms. Mulligan graduated from the University of Nebraska with High Distinction and holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.​