Barbara Byrne S76 P10 P13 P15 P16 serves as an Independent Director of three public companies (Paramount Global and PowerSchool – chairing the Audit Committee for both – as well as LanzaTech) and one private venture capital backed company (Carta). Barbara commenced her public company board roles post her 2018 retirement. Barbara’s career as an investment banker spanned 37 years, 28 years at Lehman Brothers and 9 years at its successor Barclays. In her investment banking career – where she was named Vice Chairman in 2004 – she worked closely with Fortune 500 and start up boards as well as C suite executives counseling on strategic positioning in global financial markets and complex, creative transactions across a broad range of industries. She held senior leadership positions in both the Energy and Technology Investment Banking Groups as well as the Senior Client Relationship Group. Barbara’s reputation as an innovative problem solver who finds major market opportunities in disruption enabled her to assist clients in building long-term value. An early leader in social-impact investing, she and her team pioneered several social initiatives that paired clients with NGO’s and governments to promote sustainable development. She was a member of the World Economic Forum’s Gender Parity Task Force, where she worked to advance next generation leaders where women leaders were few (especially in her industry). During her investment banking career, she appeared consistently on the lists of the top women on Wall Street. She was top five of American Banker’s “25 Most Powerful Women in Finance” for eight consecutive years through 2017. She received American Banker’s Lifetime Achievement Award in Finance in 2018 as she retired. Barbara cares deeply about education and access. She was a first-generation scholarship student at Mount Holyoke College where she served as a Trustee and Finance Chair for 10 years (2006-2016), was a Trustee of Institute of International Education (2019-2022) and currently serves as an Executive in Resident at Columbia Business School. She was a member of the British American Business Council (2013- 2017), and a former member of the Investment Committee of Catalyst (2014-2021). Barbara is a member of the Audit Committee Leadership Network, the National Association of Corporate Directors and is a Lifetime Member of the Council of Foreign Relations (since 2013). Barbara speaks frequently at events and forums that have included The World Bank, The United Nations, The New America Foundation and The World Economic Forum in Davos and New York as well as several universities. Barbara lives in Princeton; New Jersey and her husband Tom are the parents of four adult children.
Barbara Byrne
Bio/Description